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<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Photo: Michael Chia.</small></p><p>Bai wanted to create a blues sound for an English speaking audience which spoke about his West African heritage and so the album <em>Salone</em>, the affectionate name for Sierra Leone, was born. The album has already been nominated for Best Acoustic Blues Album at the <a href="http://www.bluesblastmagazine.com/2020-blues-blast-music-award-nominees-announced/" target="_blank">Blues Blast Awards</a> – the only non-American to be nominated in that category.<br></p><p><div class="dfp_atf-slot" data-not-loaded="true"></div><script type="text/javascript">
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</script></p><p><em>"Been away for so long"</em> laments the song "Homecoming," yearning for Bai's outdoor childhood growing up playing in fishing villages and forests. Bai did not return to Sierra Leone for 15 years during the country's civil war. He first came back to support a project run by UNICEF Belgium in 2007 when he wrote the lyrics. He witnessed the trauma and scars of the war but also Sierra Leoneans' resilience and conviviality. <em>Salone</em> is a tribute to this spirit.</p><p>"Lady Boss" is a playful accolade to his mother, a "powerhouse of Africa" who travelled the world as a diplomat, pushing forward boundaries of power for women in her generation and the next.<em> "She is into the #MeToo movement and me too" </em>asserts the final lyric. </p><p>Bai identifies as a "protest singer" and his previous songs, such as "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeIeE_sfFrw" target="_blank">Refugee</a>" and "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7OeiIY0ELA" target="_blank">If I Could Walk on Water</a>," have more political themes. <em>Salone</em> returns to the tradition of palm-wine music, popularised by <a href="https://realworldrecords.com/releases/dead-men-dont-smoke-marijuana/" target="_blank"><strong>S.E Rogie</strong></a> and <a href="https://farsidemusic.wordpress.com/2015/06/19/abdul-tee-jay-palm-wine-a-go-go/" target="_blank"><strong>Abdul Tee Jay</strong></a>, which sings about ordinary life and matters of the heart. Palm Wine music <a href="https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/19-se-rogie/" target="_blank">blends</a> West African rhythms with calypso created by slaves in Trinidad and Tobago, reclaiming these stolen sounds. The song "Rest of Everything" is an homage of sorts to S.E. Rogie's lilting guitar rhythms.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
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<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Bai Kamara Jr. - Can't Wait Here Too Long (Official video)</small>
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</p><p>Bai speaks passionately about the need for Sierra Leone to preserve its rich cultural history, such as the prestige of having the first university in West Africa. <em>Salone </em>is a hybrid blues album which utilises African percussion alongside traditional blues guitar rhythms, such as in the song "Don't Worry About Me<em>."</em> Bai also learnt to play traditional instruments such as the marimba for the album. "I felt like a kid again" he says, "experimenting with different sounds, learning new techniques and revisiting my childhood."<br></p><p>Like many small countries, musical styles tend to be dominated by regional powers, with Sierra Leonean musicians looking outwards to Nigeria or Ghana. This is propelled by the pan-African popularity of Afrobeats, which reverberates throughout the continent from Dakar's sleek clubs to Kiberia's corners. Bai hopes his album will introduce blues to a new generation and will inspire them to create a unique "Salone sound" by using traditional music in modern ways. He wants to encourage young people to learn to play musical instruments rather than only resort to studio produced sounds. </p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU2NDUxNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2OTAxMzk1OH0.bb7JQJJSiAUREIZf2I0gCUvSTyKyhKeBvbXwCs-BiCo/img.jpg?width=980" id="7250f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5341d753a6c2a83fb5f87976dded8120" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="2500" data-height="1713">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Photo: Michael Chia.</small></p><p>Bai's contributions complement the efforts of diaspora musicians such as the late <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/apr/03/janka-nabay-bubu-music-sierra-leone" target="_blank"><strong>Janka Nabay</strong></a> who modernised <a href="https://www.musicinafrica.net/magazine/bubu-sierra-leone" target="_blank">bubu rhythms</a> with techno beats or <a href="http://seydu.net/" target="_blank"><strong>Seydu</strong></a> who preserves Fulha musical traditions in his songs. This is reinforced by "home base" musicians, such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=105&v=PD-gfPrNfUc&feature=emb_logo" target="_blank"><strong>Drizilik</strong></a>, who fuses bubu with hip-hop and rap, and folksinger<strong> <a href="https://www.musicinafrica.net/magazine/women-sierra-leone-music" target="_blank">Fantacee</a> </strong>who incorporates traditional instruments such as the bata and the balangi. Platforms such as <a href="https://www.facebook.com/madengn/" target="_blank">Ma Dengn</a> and the <a href="http://www.freetownmusicfestival.com/" target="_blank">Freetown Music Festival</a> are trying to encourage live performances rather than lip syncing as well as showcasing the country's musical heritage, through performances by <strong><a href="http://www.africaexpress.co.uk/artists/sorie-kondi/" target="_blank">Sorie Kondi</a> </strong>and <a href="http://www.thepatrioticvanguard.com/musician-of-the-week-amie-kallon" target="_blank"><strong>Amie Kallon</strong></a>, as well as current crowd pleasers, such as <a href="https://www.musicinafrica.net/directory/block-jones" target="_blank"><strong>Block Jones</strong></a> and even <strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaHaK9BR5Jg" target="_blank">Idris Elba</a>.</strong><br></p><p>The American success of Bai's album was a welcome surprise and he looks forward to being able to reach new trans-Atlantic audiences when touring the United States becomes a possibility. The delays caused by COVID-19 do not worry him as he has faith in this timeless language professing that "the blues never go out of fashion." But he longs to perform in Sierra Leone for the first time and to play at his former schools. "You are never too young for the blues," he smiles. "It's time to bring the blues back home."</p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><iframe allow="encrypted-media" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="380" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/74qsGvO59QT9ErpaZhOTYA" width="300"></iframe></div><p><br></p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><iframe allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *;" frameborder="0" height="450" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" src="https://embed.music.apple.com/us/album/salone/1470059906" style="width:100%;max-width:660px;overflow:hidden;background:transparent;"></iframe></div><div><p><em><strong><a href="https://twitter.com/sabrina_mahtani" target="_blank">Sabrina Mahtani</a> </strong>is a British-Zambian lawyer and writer. She co-founded <strong>AdvocAid</strong>, a civil society organisation in Sierra Leone that provides access to justice for women and girls. She writes in a personal capacity.</em></p></div>
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