So who is he? In all likelihood, Prince Zimboo is the alter ego of Jamaican dance-hall producer Asanney “Asani” Morris. An embedded video on Zimboo’s MySpace page reveals this in passing, although the video was made by documentarians visiting Jamaica who might have gotten it wrong—in interviews and raps, Zimboo refers to Asani as his friend. (In a twist that adds to the artsy intrigue, one of Zimboo’s champions is the Jamaican photographer Peter Dean Rickards, who published pictures that purported to unmask definitively the elusive British street artist Banksy).

Assuming Morris is the man behind the dashiki, it’s hard to say precisely what he’s up to. But maybe Prince Zimboo is something like the African Borat, a character who exemplifies and satirizes stereotypes of Otherness for laughs. From his purposely vague biography (one moment he says he lives in a cave; the next, a palace) to his raps about zebras to his Twitter posts about luxurious camel hides, Zimboo offers a milewide caricature of primitivism. And like Borat, with his “sexy time!” and “jagshemash!,” Prince Zimboo has an arsenal of catchphrases that are a delight to imitate: His mantra (“I am looking for wife 1,000”), his courtship advice (“Man have to know how to dress!”), and his truncated cackle (“Heh”) could all make for hit T-shirt slogans, given the right marketing strategy. Of course, Sacha Baron Cohen’s agenda is more pointed. Borat needs rubes whose ignorance he exposes and exploits; with Prince Zimboo, the ruse is much gentler.

What Tami Says: Prince Zimboo is No African Borat

Prince Zimboo fails, in my estimation, because stereotypes about Africa and African people are so pervasive that I reckon too few people will spot the humor. African men live in the jungle surrounded by exotic flora and fauna, wear dashikis, are hyper-sexual and have hundreds of wives? This is different from the popular understanding of the African continent how? Zimboo need only tote an AK-47 and rap about starvation to complete the picture.

Jonah Weiner likens Zimboo to Borat. I disagree that these characters occupy the same space in pop culture. The African stereotype and people’s perceptions of the Central Asian country of Kazhakstan are unequal and not comparable.

Check Zimboo’s Myspace mess here: http://www.myspace.com/zimboomusic

Video mess by the Rickards Bros. : http://www.afflictedyard.com

hit them at their myspace page ————> touch me

If you like this sound, do your part (not your hair) and hit the band’s website (right here click me) and buy the record!

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here is a small but relevant part from an older interview —-> LINK

How long have you been emceeing and were you at any point intimidated by it?

Karriem Riggins: I do so much it’s kind of hard to stay on one thing because I’m always doing everything. Common would be working on his album and I would come up with a chant or something, recently I started writing to whatever beat that inspires me and I got a lot of rhymes man (laughs). I met up with Madlib and he gave me 7 beat cd’s with 50 beats on each. So we decided to do that album together and we have five albums in the can. We have five jazz albums and we’re trying to finish the Supreme Team album. Madlib and I actually have a jazz group call the Jahari Masamba Unit and it’s coming out on Stones Throw.

(download link)

3, 6, 9
the goose drank wine
the monkey chew tobacco on the streetcar line
the line broke, the monkey got choked
and they all went to heaven in a little rowboat

clap pat - clap pat - clap pat - clap slap
clap pat! clap your hand…
pat it on your partner’s hand…
right hand clap pat! clap your hand…
cross it with your left arm
pat your partner’s left palm
clap pat! clap your hand…
pat your partner’s right palm
and a right palm again
clap slap! clap your hand…
slap your thigh and sing a little song go…

my mother told me
if i was goody
that she would buy me
a rubber dolly
my auntie told her
i’d kissed a soldier
now she won’t buy me
a rubber dolly!

3, 6, 9
the goose drank wine
the monkey chew tobacco on the streetcar line
the line broke, the monkey got choked
and they all went to heaven in a little rowboat

clap clap!
clap your hands and prepare to pat
clap!
take your right arm
pat your partner’s palm with your right palm

clap!
take your hand back and clap
clap!
take your right arm
cross your right arm
with your left arm pat
your partner’s left palm
with your left palm clap!
now back with a clap
take your hand to your palm
and slap your thigh
and watch the fun materialize
as you sing this little song:

my mother told me
if i was goody
that she would buy me
a rubber dolly
my auntie told her
i’d kissed a soldier
now she won’t buy me
a rubber dolly!

clap!

clap pat - clap pat - clap
slap clap pat!
clap pat - clap pat - clap slap!

old

Richard Pryor’s alphabet

Interviews with acid luminaries, regular heads and neutral observers are tied together with narration, musical fragments and weird shit. the peak is reached with an actual trip recording of “Brian”, a hipster acid head who unfortunately happens to have his first bad LSD experience while being recorded (with concealed microphones). The recording is authentic-sounding and either very funny or very scary, depending on your headspace.

LINK

Just to keep it topical, like ointment….watch your friend and mine, the LSD Lizard while you’re downloading the doco audiofile……

i know you’ll be keen to download the audio for your next pot-luck-dinner….(do so here you naughty german)