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Home , Bailando 2011, Baltimore club, Christoph Dreher, Die Haut, Funk carioca, Ghetto house



Contact: www.radicalriddims.de [email protected] [email protected] 0177 - 70 76 490 (Christine Lang)

DUBSTEP, , BOUNCE, BAILE , , , COUPÉ DECALÉ, , CUMBIA DIGITAL, , UK FUNKY... WORLDMUSIC 2.0...

may 21th, 2011 ¡RADICAL RIDDIMS! - Global Ghetto Tech

June 10 – 18, 2011 Schau Fenster Gallery & Ritter Butzke, Kreuzberg

Over a period of nine days, the event ¡RADICAL RIDDIMS! - Global Ghetto Tech will be devoted to heavy styles like Baile Funk, Bass, Bounce, Club, Juke, and Coupé Décalé, as well as Kuduro from Angola, South African Kwaito, British Dubstep and 2step, and Bassline from Sheffield. All these musical strands represent a form of ‘positive’ cultural globalization and are among the most promising and pioneering innovations in pop and music as well as global club culture. As part of the sound system and dancehall cultures of the , townships and banlieus, these ultra- referential and hybrid music styles are largely produced on cheap digital equipment. Distributed quickly over the internet to an eager global audience, these musical genres then make their way into hyper-hybrid music styles. In co-operation with Schau Fenster gallery and Ritter Butzke club, we have invited protagonists from a range of urban musical hotspots to the German capital for a get-together with the corresponding Berlin scene. The musical line-up will be accompanied by an exhibition of international video works, documentary films and lectures, in which we will spotlight on the various local musical scenes and ‘hyper hybrid’ club music, as well as discuss the connections and disparities between key concepts like regionality and globality, citation and original creation, copyright and authorship, digitality, internet and web cultures, as well as the phenomenon of image transfer in popular culture.

Line-up: Spoek Mathambo (live, House), Sissy Nobby (live, New Orleans), DJ Flore (Lyons) & MC Rodney P (), DJ Uproot Andy (NY), DJ Edgar (São Paulo), MC Zuzuka Poderosa (New York), Robot Koch (Berlin), Mode 2 (Berlin), Uh-Young Kim (Cologne), Daniel Haaksman (Berlin/Man Rec), Femmes With Fatal Breaks (Berlin), DJ Mackjiggah (Berlin), VJ Sniper (Berlin), Astrid Kusser (Cologne), Georg Milz (Munich/Out Here Rec.), Denise Garcia (Sao Paulo/Berlin) u.a.

Funded by Hauptstadtkulturfonds (Berlin Capital Cultural Funds) Curated by Christine Lang and

¡RADICAL RIDDIMS! S. 1 

// PROGRAM //

Fri., June 10/ 7 pm ¡RADICAL RIDDIMS! EXHIBITION OPENING Schau Fenster Gallery, Lobeckstr. 30-35 MODE 2 (live performance / mural painting) Introduction by CHRISTINE LANG and CHRISTOPH DREHER, lecture by UH-YOUNG KIM (radio station Funkhaus Europa) from 10 pm SISSY NOBBY (live, Bounce / New Orleans) DJ ROBOT KOCH (Global Bass / Berlin) DJ DUB KIMSKI (Global Player / Cologne)

Sat., June 11 from 10 pm ¡Radical Riddims! PARTY at Ritter Butzke, Ritterstr. 24

First Floor: SPOEK MATHAMBO (live, South Africa House / ) DJ FLORE (Breakbeat/Lyon) & MC RODNEY P (London) DJ UPROOT ANDY (Cumbia Digital, Dancehall / NY) DJ-Team FEMMES WITH FATAL BREAKS (Dubstep, Bassline / Berlin) DJ MACKJIGGAH (Dubstep, UK Funky / Berlin) + VJ SNIPER (Berlin)

Second Floor: DJ EDGAR (Baile Funk / São Paulo) MC ZUZUKA PODEROSA (New York) DJ DANIEL HAAKSMAN (Man Recordings, Berlin)

