It's been four years since Jean Dasso alias Yeahman entered the scene, first with his bass music/tropical "Ghetto Sonido" nights in Toulouse, then with the track Miniyamba (featuring the sweet vocals of singers Mina Shankha and Hajna) in 2017, which allowed him to catch the eye of Wonderwheel Recordings. Led from Brooklyn by DJ Nickodemus, the label hosts big names of the "global bass" circuit such as Quantic, Chancha Via Circuito, DJ Khalab or El Buho, and offered its first long format to Yeahman, who, honouring the image of the adventurer, went to record in Dakar, Naples, Marseille and Toulouse.
The Frenchman proves right from the opening that he's got something, on the catchy dreamy samba Deelahli, with the almost erased voice of Mina Shankha, then the ultra-smooth Baixi Baixi, accompanied by the two Portuguese sisters of Aluna Project on a charango and a dembow rhythm. But Yeahman also likes square rhythms, like on Soupe au Feu and its chopped string samples, Sakoneta (and its kora made in Dakar) or GLI-F4, all supported by a silky and hypnotic house beat. We find Mina Shankha and Hajna on a cover of the Peruvian cumba standard Cariñito, then Omar Zidia. Singer and guitarist of the Tuareg group Ezza on Ouloullou, before closing this Qobuzissime journey in the Ostriconi (a paradisaical Corsican region) with the folktronica of the British producer Robin Perkins, alias El Búho, Yeahman's new label mate and undoubtedly future travel companion. © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz