the only place on the net where you can find hidden music gems from all the world countries beyond the usual conventional routes! The Dugongo will guide you to the most remote corners in search of unconventional sounds, forgotten musical scenes and legendary artists, unknown outside their borders.
Born May 27, 1948 in Am-Timan, capital of the Salamat region in the southeast of Chad , Ahamat Saleh Rougalta known as “Hamed Gazonga” or “Master Gazonga” has been playing football since his childhood (goalkeeper ) then athletics before moving to Ndjamena where he survives with odd jobs.
In 1968, at the age of 20, he decided to take up music and make it his career. He then joined city groups before founding the orchestra L'International Challal, with which he toured throughout the country, going from village to village to broadcast his music and please. In these rural areas marked by poverty and which he knows well, Master Gazonga asks farmers who do not have financial means to pay their entry tickets with foodstuffs (millet, peanuts, rice, sorghum, rice, fish). dried, chickens, eggs, beans, etc.). Thus, he can resell them on the markets of the capital Ndjamena and pay his musicians. His numerous tours in all regions of the country will make L'International Challal one of the most popular groups in Chad.
In 1984, Maître Gazonga moved to Abidjan ( Ivory Coast ) where he rubbed shoulders with various artists and recorded “Les Jaloux Saboteurs” at the JBZ studio, the flagship title of his first album which immediately became a huge success. Drawing inspiration from his life in exile, he recounts the difficulties encountered by a foreigner living far from his country, the jealousies of the natives who deny him his modest success and the experience that a foreigner always faces.
Despite this popularity, he decided to return home where he released cassettes. In 1986, his famous title “Les Jaloux Saboteurs” was part of the soundtrack of the film “Black Mic Mac” by Thomas Gillou and Cheikh Doucouré, with Jacques Villeret and Isaac de Bankolé as star actors.
One of the most popular singers in his country, Maître Gazonga died on April 1, 2006 at the National General Reference Hospital (HGRN) in Ndjamena, Chad , following sudden and violent headaches. This unfortunate event occurring on April Fool's Day (April 1), his public did not initially believe in his disappearance.
Xamdam Sobirov was born on January 6, 1989 in a village in the Navbahor district and graduated from the Tashkent State Art Institute.
In 2011 he founded the vocal trio Mango, with peers Oybek Sangin and Azizxon Saydumarov. It is a pop project over which the three have little control (they are based at Nevo Music, the largest local label together with Riza Nova), but despite a certain diffusion in the media, the hoped-for profits do not arrive, so much so that the artist is going through a period of economic difficulty.
In 2016 Mango disbanded and the following year Sobirov attempted a solo career, initially without particular success, so much so that to support himself he decided to work as an author for the ensemble of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The collaboration ends in 2019, when his popularity finally begins to expand: since then it has been a continuous crescendo, which leads him in 2021 to become the most popular singer of the moment and in February 2022 to release "Tentakcham", a hugely successful single which established itself throughout Central Asia, in the area of the Turkic languages, becoming the most listened to song in Uzbek on YouTube (to date it has over 137 million visits; only recently it was surpassed by another song by Sobirov himself, " Janze").
His fourth studio work was finally released on April 17, 2023 (preceded by an EP and two albums): it contains the single mentioned above, plus others published periodically in the last couple of years.
Sobirov himself composes nine out of thirteen songs (the remaining four are signed by his young colleagues), while the arrangements are almost entirely handled by Doniyor Akhmedov, house producer and member of the Dndm project, which also boasts a cult following in Europe, at least among club music fans.
Juan Carlos Jiménez Rufino, popularly known as La Mona Jiménez, is an Argentine quartet reference. He was born on January 11, 1951 in the city of Córdoba, Argentina. He is one of those people for whom a presentation falls short. One of those national figures who just by seeing him you know who he is, just by listening to him your body begins to move and a smile appears. Jiménez, as they call him in his native land, La Mona as he became known throughout the country or simply a “Neighborhood Boy”, in his own words. Juan Carlos Jiménez Rufino began to relate to art at a very young age. Grandson of a grandmother from Catamarca, son of a father from Tucumán and a mother from Salta, the different influences of our Argentina would begin to be sown in him to, in the near future, bear fruit. Folklore, Tango and, later in time, Rock, were breathed in his home. He was always sung and danced, in equal parts, realizing the integral artist who was approaching. So much so that at the age of 10 he was part of a folkloric ballet, becoming a second malambo dancer.
