AFRO / SOUL / FUNK

Killer 90's Afro-Root from Nigeria.

Limited edition of 2,000 copies released for Record Store Day 2018.Includes poster and six stickers of the covers.6 rare 7" singles reissued for the first time, with original artwork and labels.

After 11 months at sea, Tchiss landed back in Rome, the city that sparked the inspiration to his very first solo album: Stranger Já Catem Traboi. Accompanied by band members of Cabo Verde Novo, with whom he had previously collaborated in 1981 on their one and only LP Moreninha, Tchiss composed what he considers his musical passport. And in 1982, after a two-day session at the Pomodoro Studio in Sutri, Stranger Já Catem Traboi was recorded. Drawing from his personal and collective experience, Tchiss sings of the hardships of finding a job abroad and getting an education, of love that comes and goes and other people’s judgment, of the tragic loss of lives at sea: themes from 40 years ago, yet so relevant today. More than an album, Stranger Já Catem Traboi is a journey through the layered life and music of Tchiss Lopes.

After his first LP Stranger Já Catem Traboi, Tchiss decided to further experiment with reggae and funaná, inspired by the local rhythms of the island of Santiago. Gathering some of the best Cape Verdean musicians of the time, in 1984, together with Zé António on guitar, Bebethe on bass and Alírio on drums, he recorded his second LP Já Bô Corre D’Mim. An album that sings of a young man far from home, his unrequited love and saudade, the struggles of street life in a foreign land and a world of inequality. Recorded in just 3 days at the Pomodoro Studio in Sutri, the album fully expresses the deep and layered sound of Tchiss’ music, where upbeat tempo, powerful vocals and electrifying guitar solos tangle together in a dynamic mix of traditional melodies and cosmic reggae.

Artists like Jalen Ngonda come around once in a lifetime, so it is our privilege and distinct pleasure to announce the release of his debut album Come Around and Love Me. Anyone who has had the pleasure of seeing Jalen perform live knows that he is one of the most captivating performers on today's soul scene. His voice, equal parts raw feeling and elegance, exudes confidence and charm-disarming packed rooms of rowdy concert goers, leaving them silent as they hold fast to every syllable sung. Plans for the album were struck just months before the COVID 19 pandemic shut the world down. Notwithstanding, Jalen eventually made it to Hive Mind Studios in Brooklyn, NY where he began writing and recording with the help of producer/arrangers Mike Buckley and Vincent Chiarito (both members of Charles Bradley's Extraordinaires) and a crack team of a-list musicians from the Daptone family. The team skillfully blends heavy arrangements and introspective lyrics with motown sophistication, leaving the listener in a blissful wash of wonderment. Jalen has been writing songs since he was 14, and his compositions are also very much of these times. He explains, "I love music from the 20th century- I listen to it all the time, but I'm in this world and the 21st century. ...to a stranger, I'd describe my music as modern soul and R&B, while trying to fit in the Beach Boys and the Beatles somewhere in between." Come Around and Love Me reveals how he creates a classic approach that is rooted in the sounds of revered pioneers, without falling into imitation-leaving no doubt that Jalen will continue to shine within the superlative, timeless musical tradition that is Daptone's hallmark. Now it's your turn to come around and love one of the finest soul albums of the decade.

Orquesta Akokán is ready to unleash 16 Rayos on the world's dance floors, via Daptone Records. Recorded in Havana’s famed Egrem Studios, the group displays a cohesion forged by an intense performing and touring cycle. The musical conversation that began in the Areito studios three years earlier blossomed into an easy, intimate dialogue between good friends - allowing full, fearless musical expression and risk-taking outside of their comfort zones.

Daptone Records is proud to present Brooklyn to Brooklin, the Scone Cash Players inaugural release on Daptone Records. Longtime Daptone Hammond ace, Adam Scone was seduced when his traveling performances brought him from Brooklyn, New York to Brooklin, Brasil, where he found a trove of new love and music. Produced by Bosco Mann, and featuring Jimmy James (True-Loves, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio) on guitar and Neal Sugarman (Sugarman 3, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings) on tenor sax the group took this newfound inspiration into the studio and tracked some of the freshest soulful music we've heard in some time.