Rocky Dawuni - Beats of Zion (Aquarian / Six Degrees)
Add Date: 03/05/2019
FCC: Clean
Focus Tracks: 1, 2, & 7
Formats: College, Modern Rock, Triple A, & World
“What a tremendous performance from international reggae star Rocky Dawuni. It has been a joy to watch his maturation as a writer and performer, and this Ghana-based video shows him at the absolute height of his powers, chanting an irresistibly danceable melody that expands the range of his syncretic powers. First rate and a pure joy!” - Roger Steffens, author of the award-winning So Much Things to Say: The Oral History of Bob Marley
Artist Bio: Rocky Dawuni, the international music star/global ambassador and humanitarian activist, announces the release of his highly anticipated 7th studio album Beats of Zion, out March 8th, 2019 via Six Degrees Distribution. The thirteen-track set follows the GRAMMY nominated album Branches of the Same Tree, (“Best Reggae Album” in 2016) and expands Rocky’s “Afro Roots” sound to include the diversity of the Ghanaian music scene and its current global outreach.
The title track and lead single “Beats of Zion” came out well from the Village Studios session, but was missing something on the drum tracking. Rocky states, “We travelled to Zanzibar for a concert shortly after the recording session. At the time, I was still wanting the full African tribal effect that I had imagined. On the eve of my concert at the amazing Sauti za Busara Festival, we saw Batimbo Percussion Magique of Burundi mount the stage and blow the minds of everyone in the audience. I turned to my manager, Cary Sullivan who was also watching and we thought the same – ‘these are the guys for Beats of Zion’ and so the story unfolded.” The lead single will also have an accompanying video due out January 25th.
In a time when divisive rhetoric is on the rise and the political climate prefers to build walls over bridges, Rocky’s album Beats of Zion is a refreshing message about global unity and a worldview of oneness. Rocky passionately states, “We live in a time when the elements of international morality need to be proclaimed as a guiding principle for how we engage and deal with each other, between individuals, between communities and among nations. It is a time for global mobilization for action on challenging socio-political issues like the environment and the refugee crisis. Beats of Zion is the drumbeat of war against apathy and re-energizing the forces of love and hope.” He concludes, “Beats of Zion is the rhythm of change beating from a distance and getting louder to awaken positive consciousness.”