Mano D'iShango and DanEBoy tell the story of the "Kalbas Dyalèktik" music video
Photo credit : Mano D’iShango, picture by @adeolabambe + DanEBoy
For the first instalment of the Music Video Focus, I'm presenting you the music video “KALBAS DYALÈKTIK” by Mano D’iShango. Known as Tysmé at first, he began his career in Guadeloupean hip-hop pioneer groups such as Karukera Crew and La Horde Noire [t/n: The Black Hord] in the mid-90’s. After the release of his first solo album “Zayanntifik” in 2010, he changed his name and became Mano D’iShango. While being active in iShango Sound, a duet he created with Jamal Finess, he keeps exploring his personal musical universe. “Kalbas Dyalèktik” is a track from his maxi single “Kako Tèknik” released in 2017. However, the music video was released in March 2020. With music video director DanEBoy, Mano D’iShango tells us everything about the video making process.
Let’s start with the usual introduction segment. Mano D’iShango, we know you as one of Guadeloupean hip-hop pioneers, but I think our readers might be a bit more curious about who DanEBoy is.
Daniel Nlandu Nganga (l.) and Spike Lee (r.), 2014
DanEBoy: My name is Daniel Nlandu Nganga. My friends call me DanEBoy and it's the name I use as a music video director. My father is from Zaïre [t/n : it's now commonly called the Democratic Republic of Congo or Congo-Kinshasa) and my mother is from Guadeloupe. My career path has been rich and diverse. Once I graduated from the CLCF (Conservatoire Libre du Cinéma Français) School Cinema, majoring in directing, I began my career as a video journalist. I filmed, edited and made voice over for the stories I filmed for local TV networks in the West Indies. In 2000, I created I Comme Image, my first production company in Martinique and started to produce and directed some news TV programs and music videos. I've been running IMAGIN PICTURES since 2008. In 2009, I came back to Guadeloupe. It had been about 15 years since the last time I had been on the island and I quit journalism. After being the chief editor for local TV networks as well as a correspondant for the TF1 network and BFMTV network, I decided to direct a documentary which made me go back to cinema. So far, I've directed 10 documentaries and they were broadcast on national TV networks. I’m also in the Zaïgo Productions crew. We’ve produced 4 short films so far.
How did you get to collaborate on this music video?
DanEBoy: Mano and I have known each other for a very long time. We grew up in the projects. We were neighbors. The building he lived in was perpendicular to mine. I was filming this documentary called “K'nawa the Caribbean odyssey”. It tells the story of Guadeloupean people crossing the Lesser Antilles in an amerindian canoe to pay homage to their Caribbean ancestors. I had to interview Mano to get his insight on the use of the conch shell in his Kreyol hiphop music. I already knew his art. He's one of the pioneers of the hip-hop scene in Guadeloupe. I had already used his music to illustrate some sequences of my previous documentaries. So we get to talk often. And one day I heard the song “KALBAS DYALÈKTIK” and I said “man, when are we getting the music video done?”. His enthusiasm was real, but it took a bit of time to put things into motion because I was going back and forth between Paris and Guadeloupe. That was in 2017. At last we managed to schedule a filming session in 2019 and the music video was uploaded in 2020.
Mano D’iShango: In 2014, Daniel directed “iShango Sound (the Anthem")” which is iShango Sound's most streamed music video on Youtube so far. Communication is something very important to me. I've known Daniel for a very long time which makes it easier for us to communicate. Besides, I appreciate how he can easily navigate between different art forms like photography, cinema, documentary and music video. It's relatively rare on a small territory such as Guadeloupe. And last but not least he loves music and he's a musician, which also makes it easier to communicate when we're working on how to mix and create harmony between music and images.
You uploaded this song online two years ago. Why did you decide to release the music video in 2020?
Mano D’iShango: Musically speaking, the track “ Kalbas Dyalèktik” is different from the songs I've been releasing with the Exotysme series in the past few years. Back in the early 2010's, right after the release of my first solo album “Zayanntifik”, I got inspired by the new wave of Canadian and american artists (Knxwledge, Elaquent, Dibia$e, Nameless etc.) that would mix the 90's hip-hop style with the electro sound of the 2010's. I decided to name this new project “Exotysme” [t/n: the word in French is “exotisme” and it would be translated as exoticism] for two reasons. Reason number 1 one is the primary definition of “exoticism” as in used to describe the customs, the people or landscapes of far away countries. The compositions weren't from Guadeloupe. Reason number 2 was to make a connection with the change of my stage name from Tysmé to Mano D'iShango.
So "Kalbas Dyalèktik" doesn’t have the same concept as the “Exotysme” series.
