Sometimes the best mixes come from selectors who aren’t necessarily interested in playing at all the biggest night clubs while doing some absurd pose waiting for all the camera phone to capture the moment. In fact, i’ve learned time and time again that the best mixes offer a selection of music that i can’t get elsewhere. They typically aren’t accompanied by a gimmick. Instead, they filled with deep love and appreciation for the music. That’s what captures my attention and has me searching Soundcloud for countless hours each week. It’s the love!
With that said, i present the scholar, vinylphile, and music lover, Afrekete. Afrekete’s mix, ”Tribute to Seeco Guaracha,” filled me with incomprehensible joy when i gave a listen. I could tell that she was happy to present the music in this mix. Her happiness made it nearly impossible for me to do anything else as i listened. You can check the mix out here:
After listening to this mix, be sure to give Afrekete a holler. Here’s a little about her to help you establish the connection. In her own words:
Afrekete wants to restore relevance to the music, artists and activists of yesterday, which is why her eclectic themed mixes combine the political, historical, playful and soulful. Based in a small Florida city, she keeps up with the world by record shopping, mix-making and occasionally playing out. A first generation African in the Americas, she’s an out queer butch. During the day she is a professor of Africana literature and visual culture. Her only hope for humanity is the preservation of Africanity and she works at it every damn day. Reach her at afrekete@hotmail.com to suggest music that should be on her radar—or to just say hello.
I hope that you enjoy the mix and communicating with Afrekete as i much as i do!!!
– Much Love
