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Music, one of our oldest adages says, unites. African rhythms have long influenced the sound in Europe’s clubs. Now, with the Ten Cities project, dozens of DJs, musicians and producers aim to bring the club cultures of the two continents even closer together. By Vanja Budde

Booming bass and hard-hitting rap emerge from the improvised sound studio. Inside, MC Sacer.(dot) is rapping about social grievances in his Musseque Sambizanga, Andi Teichmann from Berlin, Marco Messina and Lucio Aquilina from Naples are adding the electronic effects. The driver laid a foam mattress behind the mixing desk, because the nights are getting long at the Goethe-Institut Angola.

Ten Cities is the name of the project that aims to unite the club cultures in Africa and Europe over the next two years. Dozens of DJs, producers and musicians from Berlin, Bristol, Johannesburg, Cairo, Kiev, Lagos, Lisbon, Luanda, Nairobi and Naples will together create new electronic dance music and attempt to stir up the club scenes of their respective cities.

Angola is the first. Its kuduro, this dynamic blend of traditional kazukuta and house, hip-hop, rap and techno evolved in the poor districts of Luanda 20 years ago.

It began as a dance style, today, the insistent rhythm of the kuduro influences DJs in all of Europe and the USA. They always have turned to Africa in their search for renewal, explains Andi Teichmann. “What I personally love about kuduro is that it transports a rough, almost punk energy,” says the producer and DJ. “It’s very rhythmic, very fast music. Since it has hardly any harmonies, it’s incredibly powerful.”

We next visit MC Sacer.(dot) in the little house in Sambizanga that he shares with his mother, four sisters, two brothers and many small children. On the first floor, reached via a narrow iron ladder, is his studio and refuge with a view of the corrugated metal roofs of Sambizanga. The kuduristas’ workplace consists of a laptop, speakers and a microphone. Here, they sit together to listen to their associates’ tracks and discuss the continued work of the project.

“Travel is essential”

They show mutual respect and sympathy. Not only musical understanding is great in this launch of Ten Cities, but Marco Messina also expresses an almost completely positive interim opinion. “It’s a great experience for me to work with the Angolan musicians,” the Neapolitan says. “Travel and cultural dialogue are important for all people, but for artists, they are essential.”

For Angola’s contribution to Ten Cities, the musicians are turning to traditional rhythms. The combined sounds are enriched by a semba drumming group, which also perform at the opening concert at the Teatro Elinga in the centre of Luanda.

Traditional drummers and dancers, MC Sacer.(dot) on the microphone, Andi, Marco and Lucio at the mixing desks, together with the kuduro and Afro-house DJs Satelite and Djeff from Luanda: the starting fusion from Africa and Europe rocks to the early morning hours.

The project will continue in January in Lagos, followed by Johannesburg, Cairo and Nairobi. At the completion, the newly composed pieces will be available on a CD, for the first time a book will tell the history of club music in the ten cities and everyone will meet again in Berlin in 2014 for the final concert of Ten Cities.