The legendary disco producer (and drummer) Cerrone has announced the release of his new Afro EP II, that will be coming out July 29th via Because Music.
Based in France, Cerrone has sold over 30 million albums worldwide throughout his career, and won a GRAMMY Award for his first hit “Love in C Minor” (he also has four other GRAMMY nominations). Personally signed to Atlantic Records by the legendary Ahmet Ertegun, Cerrone spent the 70’s hanging around Studio 54 with the likes of Andy Warhol, Basquiat, Goude, Gaultier and Grace Jones. Of Cerrone, the legendary Nile Rodgers says “One of the coolest things in my life was when I first heard Cerrone’s music.” His tracks have also been sampled a 171 times (Beastie Boys, Bob Sinclar, LL Cool J, Run-DMC, Nas, Sébastien Tellier, The Alchemist ft. The Prodigy, etc), along with being covered 8 times and remixed 6 times during the last two decades.
“I was always deeply influenced by Afro-Rock music. This is because of the great artistic fingerprint of my first band, Kongas, in which I spent four years before starting my solo career with Love In C Minor.
It was not a surprise to see him come back to his first loves in 2016 with his first “Afro” EP.
Today, Cerrone announces the release of the second chapter of his Afro series, the second return to the roots for the French disco maestro. “African Voodoo” and “Papa Oye” are his two new songs paying a passionate homage to Africa and its syncopated, spontaneous and genuine rhythms.
“It is no coincidence that my first band ‘Kongas’ is very influenced by what we know as afro music. This music has always had an important place in my musical life, especially as a drummer. I am extremely fond of the rhythms and melodies of this musical spectrum since my early days as a producer, and they have been very influential in my own music. The disco colors haven’t always allowed me to express myself in this domain and that’s why with my ‘Afro’ series of EPs I decided to create something with total freedom, so that I could give life to the music that thrills me so much.” – MARC CERRONE