You hear “Baba, el Baudelaire negro”, on one of the songs on “Cuidado” (Watch Out), the first CD by the group, BLACK BAUDELAIRE. This group from the popular barrio of Raval in Barcelona formed when Babakar Gaye from Dakar, Senegal met Stéphane Laidet from France (ex-member of Color Humano). They joined together with Nico Boudou and Franck Fiedler, two other ex-members of Color Humano and Kyzer, a Moroccan DJ, representative of the French raggamuffin scene, and began to shape Black Baudelaire. In 2003 they released a maxi CD, “Danger”, with six self-produced themes on which participated, among others, Marina, from the group, Ojos de Brujo, and Rubio and Kris, from O8001.

Throughout 2003 they continued to triumph with concerts staged on the Peninsula, marked by especially memorable acts at the Apolo in Barcelona, along with the groups “La Excepción,” (The Exception) and 08001 and in Granada together with the group “Hablando en Plata” (Speaking in Silver). In 2004 the band regrouped with the addition of DJ Weas, from the Swiss hip-hop scene and Lune, whose background is French-Senegalese. New concerts followed across Europe, including the Festivals: A Noite Do Trasno in Galiza, Pop D´Europe in Berlin, the Mercat de Música Viva in Vic, in Catalonia, and, in November, a 3-week tour, criss-crossing Germany (Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt, Marburg…) and Switzerland.

Towards the end of 2004 they met with David Bourguignon and Stephane Carteaux, managers of the independent Barcelona label, Kasba Music (La Kinky Beat and Cheb Balowski) which resulted in an agreement to produce the group´s first album.

In the spring of 2005, they released “Ciudado,” (Watch Out): a CD compiled of fifteen themes, a potent hip-hop “mestizo” sung in Wolof, French, English, Spanish…, fifteen songs with richly elaborated lyrics that combine street poetry and African storytelling; themes that reflect the myriad social predicaments caused by globalization and that describe the harsh reality of an African betrayed by the European Dream. Collaborating musicians that helped to create the album´s sound include those previously mentioned, Rubio (guitar) and Kris (bass), from the group 08001, and David Bourguignon (drums), from Radio Bemba.

A group to look out for; an album to sing along with and reflect on.