Mon, June 13 from 6 pm Lectures and Films with: DENISE GARCIA (Rio / Berlin). The artist and filmmaker will talk to DANIEL HAAKSMAN about her film ‘I’m Ugly But Trendy‘ and the women of the Brazilian Baile Funk scene

Lecture by ASTRID KUSSER (Cologne): ‘The Riddle of the Booty – Dancing in the Black Atlantic 1900-2010‘

Lecture by GEORG MILZ (Out Here Rec. / Munich), on Coupé Decalé from Paris and the Ivory Coast

Additional exhibition opening times: June 11- June 18, 2011. 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm, daily

¡RADICAL RIDDIMS! S. 2 

// MUSIC GUIDE //

The musical styles which will be at the center of the ¡RADICAL RIDDIMS! events are associated with each other, and while each of them has been developed and shaped within their own regional characteristics and are produced in a quiet lo-fi-fashion, they all are footed on the three global styles HipHop, House and . The styles are in a constant exchange process with each other, while their hybridization has increased especially during the past decade. Parallel to the trend towards global connection, these styles are firmly rooted in their local Black Atlantic sound system cultures, in which dj-ing, mc-ing and dancing have equally important parts. The bass heaviness as a musical, seemingly somatic element comes across as a reaction and response to the immateriality and transferability of the global age, with which this music is often associated.

Baile Funk A fast-paced electronic variation of HipHop that has evolved from the Brazilian favelas during the 1990s. Associated with US-American from the Eighties, it also reproduces musical elements from 80s New Wave. It is quickly produced and features raw and rather monotonous vocals.

Baltimore Club A style with a tendency to staccato sounds at a rate of 130 bpm, which evolved during the late 80s in Baltimore. It is related to Ghetto Tech from Detroit which was developed around the same time. It is influenced by Miami Bass and European Breakbeat, and like Chicago Juke, it involves distinctive and characteristic dancing styles.

Bassline A style that evolved around the year 2002 in Sheffield. It is a modern variation of British 2Step / UK Garage, and their predecessor is Speedgarage. Similar to these styles, the R&B vocals are pitched up. Bassline is footed on four-to- the-floor beats, where the bass line carries the melody which usually stretches out over 16 bars. As in Dubstep, there is an extreme emphasis on the bass sound. It is generally rather fast-paced at 135-140 bpm.

Bounce An energetic variation of HipHop, which was created during the late 80s in New Orleans as ‘project music’. Bounce features staccato sounds, while its MC style is characterized by a distinct call-and-response-technique. As in Baile Funk, the physical and sexualizing Booty Dance plays an important role in this style.

Breakbeat Generic term for an important segment of global rhythmic dance music, which is characterized by structures typical to HipHop, as opposed to the “straight-line” 4/4 beat of Techno and House. It is related to Drum’n’Bass, which features straighter and clearer beats similar to the more analogous sounding subgenre of . Breakbeat consists of many sub- categories and is paced at a rate between 110 and 150 bpm.

¡RADICAL RIDDIMS! S. 3 

Bullerengue A traditional, ethnic music style of the which is generally danced and sung by women. This style is related to Cumbia.

Chicago Juke Fast-paced, lo-fi variation of (150-160 bpm), which is accompanied by its signatures dance style (a form of break- dancing, in which the steps are performed at a high speed, while the upper body stays as still as possible).

Coupé Décalé One of Africa’s most popular music and dance styles. It was created by Ivorian musicians living in the Paris diaspora around 2003. It is an advancement of Ziglibithy, which was created based on traditional rhythms in the 1970s. Coupé Decalé also bears influences from Jamaican Dancehall.

Cumbia Digital Contemporary and club-compatible version of Cumbia, which is a driving, swinging rhythm with African roots and Spanish influence. Cumbia Digital is enhanced with electronic instruments and digital drum samples. Rather slow- paced at 90-110 bpm, it has been popular in Colombia, Mexico and, for the last decade, in Argentina as well.

