|
African Reggae Fever by Rocky Dawuni
Download the Revolution by Rocky Dawuni
Rocky's 5th studio album, Hymns for the Rebel Soul was exclusively pre-released through Whole Foods Market in late 2009 and worldwide on ITunes on May 25, 2010. (The album was launched in Ghana in March 2010.) This new 11 song album was inspired and written over the course of his travels around the world particularly Israel, Finland, Jamaica, U.S. and Ghana in his quest to articulate and craft a record that reflected the common spiritual, political and social aspirations of ordinary folks around the world. With the songs written, the main tracking and recording took place in Los Angeles during the transformative period of the 2008 U.S. presidential election and concluded on inauguration day. Rocky sees this album as a musical exploration in global consciousness.
Since its release, Hymns has enjoyed rave reviews across various media with virtually all of the tracks on the album enjoying massive airplay and charting on various radio stations across the USA. The album reached # 3 on the CMJ World Charts that monitors airplay across the over 200 radio stations that report to these charts. The album has garnered amazing remixes from the likes of DJ J-Boogie, DJ Obah, DJ Jeremy Sole & DJ Drez which are gaining momentum worldwide in the clubs and on radio. Rocky is planning on putting together an EP of these remixes so please keep a look out for that!
Video Game Giant EA (Electronic Arts) has licensed the first track off the album Download the Revolution for their FIFA Soccer 2010 video game which has sold millions of copies already. EA has also licensed African Reggae Fever for their brand new FIFA World Cup 2010 video game which was released in May 2010. (Two tracks from his previous recording Book of Changes were also featured on EA’s FIFA 2008 and Sims video games.)
In the US, Dawuni’s progressive fusion of Reggae, Soul and traditional African sounds, have been making steady inroads in the entertainment industry. He can be seen/heard alongside Bono from U2 in the video and song remake of War /No more Trouble for the highly successful Playing for Change: Songs Around the World album which was released by Concord Music in April 2009 and has sold over 300,000 copies.
Rocky has received extensive airplay on flagship stations like KCRW as well as prominent exposure on hit TV shows like Weeds, ER and Dexter. Rocky recently performed live with his full band on the tastemaker "Morning Becomes Eclectic" (KCRW) with DJ Jason Bentley on September 8, 2010. His voice can also be heard on the theme song for The Goode Family on primetime ABC Television. Rocky’s rendition of John Lennon’s Well Well Well was featured on the highly successful Deluxe edition of Instant Karma: Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. The Warner Brothers release featured global stars including Black Eyed Peas, Jack Johnson, Christina Aguillera, U2 and more. Rocky Dawuni was featured with other global stars on the upcoming A Tribute to a Legend (Bob Marley) with his rendition of Sun is Shining which was released by Putumayo Records in July 2010.
Dawuni is creator and headliner of his annual music festival Rocky Dawuni Independence Splash held every March 6th in his native Ghana which is produced by his NGO Africa Live! The annual event in Ghana attracts upwards of 30,000 people every year and has become the rallying point for his extensive humanitarian and advocacy work on clean water, HIV AIDS, poverty eradication and girl child education issues. Dawuni has made several extensive trips throughout Northern Ghana in conjunction with UNICEF & the Carter Center, helping to shed light on the acute water / sanitation problems and helping to spur practical and sustainable solutions reflective of his ongoing quest to use music as a tool for social development. Rocky has served as a personality for Product (RED) led by U2’s front man Bono and Bobby Shriver supporting The Global Fund’s initiatives on HIV/ AIDs in Africa.
Rocky is also the brainchild of Los Angeles’ world renown Thursday night club, Afro Funke’, which has been the premier African based night in Los Angeles for over 7 years. Afro Funke’ is frequented by an extremely diverse clientele of all ethnicities and ages who are drawn to the incredible music and ambiance of the night. His presence there also draws a cross section of celebrities who enjoy soaking in the vibes with him including Prince, India.Arie, Stevie Wonder, Reverend Michael Beck with (The Secret) and many more.
On the touring front, 2009 saw Rocky perform in Bali, Indonesia where he headlined the Balispirit Festival for his first appearances in SE Asia. He went on to headline the Fowler Museum at UCLA for a semi-acoustic set for the Afro Funke’ Night @ the Fowler. Rocky Dawuni & the Revelation Project were invited to open the Grand Performances Season at California Plaza in Downtown Los Angeles with his full 12 piece band. He invited very special guests South Africa legend Vusi Mahlasela, Grammy award winning Blues musician Keb Mo and Jazz superstar Ronnie Laws to join him during this unbelievable performance attended by over 4000 fans! Immediately following this show, Rocky took off for a European tour of Germany and Austria to tremendous response. Rocky closed out the year with two shows presented by Afro Funke’ & PUMA for the "African Soccer Fever" events (to coincide with his remix track of the same name) he created in Los Angeles Thursday, December 3rd at Afro Funke’ (Zanzibar) and San Francisco Friday, December 4th at The Elbo Room to AMAZING response!
2010 began with Rocky performing at the Vatican sponsored “Journey of the Spirit Festival” in mid January in Rome. From there Rocky took off for his homeland of Ghana to release "Hymns for the Rebel Soul" at a lavish launch party at Citizen Kofi in Osu, Accra. Dawuni then launched a West coast tour in the US in early July with show stopping performances at The Waterfront Theatre in Marina Del Rey before headlining the esteemed Esalen World Music in Big Sur, CA and the WorldOne Festival in Berkeley, CA before launching a two month European . The European leg of the concerts has met very enthusiastic crowds from Germany to Austria to Finland to France and the UK including him headlining the massive Africa Tage Festival in Vienna Austria with Angelique Kidjo.
Rocky Dawuni was back in the US for a large scale free show at Levitt Pavilion in Macarthur Park in Los Angeles on September 5th. Next up is the massive “We Day” festival in Toronto, Canada on September 30 followed by the Hawaii Spirit Festival in Oahu in late October 2010!
What’s up next for Africa’s shining star? Stay tuned…
ROCKY DAWUNI WEBSITE: CLICK HERE
Contact / promo / booking this artist:
vermiciousknid1(theATsignHERE)yahoo.com