Afrolicious

Afrolicious, the live/electronic collective based in the San Francisco Bay Area started out not as a band but as a club night at the famed Elbo Room in The Mission District in 2007. The format of Afrolicious party was very open and included the DJs spinning the latest soulful dance music including Afro-House, broken beat, modern funk and disco alongside classics and re-edits and remixes of their favorite Afrobeat, Salsa, and Brazilian funk... More

Afrolicious, the live/electronic collective based in the San Francisco Bay Area started out not as a band but as a club night at the famed Elbo Room in The Mission District in 2007. The format of Afrolicious party was very open and included the DJs spinning the latest soulful dance music including Afro-House, broken beat, modern funk and disco alongside classics and re-edits and remixes of their favorite Afrobeat, Salsa, and Brazilian funk alongside live percussionists and guest MCs and musicians. Eventually morphing into a live band led by the production and arrangement skills of Pleasuremaker, many dancers, DJs and producers began to take notice of their unique sound. Since the release of their first two EPs which were produced by Rob Garza of Thievery Corporation, the reputation of the band and founding DJs Pleasuremaker and Señor Oz have grown and they have performed everywhere from Red Rocks, Burning Man, Cielo and the Greek Theatre in Berkeley. "We never planned on becoming a live band, but like everything else about Afrolicious it happened organically," says Oz. "When we started the party, it was truly what we thought the Mission was about. It wasn't exclusive and it wasn't exclusionary, it was open to everyone. The youngest person in our collective is the rising soul singer Ziek McCarter who started with us at 19. Our oldest member is Baba Duru, who moved to SF in 1970 and toured with Stevie Wonder. Our vocalist is from Trinidad and our drummer is from Brazil. We all congregated in SF over our love of the universal groove. There are rhythms that connect all dance music from the beginning of time to the present day and we believed we could transmit them." In 2013 they released their debut full-length album, California Dreaming on their own label, Afrolicious Music. IN 2014 they assembled some of the finest DJs and producers from around the world to remix their debut album. California Dreaming Remixed features remixes from Jamaican dub legend Scientist, Rob Garza from Thievery Corporation, Peruvian electronic live hybrid Novalima, Brazilian nu-disco producer Trotter, Australia’s Omegaman, Miami’s Stereo 77 and the Bay Area’s DJ Smash, J Boogie, Izzy Wise and Antonio Guedes.Afrolicious is also loosely affiliated with a worldwide group of DJs, producers, bands, and labels who produce contemporary soulful dance music inspired by sounds of the African diaspora, including Antibalas, Chico Mann, Nickodemus, DJ Smash, Wonderwheel Recordings, Subsuelo, and Cumba Mela. Amazing Live band, sound system, weekly party, vibration!For 8 years Afrolicious brought out an amazing crowd every week to an experience many compare to church in the sense of a weekly gathering for spiritual purposes.Afrolicious continues to inspire and push the boundaries of music productions, events, and community. They are set to release a number of new releases in 2015. There are finished projects ready to be released and brand new songs being added to the fold regularly. Stay tuned for new originals, remixes, and mixtapes. Plus some amazing collaborations in the works! Less