A young Carlitos Jiménez live for a presentation by the Berna Quartet.
Time did not take long to show the multiple capabilities that Carlitos had. At just 15 years old he debuted as a singer in “Berna y su Conjunto Juvenil” with the song “Diez Monedas”. This first step in professionalism ended years later, amid the differences that existed with training. Among other things, they didn't let him dance and, true to his style, that connection with the band ended. This is how he arrives at the legendary “Golden Quartet”, a group in which he was for twelve years. In his desire to continue growing, his long-awaited debut as a soloist finally arrived in 1984. A more mature Jiménez not only began to write a new page for the history of the quartet, but he was going to rewrite it forever.
With the legendary Charly Garcia.
With more than fifty-five years of singing as a quartet, he has almost a hundred albums in his work, more than 1,200 songs, 29 gold records, 8 platinum records, 2 double platinum records, and more than twenty-seven years of playing live from Tuesday to Sunday, around 10,000 live shows. That is Jiménez, a tireless and immense artist because of his work and dedication, but also because of his bond with the people. In the words of the renowned Afro-Peruvian percussionist Bam Bam Miranda (RIP) “He has no audience, he has accomplices . ” That complicity with the people was built through Jiménez's gestures, which have been innumerable over the years, from the material to the intangible. Recognized are the raffles on his birthday where he gave his followers motorcycles, cars, apartments, cash, a house and even taxis, yes, thinking of generating a source of work.
With the legendary Luis Alberto Spinetta.
But there are also those gestures that fill the heart with recognition, and La Mona came to invent her own sign language to greet each person who comes to accompany her. Just by seeing the sign made to him from the audience, Jiménez repeats the gesture and names each neighborhood, city or province.
That commitment is what generates a unique bond, a sincere back and forth between artist and audience, because they are equal, Jímenez is part of the people, of those marginalized, exploited, discriminated majorities. He is a black artist who knows where he comes from, that he owes it to his people and is consistent with the importance of proudly expressing that identity.
In the words of his son Carli Jiménez “Although the tarantella and the double step are the origins of the quartet, musically, in the way of interpreting it, living it and dancing it, European colonialism is not present (...) It is obvious , the color of the skin, the curl of the hair, the wide noses. Look at my old man. In the way of dancing it, how the legs move, the body, it is more of an African dance than dancing a tarantella or a double step.”
If we do a brief review of some songs we can see how he made it clear on multiple occasions: “ Oh, God, I ask you / Don't forget / About my race, black race / Don't forget / Fire in the blood / strength in the soul, hunger for freedom / murmur of a black song / that springs from the skin” (Raza Negra, 1994). Or later in time with songs like El negro no es un cabrón : “El negro was a slave, in the century that is leaving / the black was a slave, in the millennium that is leaving / and now he feels free, very truly free and sings with joy, for so much happiness” (Bien Ah!, 1999). These lyrics are some of the many where Jiménez positions himself against different themes that oppress the majority, such as in Por portación de cara (Trilogy 2nd act of 2006), Gatillo Fácil “on one side they shoot and then ask for documents” (I live again…I sing again!, 2008).
A phenomenon that transcends generations and continues to add chapters to its history. For example, the Bum Bum Festival , organized for the first time in 2022, builds bridges and brings together established and emerging artists from different musical genres each year. In its third edition, held in Jesús María, the first official registration of Jimenero tattoos took place, and people carry them on their skin in addition to carrying them in their hearts. Happy birthday Jímenez, for many more. From heart to heart".
Ariunaa ( born on March 15, 1967 in Ulaanbaatar) is an honored monglian actress and pop diva singer. His artistic career began at the age of 15, and he first became known to the public with the song "Sixteen Years". He graduated from the Bulgarian Art School (Conservatory) as a singer. So, he returned to Mongolia and worked as a singer in the Soyol-Erdene band, and in 1990, he started creating "Freelance Artist" and his works. With the Eros #1 album released in 1996, he exploded in the Mongolian music world, winning over the audience (charisma) and creating his own space. Songs such as "Утасны чинь дугаар" and "Анхны хайр" from the Eros #1 album conquered young people at that time.
