Arts

Shatta, Dembow, and “Smart Cities”: A Conversation with Mauritian Producer GЯEG

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Date: 01.09.21

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Author: David Bola

Photo Credit: Gaetan Clément

Hi GЯEG. Thanks for talking with us. The first thing I would like to talk about is your relationship to music. When did it start for you?

My dad was a musician, at home he used to rehearse the songs he played with his cover band. They played everything, from Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, Santana, Toto, to classics like Al Jarreau and a lot of local jazz.

That’s what I played in my mix for Stamp the Wax - my dad has a collection of local jazz CDs that not many people own. I took the opportunity to make a selection, to look for stuff that you don’t necessarily find. In Mauritius and Réunion, the heritage is rather séga and maloya. I wanted to go against that, to show a more reggae, jazz, blues side, even a little shatta (editor's note - very popular musical genre in Mauritius ) towards the end.

At the time when I was heavily involved in deejaying, going out a lot with my mates, shatta was on the rise in Mauritius. It was all you could hear. I started playing it and producing it, without really asking myself the question.


How did you start producing? Was it self-taught?

I’ve been pla...

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