Ancestry in Progress is an album by Zap Mama, released in 2004.[2][3] Marie Daulne, Zap Mama's leader, deemed the music "Afropean".[4]
Ancestry in Progress | ||||
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Studio album by Zap Mama | ||||
Released | 2004 | |||
Genre | Afropop, soul, hip hop | |||
Label | Luaka Bop/V2 Records[1] | |||
Producer | Marie Daulne, Anthony Tidd, Richard Nichols | |||
Zap Mama chronology | ||||
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The album peaked at No. 1 on Billboard's World Albums chart.[5]
The album was mostly recorded in Philadelphia, where Daulne worked with musicians associated with the Roots.[6][7] It contains contributions from Talib Kweli, Erykah Badu, Questlove, Bahamadia, and Common.[8][9] Daulne sings in French and English, while also employing chants from Pygmy music.[10]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Robert Christgau | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Philadelphia Daily News | B+[8] |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
USA Today | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Exclaim! thought that "'Bandy Bandy', with Erykah Badu, stands out because of its polished immediacy."[14] The Baltimore Sun determined that "Daulne blends the ancient (her trademark pygmy onomatopoeic vocal techniques and chants) with the present (smoothed- out, atmospheric grooves)."[6]
The New York Times concluded: "Half of the album comes across simply as neo-soul with a Belgian accent. But the other half—especially 'Show Me the Way'—meshes Zap Mama's dizzying, ping-ponging vocal polyphony with pithy hip-hop beats and a pan-African assortment of guitar curlicues."[15] The Sydney Morning Herald opined: "Singing in both French and English, she's a breathy African Bjork one minute, an operatic Afro-funk diva the next."[16] Rolling Stone considered that "despite rap cameos and world-beat sound effects, the grooves are as bland as bad neosoul, and the songs sound like bundles of self-consciously eclectic singing."[13]
AllMusic wrote that "this is far more an urban recording, where urban pop and nu-soul are informed by worldbeat esthetics rather than the other way around."[11]