Mano D’iShango: In “Kalbas Dyalèktik”, the rhythm is rooted in our traditional music. I first shared the song with my fans through my Bandcamp page, but it was important to me to make it heard by a bigger audience. Is there any better way than visual content highlighting Guadeloupe's landscapes and traditional dancing to do it?
Can you describe the concept of this music video?
Mano D’iShango: The concept was to illustrate specific words of the lyrics : "èspésyal èstétik" , which can be translated to “special aesthetic”. We pictured the "Kalbas Dyalèktik" music video with a scenery next to the Alliance Bridge (le Pont de l'Alliance). I wanted to create a visual mix of nature and concrete because these are the components of my music. Daniel used his personal touch by suggesting other sceneries of the city of Pointe-à-Pitre and by insisting on using camera drone footages to add more depth to the scenery.
DanEBoy : The concept is quite simple. We, I mean Mano and I, both wanted footages of the mangrove and of hill-like landscapes. We also shared this dream of using the Alliance Bridge as a setting. The Alliance Bridge is one of the two brigdes connecting Grande-Terre and Basse-Terre. It's kind of like our Brooklyn Bridge. Right next to it, there's the mangrove because it's on Rivière-Salée [t/n: the Salty River], the river separating Grande-Terre and Basse-Terre like a strait, a river estuary. Besides, there were sugar cane fields not so far away. The harvest was already done, so we did some location scouting and we imagined these images shot with a drone and the lipsynch scenes under the bridge, on the bridge and next to the bridge.
Mano D’iShango: I also wanted to incorporate slow dance movements to mirror the song's rhythm in order for the visual to breathe.
DanEBoy: So we shot in the sugar cane field and since the song has this gwoka rhythm, we thought about including a dancer. The twist is our dancer consciously mixed traditional gwoka steps and yoga poses.
Mano D’iShango: Once she was all set and ready, dancer Anaïs Cheleux let the music run through her and did much more than the steps we expected. I think we can talk about “the magic of the moment” !
DanEBoy: In the end, what we wanted was a music video that would match Mano's vibe and state of mind. A music video with sugar cane fields as a connection to Nature and with dancing being a mix between the traditional roots and spirituality, with the setting that would symbolize alliance, a cultural mix and very bright colours to represent joy and life.
You just mentioned the dancer. Can you tell us a bit more about the team you worked with on this music video?
DanEBoy: Mano and I are very loyal in our professional friendships. We work with people who share our values as much as we can, and most importantly, we work with people who can bear with us (laughs). More seriously, we get along well with our team. Filming lasted for a day. Each person knew what they were supposed to do. It was a small team. Caroline Tichy did the makeup, Yohanson Hanson was the drone operator and Anaïs Cheleux was the dancer. We started very early in the day to have great weather conditions: the weather was hot and the sky was clear. From the moment we decided to get footage from the Alliance Bridge, we had no other choice but to use a drone. And I also wanted some overflight footage of the dancer in the field or with Mano during his lipsynch scenes. I liked this idea of some aerial movement moving closer to or away from the different characters.
Anaïs Verspan is also mentioned in the written credits for the customized hat. Can you tell us a bit more about it?
Mano D’iShango: I like hats in general: baseball caps, snapbacks, regular hats, beanies etc. My mother gifted me a salacot (colonial hat) when I came back to Guadeloupe once I completed my higher education in continental France. I used it as a decorative object first then I wore it while filming the “Fwèsh” music video directed by Janluk Stanislas in 2011. I like the form of this kind of hats. I like how it's both rigid and light. Although the salacot isn't a local hat (laughs), we can almost say it belongs to the cultural heritage of Guadeloupe, mostly thanks to Carnival group Akiyo whose members wear it at least once a year. This link to the “mas” is another reason for me to like this hat. When I found out that plastic artist Anaïs Verspan used this kind of hat as a prop to create her paintings, I thought it was a fantastic concept. We talked about her approach and the concept behind her artistic choice and I was totally won over. I made an order to get a special model incorporating my logo. I really like the idea of creating beauty with a symbol that is far from being beautiful. So to sum it up, this hat is a historical symbol of our stories. I really like the idea of wearing it to make sure that people don't forget the past... So it's even more than just the aesthetic. According to the comments I read on my social media, it seems that people like it too... I think I'll keep it permanently!
When I watched this music video, I felt like it was a living painting. How did you obtain this result?
DanEBoy: Mano participated to the editing. Each one of us brought his own ideas to the table.
Mano D’iShango: We selected together the most interesting scenes. We spent a lot of time color grading.
