Music
Press
The nighttime musical attractions are Quilombolas, whose mixture of rock, funk, salsa, hip-hop, lefty politics, and whatever else fits should find favor with Ozomatli fans...
-Dylan Hicks - Citypages
Quilombolas - Papi U (vocals, drums, percussion), Eric S.B. (vocals, bass, percussion), Levitt8 (guitars, keys, vocals) - is about as intriguing a trio as you're apt to come by for quite a while. These guys are serious to the bone with cold-blooded chops. Their groove has a Band of Gypsys feel - sharp, elemental funk with wizened, coat-pulling lyrics. Dig a snippet from "True America" by Eric S.B. and Papi U. It goes, "America was never meant to be 1 place/To think of it as such would be a big disgrace/ Tierra del Fuego, all the islands to the Bering Straight/ That's the true America now all can relate." What you gonna do with it?...You can go, check them out or wait around and listen to your friends tell you how bad this band threw down. What more can I say: Go for yours.
-Dwight Hobbes
- The Pulse
During colonial times the Quilombos of Brazil provided a place of refuge for anyone regardless of background or creed. Quilombolas’ music, infused with vibes of liberty, justice, and equality, establishes a similar musical refuge through its multi-lingual, socio-politically-aware lyrics, driving rhythms, and blending of world musical styles.
As the band’s website describes, “The members have a common love and appreciation for music that grooves, reflecting the fact that the sounds they enjoy all come from Africa and the subsequent African Diaspora. Funk, rock, hip-hop, samba, salsa, reggae, and many other cultural genres are combined with multilingual lyrics representing the spoken languages of the Americas.”
The band cites such inspirations including Ozomatli, Spearhead, and the Police. They’re a great, new sound to hit the Minneapolis scene, and should add a lot of spice to the Afrifest Gala this Saturday evening. - Minneapolis World Beat
Discography
'The Common Past' (EP) coming soon.
More songs @ www.myspace.com/quilombolas
Also checkout - www.myspace.com/truruts
Photos
Bio
Quilombolas is a multicultural Minneapolis based world-fusion band combining diverse musical influences from around the globe with strong African roots such as hip-hop, reggae, samba, salsa, rock, funk, and other styles to produce a unique multiethnic groove. The members draw inspiration from Zumbi and the Quilombos of old as a sign of unity in the face of the many forms of oppression that still exist today. Politically charged lyrics add to the fire of their musical activism, while a constant vibe of unity and celebration abounds. In addition, lyrics are sung and rapped in English, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Hebrew, and some African tongues like Yoruba. The band combines all of these elements with the belief that all people are multiethnic and mutlicultural mixes and should celebrate the diversity that unites and strengthens the quilombo. Quilombolas have also been compared to and are heavily influenced by the bands Ozomatli and Chico Science & Nacao Zumbi.
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