Dancehall A bass-heavy music style from that is based on and which was created in the 1970s. It can be seen as a predecessor of all contemporary soundsystem cultures. Consists of danceable instrumental riddims (chosen by the selector), combined with the toasting (i.e. ) of the MC (Master of Ceremonies).

Dubstep This bass-heavy music evolved around the year 2000 in England and has since been adapted internationally. It is a more instrumental and "musical" version of its predecessor, . Like 2step and Drum’n’Bass, it is based on off- beat-patterns. Although it is rather fast-paced at 140 bpm, it sounds like slowed down dance music. The rhythm of the gets varied within a sequence of 8 or 16 bars, to then start again on the first beat of a 4/4 bar.

Ghetto Tech At 140-160 bpm, a fast-paced House Music that evolved in the beginning of the 1990s in Detroit. It is influenced by Electro Funk and Miami Bass. Being closer related to Techno than to Breakbeat, it is somewhat rough. Mc-ing does not play a big part in this musical style.

¡RADICAL RIDDIMS! S. 4 

Kuduro During the late 1980s, music producers from the Angolan capital Luanda started to mix percussion samples with traditional Calypso and Socca rhythms. The resulting musical style was initially called Batida. When more rapping was added, it was called Kuduro. As in many global Ghetto Tech dance styles, the Kuduro dance style was strongly influenced by Dancehall and is an essential part of the genre.

Kwaito While HipHop and Dancehall left the biggest marks, historic local genres and international influences also played their part in defining this style of music. It evolved during the early 1990s in South Africa’s urban centers, the so-called townships, which were characterized by the social and musical structures of .

Miami Bass This musical style was developed in succession of Electro Funk during the 80s and 90s. It is related to Ghetto Tech from Detroit and had an impact on Baile Funk.

Moombahton Over the last two years, this mix of Cumbia and House has evolved from the data highways between New York and Washington DC. It has a straight and groovy kick drum and uses many significant samples. Similar to , its beat is paced at only at about 110 bpm.

// LECTURES //

ASTRID KUSSER: ’The Riddle of the Booty – Dancing within the Black Atlantic 1900-2010’

Whether it is Juke, Kuduro, Baile Funk, Coupé Decalé, Reggaeton or Dancehall – butts shaken with virtuosity to hard beats are always an essential part of the picture. Be it on your own or together, on the dancefloor or in Youtube videos, the spectacle of a swinging behind is ever present on all sides of the Atlantic. The dynamics have been the same since the beginning of the last century, when the first black dance trend, the Cakewalk, was created. A certain move takes on a life of its own and forms a new dance trend. The new move polemically questions how bodies can be carried in the eye of the public and challenges the limits of shame and embarrassment. As opposed to a celebration of the natural body, it is the artificiality of the movement which is at the center of attention here. The history of dance within the Black Atlantic has been accompanied by an unceremonious laughter, which turned the natural body into something mundane during colonial modernity. What has been created in the of the twentieth century therefore was - and still is - not only entertaining but also disturbing. Dancing within the Black Atlantic – be it back in the day or up to present times - still gives us something to think about that has meaning far beyond the limitations of the dancefloor. June 13, 2011, Schau Fenster Gallery

¡RADICAL RIDDIMS! S. 5 

GEORG MILZ: Coupé Décalé is pure hedonism. For Ivorians ‘couper’, which means ‘cutting’ in French, is a synonym for grifting money off other people, preferably Europeans. ‘Decaler’, French for ‘shifting’, means to run off with the loot, preferably to Abidjan, to apply oneself to ‘travailler’, which means spending the money at parties or for expensive designer clothes by Gucci, Armani or Versace. In 2002, a group of Ivorian expats called the Jet Set created Coupé Decalé in the African night clubs of Paris. It became the soundtrack of a generation which had enough of poverty and civil wars. The African party hybrid, which is strongly influenced by Congolese rhythms, has developed into one of the most popular music styles in French-speaking Africa. The Ivorian music scene does not revolve around showing off with stolen money anymore - instead they want to show off their music in clubs all over the world. June 13, 2011, Schau Fenster Gallery

