Go Kids

Alif “Douta Mbaye” – Alif (aka Attaque Libératoire de l’Infanterie Féministe) are Senegal’s first all-female hip hop group, and have been recording together since 1997. This track is taken from Dakamerap, their first release available in the Western world, which is being issued on the Out|Here label from Germany. As with most hip hop from Senegal, the music is heavily influenced by mainstream American hip hop, but the vocals are mostly in Wolof and French. At face value, this isn’t tremendously different from what you might expect to hear on American rap radio, but the language barrier renders the content entirely abstract, which can be a somewhat peculiar experience given that we are so conditioned to focus on lyrics when listening to hip hop music. (Click here to buy it from Ear-Rational.)

The Go! Team “The Power Is On” – This is an odd little song, mixing cutesiness and martial intensity in such a way that it sounds as though it should be the military theme of the Twee Nation. I can’t hear this without imagining a massive army of kids in Hello Kitty gear marching into combat like something out of the battle scenes in the Lord Of The Rings movies. This is out in the UK as a 12″ at the moment, but a new LP is forthcoming. (Click here to buy it from the XFM Shop.)