When he isn’t causing a ruckus with Balkan Beat Box, Israel’s Tomer Yosef is a gifted electronic artist, percussionist, and MC in his own right. “Little Man,” taken from his solo album, Laughing Underground, is the sound of worlds converging and sweating up a Mediterranean dance floor. With Tomer rapping over snatches of hip-hop, reggae, Klezmer, and Balkan sounds, “Little Man” crosses international waters with impunity, blowing headphones along the way. If you like the track, check out the album.
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Seun Kuti is the new heir to the Afro-beat throne. His father was legendary rebel, leader, poet, and musician Fela Kuti. Seun is Fela’s youngest son and is joined on this track from his debut by his father’s band, Egypt 80. It’s a band that Seun began playing with at age 9, so it’s no surprise who adept he is at laying down his socially-minded lyrics over the group’s call-and-response funk. If you’re a stranger to the Afro-beat style laid out by Fela, there is a rich world of deep music awaiting you and this cut, with it’s hypnotic, brassy rhythms and solid groove, shows that the form is alive and well.
Free iTunes Download: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date. 
