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Mabiisi is the natural artistic encounter between acclaimed Burkinabè MC Art Melody and Stevo Atambire, one of the most influential kologo musicians of Ghana. Both artists speak languages that are close, they hail from similar cultures, yet their people have been left estranged and distant by the colonial boundaries of the region.

Mabiisi means “brothers from a same mother” in both the Frafra of northern Ghana and the Mooré language of Burkina Faso’s Mossi people. The concept stems from Art Melody’s wish to reconnect with his musical roots, his desire to go back to the time when his voice encouraged farmers, as a young boy singing in the fields with his mother. The boy is now an experienced international artist, considered one of the most significant voices in African hip hop. Likewise Stevo Atambire has experienced tremendous success at home in the north of Ghana, as well as on the road as part of Wanlov the Kubolor‘s innovative Afro Gypsy band.

Following a first encounter in Accra in December 2014, the natural intuition and chemistry between Art Melody and Stevo Atambire immediately drove the two to create a timeless opus, a collection of songs drawing as much from their common land as it does from their own musical paths, a reconciliation of the village and the city, of Francophone and Anglophone Africa, a genuine pan-African bridge across lands and generations, which would make Sankara and Nkrumah proud.

on June 14 | by