Warm-up mix by DJ Manchild
DJ Manchild knows a thing or two about funk. Ahead of his appearance at Inner Varnika festival over the Easter long weekend, DJ Manchild has made us a mix incorpating music sourced on his travels around the world, blending “Caribbean stoner disco, a dash of afrobeat, a pinch of cumbia and six kilos of funk.”
Having travelled the world high and low, scouring dusty basements and garages from Abidjan to Tokyo to Mumbai and back, it’s fair to say that DJ Manchild knows a thing or two about funk. In the discos of New York seven years ago, he and two conspirators were inspired to create 17-piece afrobeat outfit The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra. The three friends travelled to Lagos to record with local artists for their ARIA-nominated album, and after meeting the legendary Femi Kuti, he invited them to join him and his band onstage at Fela’s Afrika Shrine. He has also supported the likes of Quantic, Nas, Public Enemy, De La Soul, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Grandmaster Flash, Pharaoh Monch, Roy Ayers, Four Tet, Mos Def, Ghostface Killah, Jamie XX, Talib Kweli… the list goes on!
Back on home shores, you can find DJ Manchild bringing beats to the Scatter Scatter Tropical Soundsystem alongside emcees 1/6 & N’fa Jones and percussionist Nui Moon. For the last decade he has also presented his show The Breakdown every Friday on PBS 106.7 FM.
The mixes DJ Manchild creates incorporate music sourced on his travels, blending a mix of heavy, rare grooves. Ahead of his appearance at Inner Varnika festival, DJ Manchild created the following mix for AP. He says: “So this mix isn’t necessarily the kind of thing I’ll be playing at Inner Varnika – it’s more of a warm-up, something to bump in the car on the drive there, and a nice little summertime breeze to help ease you from the regular world into a whole new one. The recipe is easy: just combine some Caribbean stoner disco, a dash of afrobeat, a pinch of cumbia and six kilos of funk.”
Ears #17: Warm-up Mix by DJ Manchild
1 – Bunny Barretto – Summertime Groove
2 – Lord Salty – Derek’s Beach
3 – Candi Felton – Show Me The Way
4 – Marvin Gee and Marv-tones – A Ya Ya Hey
5 – Kris Abruto – Pay Me
6 – Fella Cuties – The Beat
7 – Lisa and the Gang – Lisa’s Jam
8 – The Trinidad Kids – Do It (Again)
9 – Marcel Ben – Sao Paulo Boogie
Inner Varnika is an independent music festival happening over Easter weekend. A three-day event dedicated to devoted music enthusiasts and artists, Inner Varnika presents a line-up of carefully selected international guests within a specially selected rural location to “steer and sound out a platform for catharsis and freedom of expression, by way of some solid thump – a warm and very inviting thump, a soulful thump.” For more info: 2016.innervarnika.com