In an era where chart-topping hits from around the world pulse with the infectious beats of reggaeton, dancehall, hip-hop, and Afropop, a groundbreaking music project is diving deep into the complex web of African diasporic influences that have shaped the sound of contemporary pop. Spearheaded by British-Egyptian historian Dr. Hannah Elsisi, Chromesthesia is a wildly ambitious endeavor comprising a 13-hour live performance and a compilation album that aims to trace centuries of intercontinental musical migration and cultural fusion.
The impetus for this monumental undertaking came from a thought-provoking question posed by Dr. Elsisi: “Can you own a rhythm?” This query emerged in the wake of a high-profile 2023 US copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Jamaican dancehall producers Steely and Clevie, who claimed their 1989 track “Fish Market” pioneered the ubiquitous dembow rhythm that has since become a staple of countless reggaeton and pop productions worldwide.
As Dr. Elsisi delved deeper into the complex lineages of these globally resonant sounds, she began to ponder the broader implications of cultural ownership in an era of mass migration and digital globalization. “When we move, owing to war, economic crisis, slavery, or other factors, we bring music that mutates into new culture,” she explains. “It bears a trace of our history. Yet the lineages of these sounds haven’t been accounted for.”
Mapping Musical Migrations
Determined to shed light on these oft-overlooked histories, Dr. Elsisi embarked on an audacious mission to map the sprawling African diaspora’s musical migrations across centuries and continents. She reached out to a diverse array of producers and musicians hailing from over 20 locations, including Egypt, Kenya, Brazil, South Africa, America, and England, inviting them to participate in Chromesthesia – an independently released compilation album and an upcoming 13-hour live performance at Le Guess Who? festival in Utrecht.
Rather than striving for a comprehensive overview, Dr. Elsisi emphasizes that the project is more about “making connections… forming through-lines between continents and rhythmic tropes.” To facilitate this process, she organized a series of residencies in late 2023, bringing together producers in Italy and Egypt to simply share and listen to each other’s favorite music. “There was no pressure to make anything,” she notes. “But they soon began recognizing similarities and interests, and once they left, they kept the relationship going to make new music.”
A Kaleidoscopic Sonic Journey
The resulting nine tracks on Chromesthesia: The Colour of Sound, Vol 1 offer a dizzying, genre-bending odyssey through the African diaspora’s kaleidoscopic sonic landscape. From the haunting drones and jizan rhythms of Tunisian producer Deena Abdelwahed and Miami-based Nick León’s opening collaboration to the raucous fusion of South African amapiano and Egyptian mahraganat on rapper Sho Madjozi’s “Zamaleky,” the album boldly defies expectations, forging unexpected connections across vast expanses of geography and history.
“It was a creative awakening for me,” Sho Madjozi reflects on her experience at the Egypt residency. “I kept seeing the links between Egypt and South Africa, and it was exhilarating to write about things we all have in common.”
For London-based producer Gaika, contributing to Chromesthesia was an opportunity to represent the city’s vibrant merger of diasporic cultures. His darkly atmospheric, dubstep-inflected “Time On,” he explains, captures “what it means to be in London at night.” Gaika sees the project as “empowering,” noting that “it’s presenting a different experience of Africanness – sounds we often hear but don’t always know about.”
Reclaiming Cultural Ownership
While Chromesthesia‘s musical scope is undeniably groundbreaking, the project’s most provocative aspect may be its bold interrogation of cultural ownership in an era of globalized pop production. As the sounds of the African diaspora continue to suffuse mainstream hits, Dr. Elsisi argues, it’s crucial to acknowledge and celebrate the communities and histories that birthed these infectious rhythms.
“It’s almost shocking that no one’s done this before,” Gaika marvels. “And to keep it independent and artist-centered, more than anything, it just feels like a testament to what we can do when we work together. Ultimately, this music belongs to us.”
With plans for further albums and live events, Chromesthesia is poised to spark a global conversation about the complex interplay of migration, cultural exchange, and artistic innovation that has shaped the sound of contemporary pop. As Dr. Elsisi’s ambitious project makes abundantly clear, tracing the African roots of today’s hit songs is not merely an academic exercise – it’s a vital act of cultural reclamation, a powerful assertion of identity and heritage in an increasingly interconnected world.