// CV’S //

CURATORS Christine Lang is a DJ, author and filmmaker. Since 1996 she has performed numerous gigs as Drum’n’Bass- and Dubstep-dj the world over and co-founded the all female dj /mc-team ‘Femmes With Fatal Breaks’. She curated a number of projects and exhibitions dealing, among others, with issues from popular culture or feminism. Since 2009, she has been teaching at the Konrad Wolf Film and Television University. www.christinelang.eu

Christoph Dreher is a filmmaker, author and musician. Between 1980 and 2000, his band ‘’ released numerous recordings and co-operated musically with , , Kim Gordon and many others. Since 1991, Dreher has been writing and directing documentary films and series, music videos and audiovisual art projects. He’s also been a professor for film and video at the Merz Akademie in Stuttgart since 2001. www.christoph-dreher.com

MUSICIANS

SISSY NOBBY is a protagonist of the New-Orleans-Bounce-scene. With hits like "Yippy 6 o clock", "Catch the Wall" und "Break it Down 07", Nobby has made bounce known to the world. In his performance and self-presentation, Nobby gives an interesting twist to the sexual and gender-related connotations and perceptions of the genre… - June 10, 2011 Schau Fenster - www.myspace.com/sissynobbyy

DJ ROBOT KOCH is a Berlin based producer and the mastermind behind the critically acclaimed band Jahcoozi and post rock/hiphop outfit The Tape vs. RQM. He produces artists from around the globe. Recently, Robot started his own digital label called Robots Don’t Sleep, which he describes as ‘Mowtown with Lazers’. His live gigs and videos are proof of his strong emphasis on a visual component to accompany and frame his musical output. - June 10, 2011 Schau Fenster http://www.robotsdontsleep.com

¡RADICAL RIDDIMS! S. 6 

SPOEK MATHAMBO is a musician from Johannesburg, who has also lived in Malmö (Sweden) for a while. His musical style can best be described as a hybrid from Kwaito, Electro and Funk and has been labelled by Spoek Mathambo himself as ‘African Cootchie Pop’. His latest release is a Kwaito version of the Joy Division’s classic ‘Control’. - June 11, 2011 Ritter Butzke www.spoekmathambo.com

DJ FLORE is a music producer and dj from Lyon in France. She is known for her tight ‘Dancefloor Killer Grooves’, in which she combines Electro, HipHop, Kuduro and UK Funky to turn this mix into some kind of futuristic Dancefloor style. Her releases are among the most highly regarded of the Breakbeat scene. Her first album ‘Raw’ was released in 2010 by the Botschi & Scarper label. These new tracks will first be presented in Berlin at ¡RADICAL RIDDIMS!. - June 11, 2011 Ritter Butzke www.flore-music.com, www.facebook.com/floremusic

MC RODNEY P aka DA RIDDIM KILLA - Since his days in the seminal UK HipHop group London Posse, Rodney P is widely regarded as the Godfather of British . He has been active in the HipHop and scene since the 1980s and has worked as an MC with and Björk. Ongoing co-operation with DJ Flore live and on her latest album ‘Raw’ (among others: „We Rewind“). At ¡RADICAL RIDDIMS! we will celebrate the Berlin release of this album. - June 11, 2011 Ritter Butzke www.myspace.com/riddimkilla

DJ UPROOT ANDY aka Andy Gillis from New York is viewed as an iconic figure among the new Global Bass and Tropical Bass scene. Be it as a dj, remixer or producer – his unique mix of Rap, Dancehall, Reggaeton, Bass, Grime, Dubstep, Cumbia, Bullerenge Guarancha and Balkan Sounds is very persuasive. He has been released on Bersa and ZZK / Zizek Records, the pioneering labels in the field of Cumbia Digital. - June 11, 2011 Ritter Butzke www.myspace.com/andygillis

