Fulbright-mtvU Fellows

Making The Video

While my original goal here was to record a CD, I’ve put that aside in favor of a series of film projects, all of which have kept me really busy as things wrap up around here!!

My latest project has been helping make a music video for a rapper named “Bastin”.

Two weeks ago, my guitar teacher introduced me to Modibo “Bastin” Diabate, who is trying to make his debut here in Bamako with his song “Sanuya” (which I should mention, was arranged by Lamine Soumano and produced by Studio Mali).

Bastin handed me a French translation of his lyrics, and we sat down to listen to his song. The next day, I filmed him in concert as part of a big hip-hop show organized in honor of an album debut for Malian megastar rapper Ramses Damarifa of the Mali’s #1 hip-hop group Tata Pound. The show was great, with the series of consistently-solid opening acts only exceeded by Ramses himself. However, the footage I managed to get while trying not to get trampled by the excited crowd wasn’t quite enough to stand on its own.
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Tags: 2Fanga, Andra Kouyate, Bassekou Kouyate, Mah Bara Soumano, Modibo “Bastin” Diabate, Ramses Damarifa, Tata Pound