New album ‘Harlem Hipshake’ out now!

Harlem Hipshake finds The Bongolian deeply immersed in his lifelong love for the music of the sixties New York’s Latin Soul scene, particularly the music of Ray Barretto, Mongo Santamaria and Joe Bataan. Available now in the following formats: Clear 180g vinyl (limited 500), black 180g vinyl, CD and digital from the Blow Up (greedbag) shop

About the Bongolian

The Bongolian is the alter ego of Nasser Bouzida, front man of cult Hammond heroes Big Boss Man. Both acts appear on the Blow Up Record Label.

Back in 2001, Nasser Bouzida disappeared into his studio and created a solo set of recordings. Drawing on influences of Funk, Latin, Soul and Jazz Nasser produced an inspired selection of recordings blending elements of grinding percussion and heavy Bongo rhythms. The eponymous debut ‘The Bongolian’ was released early in 2002 to much critical acclaim and has since been followed up by the albums Blueprint, Outer Bongolia, Bongos For Beatniks and Moog Maximus, with a sixth album due in 2019. The albums have become record box essentials for DJs, finding a wide appeal from Dance and Hip-Hop to Rare Groove and Funk 45s fans. Several Bongolian tracks have been playlisted on BBC 6 Music and also featured on BBC TV’s Top Gear as well as Amazon Prime’s Grand Tour.

In addition to this Nasser has written and recorded two funky library records for De Wolfe and worked with artists as diverse as Morcheeba, Laurel Aitkin, Paul Waller, Craig Charles and Bad Manners.

Nasser is also the owner of Beat Mountain studios in Wales and creator of the Beat Mountain Sample Pack – a huge compendium of retro style drum and percussion breaks and loops. These loops are all performed and produced by Nasser, to allow anybody to create their own music with a retro breakbeat bedrock.