Vincent Mahey > sound engineer
Ghetto Blaster was, as far as I'm concerned, the most successful musical and human melting pot in Paris at the end of the 80's. Paris was very African at that time. All the stars of the continent were there : Mory, Salif, Manu, Touré Kunda, and musicians from South Africa... they were the real new wave of that period. Ghetto Blaster was the first important commitment of my career. After that, I had the chance to work with almost all the African stars, but I don't remember ever having felt quite the same strength and originality as I picked up from Ghetto Blaster. As time goes on, I realise how intelligent and unique their particular alchemy is. Even today, their contribution to the music scene is underestimated. Thank you Willy. Thank you Kiala, thanks Stéphane, thanks Ringo, thanks Udoh, and also thank you to Benoit, Patrick, Pierre, Gilbert. We had a lot of fun and we kicked ass !!

Angela > GB friend
A Ghetto Blaster concert means guaranteed energy and good spirits for the rest of the week. Kiala and his musicians have a really communicative energy. In their presence, timidity disappears : carried by their music, you find yourself on the dance floor without even noticing how you got there. A pure moment of happiness.

Cyril Atef > drummer
In 1987-1988, I was living in Los Angeles and I was still a semi-professional musician. I was discovering lots of different music, especially African. One day a friend handed me a Ghetto Blaster cassette, "People" and I was instantly won over by this style of Parisian experimental afro-beat. A few months later, they were touring the US and came by LA. I went to the Flaming Colossus club and was thrown out by the bouncer who had a good memory for faces. What a downer ! In 1990, I settled in Paris and little by little met musicians like Stéphane Blaes (guitarist with Ghetto). We worked together for 4-5 years with Princess Erika. Thanks to him, I met Kiala and Willy N'for. Stéphane asked me at that point to record the new Ghetto, that he was making. That was all the invitation I needed. We recorded the album "River Niger" in a Paris apartment and a house in the suburbs... That's my story. I'm happy to have been part of the Ghetto Blaster experience - Mach 2 !

Eric Münch > cameraman
22 years ago I took off in an old 504 estate car with a Nagra (portable sound recorder) and a 16mm camera, headed for Africa, let's be honest, the complete unknown for the young, green sound engineer that I was at the time. Crossing the Sahara was really something (see Ghetto Blaster film) and we arrived, brimming with expectation, in Lagos, where Kiala was waiting for us. The group formed after many auditions at the Black Pussycat. I recorded the first masters, first concert in Lagos, first studio session at Decca, return to Paris with all the band on the China barge. I must have spent the following four years on that barge : dancing, singing, talking, eating, laughing and who knows what else I got up to !
Concert followed concert, in Paris and outside, and the jam sessions often finished in the small hours of the morning in my bedsit which had muted into a home studio... I who had always dreamed of being part of a musical adventure, had my wish come true. Even today, I have goosebumps as soon as I hear the first notes of a Ghetto concert. And beyond the music, Ghetto Blaster is the story of a dream that came true, the story of an encounter that continues to deepen...

Hubert COLAU > drummer
Long live Ghetto, long live afro beat, a source of rhythms and sounds ; what a school !


Ghetto Blaster to his friends
Thank you very much to all friends who wrote about Ghetto Blaster the way they think and feel : Cyril Atef, Vincent Mahey, Eric Münch, Hubert Colau & Angela Akani.

Special thanks to Jean-Marc Laouénan, Nazaire Bello & Cécile Boileau for spending their time to create this website.

Special thanks to Claire Zsanna Sebesteny for the English translation.