For this month's installment of music exclusively curated for Merkaela's subscription box of organic products, I decided to take you on a quick trip around the world. This month's theme was ELEVATE and what better way to do that than to inspire a desire to travel, explore and consume unknown cultures.
I got the inspiration for this month's playlist from the song River sung by a duo of twin sisters that go by the name of Ibeyi. They are of French-Cuban descent and sing in English and Yoruba, a Nigerian language their ancestors spoke before being brought to Cuba. Their song and use of language alone is like a virtual trip around the world.
Our next stop is a city of Cotonou in the tiny West African nation of Benin. The band called T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo lays down beautiful bossa afro rhythms with a tune Ecoute Ma Melodie. They have an incredible body of work that spans over 500 recordings but what drew me to this song and a lot of the other songs in the playlist is the universality of the music and the groove. Language can certainly be a barrier sometimes, but when it comes to great music it rarely is. A song can be sung in French by the Belgian Stromae or in Portugese by the Brazilian born Paris Based Dom La Nena, yet it can completely blow you away without understanding a single lyric.
We round out our journey by visiting artists from places such as London, Jamaica, NYC and few more familiar others. It's a 2 hour trip that I absolutely loved taking you on. Don't forget to sign up for Merkaela's subscription box to receive our monthly playlist first.
You can also sample it below.
