I wish current rap artists would take a cue from Brooklyn's Akoya Afrobeat. I mean, when is the last time you saw a full length album come out with six songs and no throwaways? I think Snoop's last album had twenty-two tracks on it and maybe three were good. Of course, I wouldn't really want to hear Snoop rhyming over a thirteen minute loop, but the point I'm trying to make here is that quality still reigns over quantity. Akoya packs their second album, President Dey Pass, chock full of dynamic heaters with no filler. We've had some of these tunes on separate swift-selling singles, but to hear the entire album as one body of work really puts the depth of these compositions into perspective. Check "Fela Dey(1)" and "Oluya(2)" for the deep and deliberate slow burners. If you've been feeling the recent Nigeria comps from Soundway, you'll definitely want to give these a close listen. "Je Je L'Aiye(3)" featuring Cedric Im Brooks and "Wahala(4)" both have heavy afro funk flavors and are a good measure of Akoya's development since their last album. What I really like about them is the unique flavor that they put into their songs rather than being content to be mere revivalists. Instead they use a juicy bouillon cube of Fela's sound and stir in a lovely assortment of spices from around the globe. Put a cover on the pot and let it simmer in a secret studio in williamsburg, and you get something that tastes salty/sweet like "B.F.B.F. Panama(5)." It moves quickly, but digests nice and slowly. I love the way the horns work themselves into a frenzy right before the breakdown, making the vocals that much brighter when they come in. Lead vocalist Kaleta , who performed and recorded with Fela back in the day, gets authoritative and rugged as he steers the call and response into the sunset, a nice contrast to his more melodic moments throughout the album. There are quite a few Fela collaborators out there (Africa 70 + Eqypt 80 = at least 150 people saying they played with Fela once) and I actually stopped in to see a former horn player of his who was playing at this Nigerian cafe and performance spot around the corner from my crib two New Years' ago. I think there were eight people there. Granted it was three in the morning by the time I got there, but I still felt a little depressed, ate a delicious patty, went home, passed out, woke up the next afternoon and saw that they had closed shop forever. Needless to say, I'm happy to see Kaleta moving forward with a great group of musicians and performers who have no interest in just biting an old sound and claiming the right to do so by association. But then again, that wouldn't be a very Brooklyn thing to do, would it?

reviewed by Telekinetic Kat