She sings fluently in 3 octaves, her voice range is wide and wide, "Dramatic Soprano " has a narrow voice. His voice is unique, inimitable, powerful and full of twang. Ariunaa's singing style and ability are high, and she is able to perform pop and pop songs("Хорвоог дүүргэж дэргэд л байгаарай", "Санааны чимээ", "Нарны хаан хүүхдүүд", "Домгийн өглөө", "Цасан аялгуу", "Миами аялгуу", "Хөх монголын үр сад", "Ирэх л гэж") lyrical ("Чи минь", "Жаргаж үзээгүй зул дурлал минь", "Үл таних эмэгтэй", "Зүүдний ханхүү", "Жинжиймаа", "Нандин учрал") grunge rock ("Утасны чинь дугаар") , soft rock ("Чамтай бас чамгүй", "Бундан зүрх", "Хайрын зай") sings in styles and genres. Vocally, the top tone is G 2nd octave sol ("Амласан хайр"). In his songs, he usually sings the upper tone of the 2nd octave C♯ - F#. Ariunaa's songs "Тэнгэр шиг бай and "Үл таних эмэгтэй" require a lot of vocals and show a lot of singer's skill, while "Талын монгол айл" is a song with a professional twist and a feeling. Also, the song of the drama "Хунгийн сүүлчийн дуу" has an operatic style, with falsetto overtones. She is called "Pop diva" because she is able to sing songs of any style and genre. She is one of the powerful Mongolian female singers admired by many.
A brief biography
Timur's Ariunaa was born as the daughter of Timur and Bayanjargal from Bat-Ulzii sub-district of Ovorkhangai province. He was talented in singing and dancing since childhood. Since she was a student at the 10-year secondary school No. 52 in the capital, Ariunaa has been singing in the band "Song of the Sun" under the leadership of L. Galmandakh, a famous writer of children's songs. When he was 15 years old, he sang the song "16 nas" for the first time. At the age of 16, one year later, the song was recorded in the golden fund of the Mongolian Radio. While in middle school, he won a silver medal in the art examination of the Mongolian pioneer organization and was also selected in the Soviet state singing competition. Later, she graduated from the Bulgarian Institute of Music and became a professional singer. Ariunaa started singing as an accompanist in the "Soyol Erdene" ensemble of the State Philharmonic and later became a soloist in the group. Now he is an independent artist. United Nations children's ambassador singer. Worked as a judge of the Universe Best Songs festival. Also, in 1998, he established the Holy Heart NGO, which focuses on disabled children, and created a foundation for children with poor life opportunities who have become part of society. His contribution to special schools for children with disabilities was so great that the foundation was discontinued in 2004.
In 1996, he released his first album "Eros No. 1" and held his first solo concert that year. The songs included in the album"Мартахгүй", "Баяртай гэж хэлж чадахгvй" and "Анхны хайр" were very successful and made him a famous singer. The song "Утасны дугаар" included in the album had a very unique solution, which was popular at the time. In the following year, 1997, he released his second album, "Zövkhön chinii tukhai", and this album included hits such as "Зөвхөн тэр хайрандаа", "Хайрлахын цаана", "Хайрын тухай ярилцья" with singer Oyunbile, and "Yггүй мордсон чи минь" with singer Marka. His songs confirmed his reputation and he became one of the best singers in Mongolia. His 2001 album "Chi Min" broke the success of his previous albums. The album contained hits such as "Нарны хаан хүүхэд", "37 дахь захидал", "Санааны чимээ", "Чи минь" and "Аялгуу чиний увидас".
In the cold, snowy February of 2002, the album "Khavryn shöniin bodol" was released, and the album included songs with a very melodious, low tone and a patriotic theme. The song "Хаврын шөнийн бодол" was sung in a melodious and innovative rhythm, and was broadcasted on the loudspeakers of Narantul market and on all radio and TV channels.
The singer Ariunaa became the first child ambassador from Mongolia. In May 2002, she participated in the concert organized by the Children's Conference in New York under the theme "Let's develop the world together with children" and performed "Нарны хаан хүүхэд". sang the song. In 2003, he had a lot of creative work, and he released two new albums, "You are my life" and "Minii shine oron zai". Also, the singer performed his "Minii shine oron zai" concert on October 31, November 1 and 2, 2003.
He performed not only on the territory of Mongolia, but also toured Yugoslavia, Korea, Japan, and America for Mongolians abroad. T. Ariunaa is not only one of the famous pop singers of Mongolia, but he is also the head of the "Ariun Tzhev" Foundation, which focuses on the education of disabled children.
