As far back as 1995, SadraK (a member of Negrissim’) stood out as a musician whose experimental lyrics and wordplay inspired a whole generation, and Negrissim’s album Appelle Ta Grand-Mère, released in 2000 solidified the group’s position as pioneers of Cameroonian hip hop. Two decades later— after a sojourn in Europe and Senegal, during which SadraK never stopped releasing songs and performing spoken word— he has decided to work on a solo album. “Les Z’animals” highlights the animal nature and instinct inherent in humans, and through the use of metaphors and symbols, the distinction between animals and humans is sometimes blurred as SadraK ladens the song with several layers of meaning.
It is not yet certain if this song will be on the album SadraK is recording, but one thing is certain: the song is a fusion of hip hop and Bikutsi (which opens on a sample of Govinal Ndzinga Essomba’s song “Naya”) a hybrid genre which is gaining popularity in Cameroon and which SadraK refers to as bantu rock. Somewhere towards the end of the song, Michel Mbarga indulges in an exuberant solo guitar riff which, when combined with the overall hip hop, Bikutsi and rock gumbo, marks a new direction for DJ Kriss.
