lafawndah

Lafawndah’s The Dawn Of Everything is a song that she says was born between unlearning the past and watching the future unfold and is dedicated to the people of Iran and their bravery in rising up after the murder of Masha Amini. Paul talks with the pan-global, pan-genre artist, herself with Iranian roots, about why it’s important for music to offer solidarity and protest, as she puts it “We have music for when we’re born, we have music for when we die and we have music for when we say no!”

The Dawn Of Everything is available only via Bandcamp for now and all proceeds from sales will be donated to the organisation Human Rights In Iran - persian.iranhumanrights.org

This episode is sponsored by Audio-Technica

Paul’s debut book, Coming To Berlin: Global Journeys Into An Electronic Music And Club Culture Capital is out now on Velocity Press. Click here to find out more. 

Lost and Sound title music by E.S.O

This November, Le Guess Who? will feature a special performance by Cheikha Rabia, a renowned singer with over five decades of experience in reinventing rai music. Her performance will be a collaboration with Esraa Warda, a prolific dancer expert in traditional North African dance forms. Both artists hail from Algeria, but currently, Cheikha Rabia lives in Paris. 

After having performed at Le Guess Who? in 2019, we asked Yasmine Dubois - also known as Lafawndah -, a singer, songwriter, producer and director to visit Cheikha Rabia at home in Paris. There, they talked about Rabia's background story, what rai means to her, and the refreshing opportunities that pure coincidence offer. 

Words by Lafawndah
Audio by Cheri Percy (music recorded by Lafawndah during interview)
Photography by Alexia Fiasco

Die passende Playlist gibt es bei Apple Music hier: https://tinyurl.com/yxgpbg6q
und bei Spotify hier: https://tinyurl.com/yxbtgqc6

www.zimmerlautstaerke.jetzt

There are times when I like to take the Take 5 on the road; heading to places where creative people gather, and the conversations around art and music are part and parcel of daily life. Dark Mofo in Hobart is one of those places. A festival set in the middle of winter, in the southernmost city in Australia. When the wind blows, it’s coming from Antarctica. The streets light up with red crosses each night to signal some sort of curiosity you should explore within, there are open fires and pagan feasts, and there is music; curated in such a beautiful way it feels like a movement, like a moment. This is the place I met Kelsey Lu. Lu grew up in North Carolina, and was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness. Early on, she found the cello, and connected deeply with the strings. She followed her heart, left home, and broke bonds with her family as she headed to New York City to follow her musical dreams. Through her 20’s Kelsey Lu found her voice, she collaborated with Solange, and Sampha, she experienced heartache and pain, and she headed west to heal, and begin again. Across five beautiful choices, Lu shared her songs of hope. All women, all powerful, and all tied to the human and artist she has become. Settle in for a beautiful conversation, with Kelsey Lu.

Alice Coltrane – 'Journey in Satchidananda'

Billie Holiday – 'Ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do'

Des’ree – 'You Gotta Be'

Lafawndah – 'Substancia'

Chaka Khan – 'I’m Every Woman'