Fuse ODG's Impressive New Album Attempting to put him and Africa on the map

 
                                                              Fuse ODG - T.I.N.A (3 Beat/Off Da Ground) new album which is released on Monday Nov 3rd, 9/10         There is no one else like Fuse ODG - and that includes you Kanye West. Not only is Fuse putting himself on the map – over the past year he’s had 5 top 40 singles including 4 in the top 10, and won 2 Mobo awards amongst many other achievements – but he’s putting Africa on the map, his more positive version of Africa that isn’t full of corrupt Politicians and poverty and disease – although Fuse isn’t denying any of that exists in Africa, indeed commenting on it throughout the album. Instead through this album T.I.N.A, which stands for This Is New Africa, he’s showcasing the creative, cultural, musical, and vibrant side of Africa, not least when he burst on to the scene last year but bringing the Ghanaian dance craze ‘Azonto’ to a mainstream audience with his single of the same name, which often gets ignored for the aforementioned corruption and disease. Indeed in the opening track ‘Letter to TINA’, Fuse sings ‘Tired of the way they portray you in the media.’ He’s putting ‘New’ Africa on the map, as well as letting people get to know him a bit on this album and putting himself on the map, and showing it to the world, as his catchphrase is which he shouts at points throughout the album, ‘it’s a worldwide movement.’ The most impressive thing about this album is the way Fuse ODG  infuses the traditional afrobeat and Ghanaian music sound of the acoustic guitars and drums and mixes it with the more modern afrobeats (with an S) and hip-life and GH-rap sounds which has been bubbling away in Africa and UK underground scenes for the past 10 or so years. And mixing it with elements of reggae, pop, and rock, but making a sound that’s distinctively and addictively his own This is most effective on tracks such as ‘Dangerous Love’, ‘T.I.N.A’, and the aforementioned ‘Letter To TINA.’ You should already know the massive, inescapable, and hyperactive singles ‘Antenna’, and ‘Azonto’ which still sound fresh on here and even better when mixed in with the other tracks they’re given a new context. Then ‘Thinking About U’ which is quite an affecting track, ‘Ye Play’, and the emotional ‘I’ll Be Back’ take things to a whole new level. It’s a multi-level sound which comes across throughout the album with clever word play and lyrics which require repeated listens. But basically just melt into this deeply affecting and effective, not to mention energetic, and feel both Africa and Fuse ODG’s sunshine and energy shine through. Fuse ODG’s album ‘T.I.N.A’ which stands for ‘This Is New Africa’, is part of a musical movement from an African collective that want to creative a more positive image of Africa, and hopefully this album will go some way to throw those outdated assumptions out of the window, allowing for the giant continent of Africa to be seen in a more favourable light.
http://www.twitter.com/FuseODG  
http://www.FuseODG.com Thanks to Catherine Ann Smiles @ Stoked PR  

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