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A very happy birthday to Thomas McClary of the Commodores, then it's a trip to Tunisia for our Round Trip with Lizz Kalo for this week!
"The Drop with Danno" on GFN 광주영어방송 98.7FM in Gwangju & 93.7FM in Yeosu, Korea. An eclectic radio curation of all things musical spanning the spectrum every week. Broadcasting 8-10pm KST nightly.
Oct 6, 2021
Commodores – High On Sunshine
Jenjoon - Mdayda
Sadek Thraya – KI Eddar Ya Meziana
Balti – Ya Hasna
Ratchopper – 3AZEF ENNAY
Ratchopper feat 4lfa – Garden
Samara – 12 Mois
Sanfara – Dybala
Sabry Mosbah – Ya Rouhi
Haydar Hamdi – Ymor Zmen
Jawhar – Khoussouf
Fawzi Chekli – Bedouine
I.
It is 20 hours past midnight on a glorious Wednesday here in our fair city of light, and it is time to travel but no time travel unfortunately as it is our Round Trip Wednesday night. We are about to head to North Africa’s Mediterranean coast this evening in Tunisia, and it must be stated that tonight is blown in the sands of the mighty Sahara as October 6, 2021. This is Danno of course readying everything that I need for tonight’s international travelling without moving weekly sesh, as always a borderless world with no passport needed broadcasting across the dunes from studio 2, GFN HQ in Downtown Gwangju, how do you do? Lizz Kalo is of course back for another round trip this week and she’ll join us aboard flight TD046 as we take off at 9pm sharp, and lots to go through as Tunisian hip-hop or underground has put the country on the map over the past 10 years, but just like the country there are so many other influences & forces at work from the traditional to very new, local to foreign, the waves keep coming ashore in the capital of Tunis, creating an amazing meld of musical styles. However, before head to the VIP bus about to depart for ICN, we gotta note on this sunny day the 72nd birthday of a very talented man, so let’s get high on sunshine then blow out the candles. This is The Drop.
Commodores – High On Sunshine
The Drop is on the bus & on our way to the airport tonight for our Round Trip Wednesday and we are on the way to Tunisia in the North African Mediterranean coast tonight. Flight TD046 takes off for the capital of Tunis this evening at 9pm sharp with Lizz Kalo rocking a playlist with us, and it must be duly noted that Tunisia is an incredible crossroads of cultures, sounds, and everything else so we’re definitely in for some interesting vibes on this evening’s show. What’s snapping and/or tapping tonight, Drop Gangsters (Korean)? Danno here on the mic, ready as always on Wednesday to take you on a trip, but for now we gotta wish a happy 72nd birthday to Thomas McClary, the lead guitarist for Lionel Ritchie & The Commodores back in the day and the man credited with creating the band’s signature sound.
Interestingly, young McClary, who was born on this date in Eustis, FL in 1949, was one of the first African-American children to integrate the local public school. He would later attend Tuskegee University in Alabama where he would meet a young Lionel Ritchie waiting in the registration line.
The two would become fast friends and in 1968 they began to put together a band which they originally called The Mystics with McClary played the lead guitar. The group played local gigs, added members and changed their name to the Commodores. In 1972, the Commodores signed with Berry Gordy and Motown Records. Thomas McClary would spend 15 years as the lead guitarist for the band, and wrote one of the group's early number one singles in "Slippery When Wet". "Brick House"," "Too Hot ta Trot", and "I Feel Sanctified" are among the many songs McClary contributed to, along with the Commodores.
Happy birthday to Thomas McClary and may there be many, many more.
#9870, @gfnthedrop, podcast details, etc.
So now that we have the history and shameless self-promotion outta the way, let’s get to the Tunisian sounds for tonight, which is definitely a bit of a changeup for part 1’s at bat, but we’ll make it work. Some new & old coming up from the land between Libya, Algeria & Italia coming up, with Jenjoon up first followed by Sadek Thraya & Balti to close the block. We’ll talk more about all three of these when they’ve decided enough is enough, and this is The Drop on your Round Trip Wednesday to the Tunisia.
_________
Back on The Drop tonight as we head down the home stretch to the main terminal at Incheon International Airport, checking bags & checking in momentarily after we disembark. Danno here studio 2 but on the road in our collective conscious and we take off with Lizz Kalo on flight TD046 this evening bound for Tunisia’s capital city, and to that end we just warmed up with a few things old & new from the country at the apex of North Africa, so let’s get to the rundown...
