Bleepolar vs Faraón Bantú Release Collaborative Debut EP

Take a collective of Afro-Colombian champeta pioneers and mix them with one of the rising stars of Bogotá’s bass scene and you’re bound to get something special.

Bleepolar (Bleepo to his mates) has taken a trip up to Cartagena for this collaborative EP with Faraón Bantú, the so-called guardians of champeta from Palenque Records. What results is a colourful mix of fierce beats, dirty synths and gorgeous Afrobeat guitar licks.

Legendary vocalist Louis Towers is stunning on “Mama Africa”, but the stand out for us is the EP’s closer, “Kumina”, which takes you from stripped down folklore through to a climax of Carnivalesque proportions (and is it just me, or is that what Grime would sound like if it came out of Colombia?).

This EP is the first chapter in Bleepolar’s new musical journey, as he ventures out of the capital to discover the varied nooks and crannies of Colombia’s sonic landscape. If Chapter 1 is anything to go by then we’re in for a few treats. Bleepolar has successfully managed to make an EP fresh for the clubs while giving due respect to the greats, something of a rare feat in the over saturated market of Latin American folktronica that’s about at the moment.

Listen to the EP below:
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