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Description

Inspirited by voodoo tradition and soul, the Nana Benz offer an organic-electronic trance in a punk spirit.
The Nana Benz grew up in Togo, a few borders from Benin and Nigeria, and a few decades from the great Fela, who turned this Yoruba proverb into a hit: “water has no enemy” (Water No Get Enemy). The Nana Benz also grew up knowing that water has no price and that we must celebrate Mother Nature...
Respect for the planet and its inhabitants is what drives their repertoire rooted in the richness of voodoo heritage, which advocates values of liberation in English, French, and Mina. The earth, water, fire, air, Nature: that’s voodoo! “We have always been ecologists without knowing it, because voodoo is Nature,” explains Izeale, one of the three singers. At one point in our lives, we all immersed ourselves in this heritage that we had neglected. We discovered the power of voodoo, but also its scales, its incredible rhythms, and its wonderful melodies. And we now dive into it body and soul, because it’s not given to everyone to carry these songs!”
From there to bring this culture on stage, it wasn’t really in the intentions of Kasanku, Lady Apoc, Parus, Toto, or Izealedu, who nonetheless set the Transmusicales of Rennes ablaze in 2022 with an unstoppable electro-voodoo-soul ceremony. It took many years of work in the shadows before the Nana Benz dared to take the stage. There was first this improbable meeting during a music workshop, led by Peter Solo (to whom we owe the shock and success of the group Vaudou Game). The five artists do not yet know each other, but the chemistry is immediate between them.