In the borough of New York City where Hip Hop was born, new musical ground continues to be broken. One Bronx label is attempting to bring Hip Hop, R&B and Dance together with a Latin flavor and is hoping a barrage of women performing Sex in New York City---a new CD---will help them reinvent the music people listen to.
Gotta Be Music, a Bronx label received its initial acclaim when they recorded the folkloric group Retumba for the non-profit organization One World Arts, Inc. From that recording came the all female 15-piece band known as Afroditee with their latest CD entitled Sex in New York City.
"Afroditee is a whole new concept we came up with to get out of the folklore circle and crossover to the mainstream,” said Richard Cabo, A&R Manager of the label. “This is like nothing anyone has ever heard. We are combining Latin and Afro Caribbean music with Hip Hop, R&B and Dance to create a new sound that will appeal to mainstream audiences. Never in the history of the U.S. have people heard something like this created by an all women band featuring some of the best musicians in the world.”
Members of Afroditee, which is fronted by lead singers, Nina Irizarry, Debbie Vidot and Dassi Rosenkrantz-Cabo, Richard’s wife, have performed and toured with a number of popular musicians. The list of talent they have worked with includes Tito Puente, Enrique Iglesias, Dizzy Gillespie, Moby, Maxwell, Willie Colon, Sarah McLachlan, Queen Latifah and the Mamas & Papas. They are now trying to reach a new level of popularity, themselves, with their latest CD, a combination of songs with vocals in English and Spanish. Still, the true art of each song, according to Rosenkrantz-Cabo, who is also the musical director and bass player, are the musicians.
"Afroditee is really about the band,” she said. “The song, ‘Llego la Banda,’ features the band, giving every member a solo. It is not just about the singers. The singers are part of the band. Together, we are putting together a very professional piece of work that sounds great and gives people something to dance to.”
Sex in New York City is a culmination of those efforts, and if you think the title of the CD is hot, listen to the music. I like the combination of the many different genres of music coming together. I think the band could use a little work, but will create something special if they keep refining their English sound. I thought their English songs were catchy and fun, but were nowhere near as polished as the Spanish songs. Yes, I enjoyed the English songs more, but that was because I don’t really speak Spanish and could only vouch for its music, rhythm and beats.
The English tracks suffer when they try to use rap in their songs. No!!! Not good. The tracks sounded amateur, to say the least. The voices, music and beats are enough to carry each track without having to take a step back due to a poor rap artists. I enjoyed the lyrics, because it is all about getting people to get up and dance and there doesn’t have to be too much depth in that area. My favorite is Your Body is Music (I am the voice and the rhythm/My body is music/You are the voices and rhythm/Your body is music), because it has a real catchy hook. However, if they were looking to branch out into less dance-style songs, they are going to have to create lyrics with a deeper meaning and value. Other than that, Afroditee has a lot of energy and are a lot of fun to listen to. They will most certainly get better in the future.
Right now, Afroditee is working on producing an all English R&B and Hip Hop recording expected to be released in February of next year and plans to release solo projects for two Afroditee acts in December 2004.
"We are putting a lot of time in this,” said Cabo. “When you put your heart into something, you have to believe in it, push it and do the impossible.”
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