UNDER THE HEMISPHERE
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A B O U T
AFRICAN AMERICANA IS THE NAME OF AN AWARD WINNING BAND AND SONGWRITING DUO. SINCE BEING FORMED IN BROOKLYN NY BACK IN 2011, AFRICAN AMERICANA HAS SINCE BECOME A CULT OBSESSION FOR THEIR DARING SOUNDSCAPES- PULLING INSPIRATION FROM ROCK & ROLL, FILM, FASHION AND INTERNET SPAWNED OTAKU SUB-CULTURES . AFRICAN AMERICANA, THROUGH EXPERIMENTATION, HAS THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF ANONYMITY, SYNTH, VICE AND HIP-HOP CULTURE. THE GROUP STARTED AS AN ELECTRONICA DUO LED BY VISUAL ARTIST/PROUDUCER/HIP-HOP LYRICIST ALEXANDER WRATH AND GUITARIST/PRODUCER/SONGWRITER, TOMMY SUPERIOR.
THE DUO HAS EXPANDED AND DOWNSIZED ON SEVERAL OCCURRENCES, BUT NEVER DISBANDED. KAM JOHNSON (BASSIST) AND SHAWN RANDOLPH (DRUMMER) JOIN ON STAGE DURING LIVE PERFORMANCES. BOTH ALEXANDER WRATH AND TOMMY SUPERIOR HAVE COLLABORATED WITH OTHER INDIVIDUAL ARTIST FOR LIVE AND IN-STUDIO PERFORMANCES. THE GROUP IS ALSO KNOWN FOR COLLABORATING WITH OTHER VISUAL ARTISTS, AND SEAMLESSLY TRANSITIONING BETWEEN MULTIPLE GENRES. ALEXANDER WRATH, IS THE NAME OF FICTIONAL CHARACTER AND HIPHOP ARTIST, SOMETIMES STYLIZED AS "ALEX & HER WRATH™ DURING SOLO OUTINGS". HIS RAP MONIKER PAYS HOMAGE TO "I USED TO LOVE H.E.R." BY RAPPER/ACTIVIST COMMON. AS ART DIRECTOR, HIS WORK HAS BEEN FEATURED ON FADER AND HE CITES TUPAC SHAKUR, MICHEAL JACKSON AND ANDY WARHOL AS SOME OF HIS BIGGEST INFLUENCES. HIP-HOP IS MORE THAN RAP, HE SAYS. TOMMY SUPERIOR OF BROOKLYN IS OFTEN CREDITED AS "DR. GRIME". KNOWN PRIMARILY AS A BLUES GUITARIST AND CANNABIS AFICIONADO, HE HOPES TO BLUR THE LINE BETWEEN ROCK & ROLL AND HIPHOP FURTHER THAN EVER BEFORE. ALTHOUGH INSPIRED BY GUITARIST JIMI HENDRIX, AMONG OTHER GUITAR LEGENDS, HE CONSIDERS WIZ KHALIFA HIS FAVORITE CURRENT HIPHOP ARTIST. THE BAND FORMED IN BROOKLYN NY BACK IN 2011 DURING A SMALL TOUR ON THE EAST COAST. THEY HAVE RELEASED 2 COMPILATIONS AND A LIMITED EDITION CASSETTE, AND LASTLY LAUNCHED THE AAFOREVER™ BRAND OF MERCHANDISE SINCE THEIR FORMATION. AFRICAN AMERICANA™ CURRENTLY PLANS TO RELEASE SINGLES, ACCOMPANYING VISUALS INCLUDING A FULL LENTH FEATURE, AND RECORDING THE FOLLOW UP TO THEIR 2019 EP, AA FOREVER. AA†™ is currently recording the follow-up to their 2020 EP, AA Founding Fathers. The 2020 follow-up boast production and features from Spaceghostpurrp and Rock/Soul vocalist, Jonny Craig. |
"...African Americana reclaim ‘Americana’ in the same oxymoronic terms as the nebulous “Native American” tradition from which it draws, according to Alexander himself. As an aesthetic that appropriates the continent’s indigenous tradition, add the ‘African’ to the ‘Americana’ and you not only have another antithetical term but a subversion of said appropriation while applying, hip hop, anime, cyberpunk and tech noir themes for a signature sound. " - AQNB, london
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L I V E B A N D M E M B E R S