Music of Thursday, 19 April 2018

Source: Isshak Abdullai

Wiyaala and her all female band GRRRL rocks Australia

Wiyaala on stage Wiyaala on stage

The all-female international band, GRRRL, delivered a mind-blowing performance of energy and vocal skill at the closing celebrations of the 2018 Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast in Australia last Sunday evening.

The massive beach side main stage venue came alive as Ghanaian lead singer Wiyaala and her band members mesmerised the Australian crowd with a spell binding fusion of machine gun rapping from AWA of Zimbabwe, raucous dancehall riddims from Brazil’s Lei Di Dai, soaring traditional folk melodies from Bangladesh’s Sohini Alam and the politically charged bars of Mercury prize winner Speech Da Belle from the UK.

The hour long set resounded to pumping dark techno, ghetto bass, hip hop, dancehall, reggae, soul and electronica beats all directed and produced by Brazil's Laima Leyton (Mixhell/Soulwax).

GRRRL’s Australian tour continues with back to back shows in Melbourne at Le Curtin, The Red Rattler and The Lord Gladstone in Sydney before flying back to the UK at the weekend.

GRRRL has been described as “a bespoke electronic music collaboration between independent, revolutionary women artists from around the world, coming together to tell their collective stories of life, conflict, inequality and change through music”.

Drawing on their different cultures and musical styles, GRRRL’s music fuses together sounds of dark techno, ghetto bass, hip-hop, dancehall, reggae, soul and electronica.