ASSIKO GOLDEN BAND DE GRAND YOFF - MAGG TEKKI

Released: 10/11/23

For 20 years, and across three generations of band members, Senegal's sprawling drum collective Assiko Golden Band de Grand Yoff have been tearing up Dakar’s nightlife scene, playing raucous all-night sets at weddings, secret parties, and political rallies; more than this, however, based in the impoverished neighborhood of Grand Yoff, they have also operated as a vital mutual aid group for the larger community. As grainy cellphone footage of their live shows has spread online, so has their legend – and so it’s something of an understatement to say that their first album, the incredible Magg Tekki, has been a long time coming. 

The result of a collaboration with Swedish musician and archivist Karl-Jonas Winqvist, who met the band in Dakar in 2018 and facilitated recording sessions and overdubs via Whatsapp, Magg Tekki is a profound musical statement. Building songs on ancient rhythms passed on from Senegal, Cameroon and the infamous Gorée Island, the LP sees the Senegalese poet Djiby Ly (Wau Wau Collectif) backed by 14 different percussive instruments, plus horns, winds, balafon, and the occasional accordion, all going towards creating an intoxicating sound of which Count Ossie, Fela Kuti and Tony Allen would be proud.