The Beginning
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The word Serengeti originates from Maasai and is used to
describe the endless plains of the African national park and region “the
place where the sky and earth meet”. In 2008 two singer/songwriters,
Zany Lou (previously known as Mastercat)
and
True
adopted the word Serengeti to mark the joining of their musical forces.
What started as collaboration on one song quickly turned into a mutual
goal fuelled by their love for reggae, roots and dancehall music.
Zany Lou and True were bitten early by the reggae/ragga/dancehall bug
but spent their youth engaged in a broad variety of musical genres such
as hiphop, rock, punk, soul and r&b. The love for music eventually
lead the two artists onto the path where they met on a summer tour
(2006) while working on separate projects. The lack of reggae/dancehall
oriented music from Sweden along with the continual minority
representation of female artists motivated a collaboration which in the
spring of 2008 gave birth to Serengeti. They received recognition for
their work early when they just months after starting were invited to
perform on the main stage at Europe’s largest reggae festival, Rototom
Sunplash Festival in Italy and featured on the Rototom Sunplash official
compilations CD “Reggae Girls” released at the 2009 festival. By late
2009 Serengeti released their first official single “Walk With An
Empress” with the German label SoundQuake. The Empress riddim release,
produced by Swedish reggae sensation and producer Kap10 (Kapten Röd),
received positive feedback and airtime on radio shows hosted by Sentinel
Sound (Germany), David Rodigan (UK) and Tek-9 Sound (NY). “Walk With An
Empress” was on the German Reggae Charts for 7 weeks and ranked as high
as 2nd place.
“Standing Steady” – The debut album
Two years of hard work, sweat, laughs and tears culminated into
a 15 track album jam packed with pulsating dancehall, modern roots,
reggae, soca vibes and afrobeats including the hit singel “Walk with an
empress”. Serengeti’s first full length album “Standing Steady” was
released april 2010 on the label ILLEGYAL Records which is run and co
owned by Zany Lou and True of Serengeti alongside Clara Star. The album
features collaborations with Etzia, Joey Fever and Fresharda and
productions by Partillo Productions (SWE), Kap10 (SWE), Fresharda &
Gifted (ENG), Cornadoor & Berteaux (GER) and Serengeti themselves.
Introducing Lady Louise
In 2009 Lady Louise was asked to join the duo on tour as part
of a DJ live set. Before this Lady Louise had made a name for herself as
a wicked skilled “onegyal sound” playing shows both in Sweden and
internationally. Lady Louise is a prominent feature on the Swedish
dancehall/reggae scene since the start of her club Jamrock in 2007.
Jamrock is one of few clubs in Sweden which hosts some of Europe’s most
established Sounds making Gothenburg the city to visit if you want a
taste of the international dancehall/reggae vibes. It only took a few
months before the decisions to cement their collaboration was reached
and they began working more intensely towards promoting themselves as a
crew combining live shows and juggling shows with mc´s. In 2010 Lady
Louise together with NuhEasy Productions and Gaza Empire, organised,
promoted and backed Jamaican artists Jah Vinci and Popcaan on their
first European tour in 2011 and in 2012 Lady Louise managed jamaican
artist Charly Blacks European tour.
Touring the world
After the release of their debut album “Standing Steady” April
2010, Serengeti toured Sweden, France, Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain,
Switzerland, South Africa, and Denmark. Performing at the big festivals
such as Splash!, Ruhr Reggae Summer, Peace & Love, Urkult, Uppsala
Reggae Festival, Rototom Sunsplash and doing stageshows at Flying to
Jamaica, Rude 7, Kingston Hot, Yaam and many more clubs and events. In
December 2010 Illegyal Record cofounders Clara Star, Zany Lou and True
travelled to South Africa for a cultural exchange project sponsored by
the Swedish Institute, SI. The Illegyal Records tour named “Music is a
solution, not a competition. Music is a tool for change” passed through
Johannesburg, Soweto, Capetown, Gughulethu, Knysna, Motherwell and Port
Elizabeth where Clara Star, Zany Lou and True held workshops for
disadvantaged youths and others with music as an interest. Serengeti
also held several shows during the tour the most memorable was featuring
as the opening act for Public Enemy – worlds most respected and famous
hip hop pioneers. This was an initiative from Public Enemy themselves
after seeing Serengeti performance a show in Soweto, Johannesburg. The
Illegyal Records tour was an incredible experience and the meetings with
South African artists was a great inspiration.
Recognition in media
During 2010 and 2011 Serengeti got a lot of recognition in
media. They were invited to following swedish radio shows: P3 Session,
P3 Sommarsession, P3 Planet, hosted Musikguiden i P3, made several
appearances on Morgonpasset Helg and SRP4 and two of the singles from
the album Standing Steady were on Swedish Radio rotation. Serengeti also
performed on several TV shows such as TV4 Nyhetsmorgon, Garage SVT and
Musikhjälpen i P3 and featured in magazines and newspapers such as
Kingsize, GP, DN and GT. The ladies have also received airtime and done
interviews outside of Sweden specially in Germany. In 2011 their debut
album was nominated for Swedish Manifest Award (an award that
recognises independant artists) - in the rhythm-category for best album
2010. Although they did not win the award it must be said that Serengeti
as independent artists who have never worked with any major label or
booking company have made great accomplishments, reached a worldwide
audience and been rewarded by recieving all this love from the media.
Jamaica and touring with Looptroop Rockers
In April 2011 Serengeti flew to Jamaica for some inspiration
and ended up recording a song with big roots artist Lutan Fyah, recorded
another song for a riddim release with Young Veterans and opened for
Assassin aka Agent Sasco at his show in Port Antonio. In the end of May
Serengeti released the video “March with us” for the upcoming Ruff Jam
riddim release. You can find the music video on youtube. Straight after
returning from Jamaica Serengeti joined the famous Swedish hiphop group
Looptroop Rockers on the Professional Dreamers Tour as opening act. The
tour included 7 dates in Germany, Switzerland and Czech Republic and
they continued to be a part of this tour throughout the summer while
also doing their own shows at SummerJam (Germany), Graffitibox Jam
(Germany), Uppsala Reggae Festival (P3 Sommarsession) to name a few.
New album – Rebellious Hearts
The long awaited second album was released September 2013 on
the reputable indie record label Swing Kids and two singles from the
album, “Keep keepin on” and “I am the one” are on frequent radio
rotation in Sweden and reached top ten on the German Reggae
Chart. Rebellious Hearts is a contemporary reggae album with distinct
influences of afro beat, dancehall and hip hop. The album consists of
eleven songs about the everyday struggle, love songs with a twist and
self empowerment. True and Zany Lou continue working with Swedens most
well known reggae producers Partillo Prod and Kap10 Prod on the album as
well as collaborating with the worlds most renowned producer Don
Corleon on the reggae ballad “Dear Love”. Top artists who make guest
appearances include Lutan Fyah, Syster Sol, Agent Sasco and Etzia. For more info Check out their website
http://serengetimusic.com/
