Press Photo by Samuel Engelking
Toronto-based group and movement, Amai Kuda et Les Bois, announce the release of their album, EmUrgency! Following its 2021 pre-release as a limited-edition vinyl LP, the digital version unfolds this summer with a series of narrative animated videos. It begins with Eshu. A prayer, an invocation, a Soca-Caiso jam and a work of political resistance all in one, the song Eshu, like the god to whom it is dedicated, is many different things at once.
“Eshu is the Orisha (deity) of the crossroads in the Yoruba pantheon and all its descendant traditions (Santeria, Candomble, etc.). As such, he embodies the meeting of the material and spiritual realms and is the messenger between humans and Orishas, and requires propitiation at the start of all ceremonies,” says Amai Kuda et Les Bois of the song’s inspiration. “He is a ‘trickster’ figure, neither good nor bad, and he is a ruler of time, decisions and changing our luck either for the better or for the worse. This song in his honour calls upon him to transform negative into positive, invoking an ancestral voice to illustrate the humour and playfulness that are often part of his nature as he teaches lessons to humanity through his tricks.”
The animated video brings this powerful West African and diasporic character to life. Created in collaboration with rising Nigerian animators, Spoof Animation, the film is intended to help address the need for more Black animation, and the need for more popular media dealing with African Spirituality and mythology in positive ways.
The music video for Eshu is the first of three teaser videos for the pilot episode of EmUrgency!, an animated series based on the album. Each teaser will be soundtracked to a song from EmUrgency!, and the release of the pilot episode will introduce the full EP to the world. Amai Kuda et Les Bois are tapping into a rising animation community evolving in Africa and the world as a result of the pandemic. Both the album and show, EmUrgency!, speak to the times we’re in while addressing timeless themes contained in traditional mythology.
EmUrgency! was recorded, mixed and mastered at Quantum Vox Music with co-producer, Jimmy Kiddo, and reflects Amai’s vast influences: Afrohouse, Motown, alt rock, hip hop and downtempo, with inflections of Amai’s Trinidadian heritage and Toronto upbringing in the mix. The album speaks to the struggles, wisdoms, and joys of Amai’s journey, being guided by ancestors and Orishas, and staying true to her calling as mother, healer, warrior and artist, despite the many obstacles facing Black, queer women in the music industry and society at large. On the songs, Amai delves into African Indigenous spiritual traditions, connecting with gods and deities of Yoruba cosmology, the anti-colonial war for survival, unconditional love, honouring elders, as well as the inner child and how to preserve it in times of struggle.
Amai is also passionate about their initiative, the Sankofa Maroon Village (SMV), currently raising funds to establish the first Black eco-village in Canada. Sankofa Maroon Village is a physical and metaphysical space for African descended folk to rebuild healthy, ROOTED, sustainable community.
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