Walshy Fire, 1/3 of the power trio Major Lazer released his debut album “ABENG” a fusion of his dancehall/reggae roots and the uprising Afrobeats/Afropop genre.
The album’s name is two fold, being the name of a close friend and a Ghanaian word. “It’s basically a horn that you use to communicate long distances,” Walshy told Billboard. “I was like, ‘Oh man, I one day I want to make an album that’s going to be doing that.’ So when he died in a car accident, it was sealed. I had to dedicate this to him.”
ABENG includes noteworthy features such as Mr Eazi, the sweet voices of Jamaican reggae singer Chris Martin and Trinidad’s soca princess Nailah Blackman, the rugged dancehall lyricism of Alkaline and Masicka, and the tender tones of Nigerian singer Adekunle Gold and Ghana’s own Stonebwoy. These names are widely respected in the Caribbean and African spaces, and Fire knows the expectations of his set collecting all of them are high.