The Lemons is a four-member Mongolian rock band formed in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. They released their debut album Red in December 2006. The band consists of 4 members, lead singer Odbayar (Odnoo), guitarist Tulgaa, bassist Anar, and drummer Unurbayar. Lead singer and rhythm guitarist Odnoo established himself as a national style icon. His sunglasses and hat became a signature for him and the band. Lead singer Odnoo was a guitarist in metal rock band called 'Metronome', guitarist Tulgaa was also in a different band called 'Midnight' before joining together as The Lemons. As kids, they were all interested in and passionate about music, specially live music, and were somewhat related musically. Band bassist Anar graduated from Music and Dance College of Mongolia, guitarist Tulgaa's family background were connected to music, and they connected and found each other through their common interest in live music.
The band secured a devout following after their impassioned set at the 2006 Playtime Festival (Mongolia's first and biggest rock fest). After their first performance at Playtime festival they started to participate annually as they continuously gained a common crowd. Their annual performances at Playtime have consistently been lauded. They are known by their unique fresh and memorable music and deeply poetic lyrics. Almost every song is written in Mongolian language and they said in an interview about how melody comes first and the suitable lyrics comes afterwards. The Lemons enjoys modernist writers of Mongolia such as Ayurzana, and Ulziitugs; which one of their song 'Shunu Dund Tsas Orj Baina (Snowing at midnight)' is written by Ulziitugs's poem with same name.
Their Red Album was the first rock album released by a Mongolian band to achieve national commercial success without heavily compromising its rock sound. Critics described it as sounding similar to early work of The Strokes.[1] Its hits were Hairtai (Love you) and Dzuud Noirondoo(in the dream) (transcribed from the Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet). The band was able to devote its energies full-time to music and began playing multiple shows a week at Ulaanbaatar music venues. In 2009, The Lemons released their second album, Залуу Ленины Ойролцоо Зн Давхарт (roughly On the 3rd floor, around young Lenin.) It expanded the band's sound to include influences from post rock to punk rock. Due to its more challenging sound, the album was less popular than their first effort, though in the three years since their first album the core Mongolian rock audience had expanded significantly and almost universally declared it a triumph.
In 2015, The Lemons released their third studio album, III. The album consists of 10 tracks, most famous tracks are Сүүлийн уянга (Suuliin uyanga) and Paradise. At the same year, The Lemons performed their 3rd big concert at Crocus Event Hall, in Mongolia. Their third studio album 'III' attained a nationwide cult status due to its marketable pop synth blend. In 2016 May, The Lemons performed their first and last 'Unplugged' concert at Mongolian State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet. They performed their most famous songs and cover songs by their favorite artists with acoustic guitars and orchestra. Following the 'Unplugged' concert, they released an 'Unplugged album' and DVD of the concert. In 2018, they released their first 'Red album' in a vinyl form with only 500 copies.
Lačni Franz was a Slovenian rock band, founded in 1979 in Maribor. The creative core of the five-member line-up consisted of the singer Zoran Predin and innovative guitarist Oto Rimele, who constructed the band's sound on an atypical combination of new-wave aesthetics, subtle melodic-arrangement procedures, provocative social comments and (self-)ironic poetic images.
The group's rise began in 1981 with a successful performance at the Omladinskome Festival in Subotica, and the well-received debut of Ikebana, recorded for the Helidon record company and produced by Boris Bele (from the Bulldozer band). The album contained some of their best ("Praslovan", "Stari vojak") and most unconventional ("Bog nima telefona") performances in their entire career.
The author's original uncompromisingness and impeccable musicianship marked the second (commercially less notable) achievement Adijo pamet (1982) and the next, noticeably more communicative album Ne mi dihat za ovratnik (1983). The title song brought them closer to the widest audience, and the range of influences in the first period of their career included local folk heritage, jazz passages, elements of cabaret, blues-inspired ballads and a rich experience of Anglo-American art rock and post punk. After the album Na svoji strani (1986), Rimele briefly joined the lineup of the group Laibach, and then returned to his original calling as a painter and visual artist. The singles from that stage ("Na svoji strani", "Naj ti poljub nariše ustnice", "Čuvstveno stanje mlade krave, druge največje slovenske živali") strengthened the reputation of the band, which is capable of reconciling its own artistic affinities with the desires of the middle rock current.
Although Lačni Franz maintained relatively high quality in the following years (and in a changed line-up), subsequent works (Sirene tulijo, Tiha voda) are generally considered less important in the overall discography. Zadnja večerja (1993) is their last studio work, although they performed in concert until December 1997. Predin developed a successful independent career by incorporating the standards of Lačno Franz into his own repertoire. The band reunited several times in a rejuvenated line-up (e.g. the album Svako dobro, 2016).
