Afrikan Warriors Bring UK Dub to Spain

It’s often been said that music is an international language, one without borders and this is exactly a story which brings unity across different continents, with the sole purpose to bring joy through sounds and rhythms. Let’s start with what the name ‘Afrikan Warriors’ means?

“The name tells the story of the members of this band and project, which explains their roots and childhood by growing up and learning with African people, mostly from Gambia. Ganjaman (Afrikan Warrior’s member) came up with this idea and shared it with the full crew, and we all felt the vibe. We named it as a tribute to all the Africans who are struggling to survive, which makes them “warriors”, we identify ourselves as that because we are a part of them and fight for it!”
 

Four years deep into the musical journey the described crew which moves in ‘oneness’, started with the main mission of spreading a positive message from the roots of the culture which is Africa, also the beginning and end of creation, to continuously fighting against the oppressor (Babylon).  Wanting to dig deeper into this, I wanted to know how the ‘Afrikan Warriors’ sound would be defined: 

“Think and feel tribal music, spiritual music, ancestral, powerful, Rastafari music. It includes African sounds like percussion, melodies… which define us. We also use a lot of horns in our productions which makes our songs sound “epic”, heavy bass lines, stepper kicks, all of which is the energetic music we live for!”
 

If you weren’t at all intrigued to know any of the other member’s name, you really should be, as there are four in total that make up the crew: 

“Puppa Hifa – Singer, Organizer & Producer. 

Ganjaman Fyah – Singer, Selector, Producer & Promoter. 

B-Lion – Sound Engineer, Selector & Producer. 

King Jawo – Promoter, Selector.” 

Here’s the catch, three of the members are from Catalonia (Girona) Spain, the fourth member is from Gambia and came to Catalonia at a very young age. They all grew up together since primary school, the rest is now history.  So how was it that ‘Afrikan Warriors’ brought over UK Dub to Spain? 

B-lion and Puppa Hifa spent some time living in the UK – Bristol and Southampton, they described “living that real experience and through knowledge discovered the true vibe of the sound system. At the beginning in Spain not many people knew about this music or the sound system scene. So it’s true in saying that since we started the movement, we can see how this sound is getting known here in Spain.” 

One thing to note when it comes to the sound system culture, is that vinyl’s are still in use to play music – tell me you’ve at least once heard a track be played from a record player? If you haven’t, it’s long overdue for you to experience the true wonder of pressed music. Due to the popularity in sound starting to rise, the ‘oneness crew’ describes how “nowadays you can see a new sound system almost every month, but what is good is that no sound systems, sounds the same as the next one”. 

It only felt natural to follow up and ask how bookings are made for people to enjoy these events? 

“We’ve had several bookings in different parts of Europe. For example, we played at Dub Gathering last year in Alicante, we were also invited to play in Madrid at Rock Palace – Dubmingos, many places across Barcelona, Girona and other villages. We also love to organise our own events by offering a full show with the sound system, merchandising, bar service. This year we started Costa Brava Dub Club which is a monthly new event we created for the people that love Afrikan Warriors and Dub.” 

Joining the dots across the global music scene, ‘Afrikan Warriors’ have worked with artists like, Jah Garvey (Bristol, UK), Fikir Amlak (California), Jolof Warrior (Senegal), Sammy Gold (Jamaica), Raggattack (Spain), Arise, Tucsound (Spain), ItesMan (Spain), Nyah Flama (Spain), Sista Livity (Good Over Evil – Spain), & many more… What it really comes down to is “the positive energy, conscious message, as we say: Word, Sound & Power. For people to feel that what we do, comes from our heart.” 

With the above in mind, B-Lion takes a moment to find the truth in answering what the future vision is for the Spanish pioneers in the Dub scene? 

“We want to create more speaker boxes to grow our sound system to make it bigger.  In the future we would love to have some of our music pressed on vinyl and to start our record company.  We want to share our vision internationally with a message of righteousness and consciousness, because we have to get spiritually and mentally fit. It’s time to tell about the half that has never been told.”

It turns out, when we talk about dub it implies “exclusivity”, so not all the songs are shared or streamed, resulting people having to come to the show to hear it. Music is also exchanged with other sound systems so they can promote and bring different features to one another. To check out Afrikan Warrior’s vibes hit the link https://afrikanwarriorssoundsystem.bandcamp.com or follow on socials @afrikanwarriorssoundsystem to never miss a beat.