DanEBoy: For the color grading, I respected Mano's choices to get very bright colours making the red, the green and the blue stand out.
Mano D’iShango: I wanted some “magical” tone that would remind people of some Instagram filters.
DanEBoy: We struggled a little, but the final result looks very nice. The music video exudes la joie de vivre [t/n: the joy of life].
Mano D’iShango: By the way, let me take this opportunity to thank Gary “BBG” Rouyard and Steeve “iDread” Lancastre for helping out with the color grading.
Can you share one anecdote that happened on the set?
DanEBoy: One anecdote? Okay, so we had to be very patient to get the different drone footage. Here's the thing. In order to fly a drone, you need the authorization from the prefecture or from the civil aviation. You must let them know when your done is taking off because the Alliance Bridge is close to the airport.
Mano D’iShango: The sequence in the sugar cane field was too far from this area. So the camera drone operator had to ask for a new authorization so we could keep shooting the music video. If I remember correctly, the headquarters to get the filming authorization were based in Hong Kong. We got the authorization from the other side of the world in about 30 minutes. Once the drone was “unblocked”, it could fly again in Baie-Mahault in Guadeloupe.
DanEBoy: The air traffic was rather, let's say, intense that day. So the control tower would call to let us know if we could fly the drone without hampering the flow of traffic. It was rather quite amusing to hear the air controller tell us “next plane in 15 minutes. You have a 15-minute window”. So we had to be quick and efficient.
I often think about the lack of visual references about the Guadeloupe from the early 20th century. This music video is a visual testimony of the 2019/2020 Guadeloupe. Let's say a 10-year-old kid watch your music video in 2100. Which reaction do you want them to have?
Mano D’iShango: If the kid thinks the scenes are pretty, if they inspire serenity or/and a feeling of peace and harmony, then I think we can say that we’ve reached our goal.
DanEBoy: If the music video gets to be seen even 2100, I hope these viewers will feel the joie de vivre in it and will get to see the beauty of our landscapes. Like this transcending shot of our beautiful mangrove at the beginning of the music video.
What are your upcoming projects?
DanEBoy: My latest project is the short film “ZONBI”. The plot is made of three interconnected stories set in a society full of physical and psychological violence. The film was released early in 2020 and was selected in the 2020 Prix de Court festival. I use “KALBAS DYALÈKTIK” in one of the sequences. I also have some documentary projects going on that should come to fruitition in 2021. I'm also planning to direct 3 music videos included one with Mano as soon as the COVID-19 situation allows it.
Mano D’iShango: iShango Sound released a new EP with remixes of “Zétwal An Mwen” in July 2020. You can stream the album on our Bandcamp page and anywhere music can be streamed. I'm planning to release a 7-track solo project in December 2020. It should lead to the release of a new solo album in 2021. Although it will be the sequel of my first solo album “Zayanntifik”, I see it first and foremost as the result of a collective effort with Inès Khai, Yalisaï, Ka Bass, Sylvain Joseph and Jamal Finess. Jamal Finess and I are also thinking about releasing iShango Sound's album in a far future. I'm also planning to be more involved as an artistic director for other artists.
Thank you for explaining to us the whole video making process. Here’s my bonus question: can you tell us about a music video which represents Guadeloupe the best in your opinion?
DanEBoy: I like MC Kanis' music video for “Lévé Gwadloup”. I think it was my first time watching a lyrics video from Guadeloupe whereas lyrics videos are pretty common in Trinidad. What I like about this music video is the technical and artistic challenge to serve the powerful lyrics of MC Kanis. His vision of Guadeloupe is very detailed and accurate. His lyrics reflect what's truly happening in Guadeloupe. I love it. Big up to the director!
Mano D’iShango: That's a tough question. There are so many “Guadeloupes” within the overall Guadeloupe. At best, a music video can capture one side of Guadeloupe, but it'll never capture Guadeloupe in its entirety. Among my favorite music videos, I'd say the one filmed by Janluk Stanislas for the song “Chien An Mwen” by Fuckly. I like it because it includes several perspectives of the reality in this country. And it's still relevant today nearly 20 years later : magical-religious practices, the lack of trust between Guadeloupeans, the issue of waste management, the importance of fathers being involed in their children's education and so on.
Mano D’iShango, on the set of “Kalbas Dyalèktik” music video, photo by adeolabambe, 2019
Karukerament thanks Mano D’iShango et DanEBoy for their time. You can follow them on social media.
Mano D’iShango : @manodishango on Instagram and @lyricist.tysme on Facebook | https://tysme.bandcamp.com/
DanEBoy : @dnlandu on Facebook