FEMMES WITH FATAL BREAKS - In March 1999, FEMMES WITH FATAL BREAKS got together as the first female dj collective in Berlin, consisting of DJ T-INA DARLING, MC QUIO and DJ CHRISTINE LANG. Ever since, they have been a stable fixture in the Berlin club scene. Musically, they favour bass-heavy styles like Dubstep, Breakbeat and Bassline. The Femmes also organize other artistically and politically relevant events: in 2008 the FEMMES’R’US Festival at Berlin’s Radialsystem, which featured an all-female line up of djs and mcs from the broken beat scene as well as visual artists, filmmakers and theoreticians. In 2010, they took part in the Megaspree demonstration against the cutback of the alternative art and club scene in Berlin, and in the beginning of 2011, they put together an exhibition of their musical and artistic work at Funke Gallery in Berlin Kreuzberg. - June 11, 2011 Ritter Butzke www.femmes-breaks.com

¡RADICAL RIDDIMS! S. 7 

MACKJIGGAH has been a local Dubstep pioneer ever since the sound hit Berlin back in 2005. As a dj and promoter (BassTheWorld with DJ Maxximus) he helped to establish Dubstep in Berlin throughout the years. His work as a producer resulted in a 12" release on Kool.Pop in 2007 and digital releases on Police In Helicopter. But first and foremost, he is a dj, and when it comes to Dubstep djs in Berlin, hardly anyone is booked as often as Mackjiggah. His bass-heavy, deep sound with UK Funky twists proves how danceable Dubstep can be if you do it right. - June 11, 2011 Ritter Butzke www.myspace.com/mackjiggah

DJ EDGAR grew up just north of , the city where he lives today. He started his dj-ing career in 1990 in one of Rio’s biggest soundsystems and has been touring in Europe since 2005. His styles are Baile Funk, Miami Bass and Post Funk – ‘switching between mad MPC wizardry and frenetic turntables skills’. Released an EP ‘Baile Funk Masters 3’on Man Recordings. - June 11, 2011 Ritter Butzke www.djedgarjr.blogspot.com, www.myspace.com/djedgarjr

MC ZUZUKA PODEROSA is the new queen warrior of her own special brand of baile funk. , which originates from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and borrowed heavily from Miami bass, is just the starting place of her sound. Born in Victoria, Brazil, Zuzuka grew up in Rio, with her formative years spent in the West Indies. She later moved to Brooklyn, NYC to study jazz vocal improvisation and work at her poetry. For the past few years, she's been building up the underground baile funk scene in New York as a DJ, host and bartender. Currently working on her debut EP, she collaborates with producers from all over the world who mix the past with the future in sur americal-cosmic new ways. She raps and sings in Portuguese, Spanish and English, musing provocatively and sarcastically over boomy electric kick drums or Latin percussions (or both at the same time!) She makes Carioca Bass music. 'Interracial musical babies' all her own. Her sound is fierce and fun, conjuring images of hot summer dance parties on gritty Brooklyn rooftops or up in the hills overlooking the sea. www.myspace.com/zuzukapoderosa

DJ DANIEL HAAKSMAN is a Berlin based dj and producer. He released the ‘Rio Baile Funk Booty Beats’ (Essay Recordings) compilation in 2004, which is now regarded as the reference album in the field of Baile Funk on his label Man Recordings, founded in 2005. It is the only Baile Funk label outside of Brazil, featuring Sany , Edu K, Mr. Catra, MC Gringo, DJ Sandrinho and many others. In the early days, Haaksmann started commissioning artists like , Switch, Crookers or Sinden (who later went on to produce pop stars like M.I.A., Santigold or ) to remix or to produce original Baile Funk hits, which then became part of Man Recordings’ own ‘Funk Mondial’ series. In 2010, after nearly fifty releases, his label celebrated its fifth anniversary. Today, it is regarded as one of the world’s most influential bass music labels. 2008 saw the release of Daniel Haaksman’s debut EP named ‘Who’s Afraid of Rio?’. He has since also been working as a producer and solo remixer. Among others, he remixed for the likes of Waldemar Bastos and Madera Limpia. In 2009, his EP ‚Gostoso’ as well as remixes for Phenomenal Handclap Band, Riva Starr, Edu K, and Schlachthofbronx were released. In 2009 and 2010, he played numerous DJ gigs the world over. 2010, his EP ‘Hands Up’ was released. May 2011 will see the release of his debut album ’Rambazamba’. - June 11, 2011 Ritter Butzke www.manrecordings.com

