Yao Bobby & Simon Grab
Pan-African rap and noise soundsystem music
«As a collaboration, they are just unlike anything else. Highlight of the year!» Anthony Chalmers
«This is music that stands up to our modern madness while providing a gloriously righteous salve.» The Wire Magazine
Live at Nyege Nyege Festival 2022
The togolese Rapper and political activist Yao Bobby collaborates with swiss noisemaker Simon Grab. An intense soundbattle between energetic rhymes fired into a dark soundworld of raw electronic bass pulsations with a dubby punk attitude, produced on analog feedback electronics. Their show is a very raw and improvised form of live experimental hiphop – ‹Freeform Rap and Noise’.
«Heat-seeking hybrids of dancehall, rap and noise from Togo’s Yao Bobby with Simon Grab on LavaLava coaxing the nastiest grind from a no-input mixer and atona gobs of noise like a West African answer to consumer electronics. Tip!» Boomkat
«Absolutely demented dancehall built on Swiss noisemaker Simon Grab’s oscillating feedback riddims and the raw rumbling rhymes of the Togo-based rapper Yao Bobby.» NPR Radio
„Absolutely mad, and utterly unique combination styles coming from Simon Grab & Yao Bobby here via LAVALAVA – this one’s been the talk of the town for a while now!“ rwdfwd.com
«It’s a sound that feels like it’s constantly ready to break into pieces and explode!“ Tape-Echo
„Slaps you in the face like those weirdest Duppy Gun moments while pouring lyrics about corporate greed into your ears in words you’ll probably never understand (but WE are complicit).» Bokeh Versions, Bristol
Big feature in The Wire Magazine (#457)
including a world premiere of our music video «Lekeo»!
Their EP «Diamonds» has been well received in the scene and in the media – chosen as one of the Albums of the year 2019 by the online magazine The Quietus. Their accompanying music video won an award for the Best Music Video at the Ann Arbor Film Festival USA. The EP as well as their newest 7″ single «Black Revolution» have been sold out quickly.
They regularly collaborate and share the stage with likeminded friends, as with Dhangsha, electronic musician and co-founder of Asian Dub Foundation. In 2020 Yao Bobby & Simon Grab were invited to contribute to the Nyege Nyege Festival in Uganda. The music video «Lekeo» from the new album has been a finalist at the Rome Music Video Awards and at the London International Web & Short Film Festival. In October 2021 they were finally back on the road, playing 19 concerts in one month all over Europe, including the Avant Art Festival in Poland.
