Hot Mule unearth more Malian funk gems on ‘Wagadu Grooves Vol.2’
Paris has been the site of countless revolutions over the years, both artistic and political. There’s something about the French capital that seems to breed an air of defiance and, in many cases, artistic euphoria. When a young Malian man named Gaye Mody Camara relocated to the city in 1977, he was similarly influenced by its spirit—but he also longed for the vibrancy and free expression of Mali’s Wassoulou region. In particular, he sought to bring the infectious rhythms of Mali to Parisian audiences—and he wasn’t about to wait for anyone else to do it for him.
When Camara first settled in Paris, he made a living through a market stall, selling kola nuts and wax fabrics to the people of France. Before too long, however, he came to realise that the Malian diaspora stretched far across the Parisian district, and swathes of people were missing the infectious West African rhythms he had grown up worshipping. So, the budding young businessman started to distribute recordings by Wassoulou artists via compact cassette tapes. The releases were endearing DIY and often made to order, but Camara Production played an essential role in keeping Wassoulou music alive for countless listeners outside of Mali.
Given the DIY nature of these recordings, the music released by Camara Production remains virtually unknown by those outside of Mali – or the underground music scene of Paris, for that matter. So, in an effort to introduce these vibrant sounds to entirely new audiences, Parisian record label Hot Mule Records set about chronicling Camara’s releases. In early 2024, the label released a compilation album of some highlights titled Wagadu Grooves: The Hypnotic Sound of Camara.
That compilation album, released on gatefold 2LP vinyl, was chock full of innovative and groundbreaking Malian music, featuring a wealth of typically obscure artists, including Mamadou Tangoudia, Naïny Diabaté, and Kaniba Oulé Kouyaté to name only a few. Not only did the tracks on the album chronicle the important, tireless work done by Camara Production, but they also acted as a history lesson in the traditions and modern developments of Malian and Wassoulou music.
Now, just over a year later, Hot Mule Records has released Wagadu Grooves Vol.2: The Hypnotic Sound of Camara 1991-2014. Much more expansive in sound than its predecessor, the album darts sporadically from disco to funk, soul, tropicalia, and jazz fusion.
The sonic diversity and compelling performances featured on the album are as captivating as they are infectiously groovy. Moreover, the innovative quality of the recordings reflects both the visionary power of the songwriting itself and the state-of-the-art recording studios used by artists of the African diaspora in France during the latter half of the 20th century.
Inevitably, Hot Mule had to take on a lot of work to get these tracks, the majority of which had only been released on lo-fi cassette tapes, up to scratch for general release. Thankfully, the label has done a profoundly good job in cleaning up the audio while retaining the grassroots spirit and performance at the heart of Camara’s appeal.
It is difficult to select highlights from the album, as each track is worthy of extensive attention in its own right. Nevertheless, the wonderfully energetic opening track ‘Bi Magni’ by Souley Kanté certainly stands out. Occupying the centre of an extensive Venn diagram covering traditional Wassalou rhythms, synthpop, rock, and funk, the song sets the standard for the remainder of the album. Another notable comes later in the tracklisting when Aïchata Sidibé treats listeners to an effortlessly cool sax-led track, ‘La Vie Est Si Belle’, which creates a seamless blend between Malian funk and modern hip-hop.
Unless you have a deeply intimate knowledge of Malian music and the releases of Camara Production, it is incredibly difficult to identify which of the songs on the album were released in the 1990s versus in the 2010s. They all sound as though they could have been written and recorded yesterday, speaking to the fact that Camara and its artists were endlessly ahead of their time.
No two songs on the compilation sound alike, but each is endlessly captivating in its own unique way. Wagadu Grooves offers an unparalleled insight into the African music scene of Paris, both in the past and in more recent times. On a deeper level, the compilation offers a profound tale of migration, the changing geopolitical landscape, and the innate ability of people on the move to retain their customs and traditions in a new setting.
Much like Camara himself, the artists who recorded these songs for his label in Paris were defiantly hanging on to their cultural roots in Mali and the wider region of West Africa. Particularly in a nation like France, which was once a huge colonial power across Africa, artists continuing to pay homage to the music of their native land is a powerful, revolutionary act. That revolutionary potential within the music is plainly evident upon listening to Wagadu Grooves Vol.2.
Wagadu Grooves Vol.2: The Hypnotic Sound of Camara 1991-2014 by Hot Mule
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