¡RADICAL RIDDIMS! S. 8 

VJ SNIPER is a pioneer in the field of video scratching and in his own remarkably unique style. At his numerous performances around the globe, he uses standard electronic equipment to project his extensive video archive footage, which he presents in an original, unique and distinctive way. During the last few years, he has been performing - among others - with British band ‘The Fall’, who have become a classic in their own right. - June 11, 2011 Ritter Butzke, www.sniperberlin.com

FILMMAKERS / ARTISTS

DENISE GARCIA BERGT - The journalist, film producer and -director was born in Rio de Janeiro and grew up in Porto Alegre, where she worked for as a producer for short and feature films. In 1999, she moved back to Rio de Janeiro to found her own production company Toscographics. She directed her first documentary film ‘I’m Ugly but Trendy’ in 2005. In 2008, she moved to Berlin to work as artist in residence at Rawart/Rawtemple. She has developed scripts for Toscographics in Brazil and started researching German policy regarding asylum. - June 13, 2011 Schau Fenster http://denisegarciabergt.com , http://bleiberechtdoc.wordpress.com, http://toscographics.uol.com.br

MODE 2 is a british grafitti artist who has been active since the early 90s. His large and komplex picture narratives can be – amongst other cities - marvelled at on many berlin walls, respectfully untouched by admirers and adversaries, equally. He is actively engaged in the „re-humanization of the urban habitat“. For ¡RADICAL RIDDIMS!, in a all-day-live-performance Mode 2 will be painting a gigantic mural on the huge wall, to be obseved through the equally large window front which is eponymous for the gallery (Schau Fenster meaning shop window in german). - June 10, 2011 Schau Fenster www.mode2.org 

THEORETICIANS

UH-YOUNG KIM is a journalist and dj who has been active in popular culture since the early 1990s. In 1998, he co-founded the S.O.M.A. festival in Cologne. Copy editor for Spex magazine from 1998 to 2002. Freelance writer for Spiegel Online, taz and Goethe Institute. He has been hosting ‘Massive’, a radio show which features Reggae and related styles like roots and culture, Dancehall, Dub classics and Dubstep plus timeless visions, global phenomena and local variations - every Wednesday evening at 11 p.m. on Funkhaus Europa. - June 10, 2011 Schau Fenster www.funkhauseuropa.de/sendungen/massive

ASTRID KUSSER is a historian and culture scientists from Cologne. Her dissertation was on “Dance culture within the Black Atlantic”, and she curated an exhibition about the visual culture during Germany’s colonial times, which went on show in Hamburg, Nuremberg and Berlin. She was part of Cologne University’s ‘Media and cultural communications’ research program and organized events to support the rights of migrants and against racism for the Kanak Attak network. - June 13, 2011 Schau Fenster Gallery

¡RADICAL RIDDIMS! S. 9 

GEORG MILZ is a member of the Dala Dala Soundz soundsystem from Munich, an A&R for Out Here Records, and an expert on urban African dance music. He put together the ‘Ayobaness – South African House’ and ‘BLNRB2’ compilations and organized tours for African artists. Currently, he has been researching the history of Coupé Decalé between Paris and the Ivory Coast. - June 13, 2011 Schau Fenster Gallery www.outhere.de

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