Mohammed Wardi was a Sudanese singer who has been defined as "The Pharaoh", "The Emperor", "The Legend”, “The Last King of the Nubians”, “The Sudanese Golden Ugola” and among the best African singers.
Everything start from 19 July 1932, when in a small ethnic Nubian village called Sawarda (near Wadi Halfa, a stone's throw from Nile and from the border with Egypt) Mohammed Wardi was born. July 19 is a very particular day in his life because it comes back and back as we go. The first time he recorded a song on the radio was July 19, 1957. When the military coup of July 19, 1971, occurred, he spent his longest time in detention. So it's always [the number] 19 for him.
Orphaned at nine, and abandoning an already stable career as a music teacher at just over twenty, Wardi threw himself into the frenetic Khartoum of the 1950s, a city that had recently become the capital of Sudan independent from Great Britain and Egypt (1956 ). Mohammed, self-taught, then began singing on the radio, in particular on the Huna Omdurman station, created by the English in the 1940s but gradually transformed into a "national" Sudanese radio. It will be one success after another: making use of collaborations with the greatest Sudanese and non-Sudanese poets (here is a list), Wardi will become one of the most influential and representative singers and activists of his country's dynamic music scene.
Wardi's story is of particular interest to us because it is inextricably linked to his political activism and, in general, to the recent history of Sudan.
In 1958, after only two years of independence, General Ibrahim Abboud came to power in a coup. Among the successes of Wardi, a staunch opponent of Abboud, we find the song Uktubir Akhdar ("Green October"), dedicated to the strength of the people who can "bring down the prison walls", exactly what happened in October 1964 during the riots people who swept away the coup general and inaugurated a civilian government. From that October the Uktubiriyaat ("the October ones") were born, poems and songs aimed at telling and celebrating the events of that year. Finally, Asbah al-Subh ("The morning has come", here a legendary live performance), Wardi's song dedicated in particular to the students who opposed Abboud, also belongs to that period. When he sang to Ibrahim Abboud, a former president of Sudan, it was during a military coup. He thought the military loved their country because they didn't have political parties, they didn't just talk a lot and not do much. They were military, they had order, they had discipline. So he sang for these people, but the first political clash that came with them was when they drowned Halfa, when Sudan let Egypt build the dam that drowned the city we come from.
After that, became more conscious, and more aligned with the political left. To be more specific, he was in the Sudanese Communist Party (the largest in Africa during the Cold War). That was in the '60s, he was part of the opposition to remove colonization. They were very close to the youth and their voice was the loudest.
In 1969, Sudan experienced another coup, this time orchestrated by General Ja‘far al-Nimeyri. If in the beginning Wardi supported the latter's "socialist" policies, he later changed his mind when faced with the ferocious repression of dissidents (including himself, imprisoned), with laws that limited freedom of expression, producing, among other things, the resulting decline of the music industry. In a first self-imposed exile, he performed some songs such as Banadeeha (“I am calling her”) in which he criticized al-Nimeyri and, with songs such as Ya Sha'aban Lahabak Thouritak (“O People, your revolution has caught fire”) and today's song Hanabnīhu ("We will build it!"), supported the popular protest movement that would lead to a new civilian government in 1985.
However, the real exile (between Cairo and the United States) came in 1989, with a further coup d'état by Omar al-Bashir, who remained in office for exactly 30 years, until the recent Sudanese popular uprisings that began in 2018, which ousted him in April 2019.
Milestones from that period are such as al-Marsal (“The Messenger”), Balad Rayeh (“The country is lost”) and above all Sallim Mafateeh Al Balad (“Give us the keys to the country”), which has become famous again, like many of his others. songs, in "updated" versions (like that of the artist Zoozita) and loudly taken up during the most recent protests. In 1994, Wardi won a prize that anointed him the best singer in Africa.
Mohammed Wardi, like music in Sudan, is a treasure to be discovered: we have not exposed his songs in Nubian, those for Sudanese unity, those dedicated to the Sudanese diaspora, those against all sorts of racism and the dozens of songs of 'Love. We have not talked about some legendary moments, such as his concert in front of thousands of Sudanese refugees in the refugee camp of Itang (Ethiopia) in 1990, about that fan who came on foot from Mali to ask him for an autograph for which he paid for the return flight and of his triumphal return to Sudan in 2002.
Here a nice interview to Mohammed Wardi's son: https://www.okayafrica.com/mohammed-wardi-sudan-last-king-nubia/
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