In a society where hate speech and racism are part of everyday life, music is often said to have the power to transcend borders and bring people together. One would like to believe it, even if the phrase is now so inflationary that it is overlooked. And then there are Jamila & The Other Heroesa Berlin-based band harnessing that power with a mix of psychedelic rock, funk, afrobeats and hip-hop.
For them, music is political. With their lyrics, the five musicians stand up for a fair and just society. Jamila & The Other Heroes first got together in 2013 until the project got more serious in 2017 with their first EP “Change” and tours to Tunisia, Jordan and Palestine. In 2019 they found accommodation with the feminist Springstoff label and the booking agency Black Forest Voodoo. In 2020 her album “Sit el Kon. Grandmother of the Universe” was released.
Concerts as a “discourse contribution for an open, discrimination-sensitive society”
“A drummer friend of mine spontaneously dubbed our style ‘Psychedelic Desert Funk’, and that’s what we’ve been calling our sound ever since,” says lead singer Jamila Al-Yousef. Standing out between percussion and psychedelic rock riffs is Al-Yousef’s voice, which is sometimes powerful, sometimes reserved, expressing exactly what it is supposed to express – empowerment and emancipation. There are many people who, like Al-Yousef, grew up in the diaspora with parents traumatized by war and flight in a world that does not yet adequately reflect their narratives. “I firmly believe that with every concert, interview, radio appearance and stream played, we make our contribution to the discourse for an open, discrimination-sensitive society.” An example of this is the video that recently appeared for her song “Border Syndrome”. Queer and BiPOC (Black indigenous people of colour) performers collectively create a work of art against racist border systems.
Jamila Al-Yousef can also be heard particularly well on the track as she mixes languages. Arabic, which she feels mentally and, because of the pronunciation, also physically. And English as a universal language to express yourself more easily and bring “all heroes” together worldwide. What only music can do.
Jamila & the Other Heroes. Fri. August 5, 8:30 p.m., Import Export Munich, Schwere-Reiter-Str. 2h