Sub Pop to Release Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni ba on New Label

When you think of the record label, Sub Pop, what comes to mind is Nirvana and the grunge music that dominated the '90s. Twenty years later, label co-founder Jonathan Poneman and KEXP (Seattle's public radio station) DJ Jon Kertzer are about to launch a world music label, called Next Ambiance. Its first digital release will be African artist Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni ba's "I Speak Fula."

The band will join Bela Fleck on their U.S. tour, giving audiences a real taste and opportunity to appreciate Kouyate live, which Kertzer believes is critical to understanding their non-English music as he went into detail with Seattle Weekly.

"I think seeing it and dancing to it and directly relating to it will help a lot. This artist is really exceptional. African music translates because it has the inherent rhythmic roll, just like rock and roll does, [which] comes from African music. That's kind of a roundabout way of saying that African music is more of the roots of our popular music in the West."

Kertzer happened upon the Mali-native artists while studying African music. After seeing Nigerian artist King Sunny Ade, who is credited with pioneering modern world music, and hearing his infamous juju music played live, Kertzer became a serious fan of the niche market.

But will Sub Pop audiences bite? Poneman isn't worried and has no plans for a hard sell.

"We put out a lot of different kinds of music. I mean, it's all roughly categorized as rock, I guess, and to that end I think what Bassekou plays is rock as well. We're not in the business of second guessing what people like. We just basically make things available, hopefully market them appropriately, and hope that the customers who find the music that we're putting out agreeable will buy the music."

Bassekou Kouyate and his band Ngoni ba released their debut album, "Segu Blue," in 2007 to critical acclaim. In 2008, the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music declared the band "Best African Act" while the celebrated musicians performed alongside the late Ali Farka Toure and Toumani Diabate. "I Speak Fula," due out December 1, will be the band's first American release.