Jenjoon – Mdayda (…this tune meaning extend your hand is one of the more recent cuts from the artist, true name Omar Twihri. We’ll dig a bit further into his bio when we hear more on our trip with Lizz Kalo, a really great representative of the hip-hop, pop & traditional mish-mash commonly referred to as Tunisian underground.)
Sadek Thraya – KI Eddar Ya Meziana (…this is a classic in Tunisian music and you gotta love how the live audience is just having the time of their lives & singing with the tune. This song which means To Manage, Decoration is one of the main reasons Thraya was recognized as a cultural icon both by the Tunisian people and the government after spending many years abroad in Paris & Morocco.)
Balti – Ya Hasra (…you might not know this, but Tunisian hip-hop has become a massive influence world-wide over the past 10 years, and this cat is one of the biggest names on the pop scene there, and this is a single he just released this year. A household name in Tunisia & all the middle east after nearly two decades in music.)
Now moving to close the opening quarter of our game of audio travels for this week, we have a cat who calls himself Ratchopper who, despite the gory moniker does make some incredible stuff which we’ll discuss further on our 2nd hour travels. Up next we have a cut called 3AZEF ENNAY, which means Ennay player, then we have a very nice hip-hop cut featuring an MC called Alfa and our final tune in part 1 is called Garden. THIS is The Drop on your Round Trip Wednesday night in the lights of Tunis.
Ratchopper – 3AZEF ENNAY
Ratchopper feat 4lfa – Garden
II.
The Drop has arrived for check-in and we been waiting a while here, so dunno what’s going on up at the desk, but anyway. What’s up, Drop Gangsters? (KOR) Danno here very ready for our flight to a capital of Arab hip-hop in the world at large, and we just got a taste of Tunis beats right there, so let’s summarize...
Samara – 12 Mois (…this is the moniker of a guy who’s truly rising in the Arab hip-hop world. True name Samara Riahi, he has a huge social media following and fanbase, this being a recent standalone from earlier this year.)
Sanfara feat ALA & Brulux – Dybala (…another huge artist in the Arab hip-hop & pop world who hails from Tunisia. This is another tune from 2021, but not a ton of info on the artist as far as bios in Arabic or English even though the man has a massive following of 1.6M people.)
Moving along SM, #9870, podcast let us know …
So we’ll continue to keep the vibe easy but we’ll also skate away from the hip-hop for now. Up next we have some vibes from Sabry Mosbah, Haydar Hamdi & Jawhar, all of which we’ll talk further side opposite the sonics. THIS is The Drop on your Round Trip Wednesday to Tunis.
_________
The Drop reverberates again on the mic and we are into the final airbreak of part 1 this evening. Danno here, readying at the gate for our departure to Tunisia which all happens at the top of the hour with Lizz Kalo joining us once again. But while we wait to board let’s run down those last few cuts...
Sabry Mosbah – Ya Rouhi (…not a lot to say for now about this singer we’ll hear more from in part 3 tonight, but one item of note is that he’s kind of music royalty, being the son of Slah Mosbah, an outspoken musician and actor who decries the treatment of black Africans in Tunisia.)
Haydar Hamdi – Ymor Zmen (…this is an up-and-coming alternative musician from Tunisia from his 2015 album Fikra, or Idea. We’ll talk more about Haydar Hamdi during hour 2’s travels.)
Jawhar – Khoussouf (…interesting artist who has been around about the past decade. He says after time in Paris & travelling abroad studying English literature that he’s trying to reinvent the Arabic love song, and this tune appeared on Winrah Mirah, his album from 2018.)
Okay, so final call to board our flight just blared over the PA, although I’m pretty sure that was in Arabic, so we gotta get one more in before the flight takes off, and we’ll close with some Tunisian jazz here in the first half. Next and last is Fawzi Chekli with a tune called Bedouine, and we shall head to their home shortly. THIS is The Drop now boarding on your Round Trip to Tunis and we are at the half.
Fawzi Chekli – Bedouine
III & IV Round Trip
Gultrah - Downpressor Man
Ratchopper - Prelude to Buni M’tir
Haydar Hamdi - Memory
Sabry Mosbah - Mouch Menni
MYRATH - BELIEVER
Erkez Hiphop- Laarriba
ZOMRA - Peace and War
Nour Harkati feat Aytma - Ayem
Ÿuma - Nghir Alik
Jenjoon - Omniyet
Kamen Ross - Tiger Lily
Jaurim - hey hey hey