Click here to watch the YITA Music Video!
“Diving deep into themes of empowerment and feminism… This fifth album by Tchaco, San Francisco-based and hailing from Mande-related Gouro people of southern Ivory Coast, has personal and political currency, with tracks telling of Tchaco’s journey as singer, dancer, mother and storyteller – and the humanitarian crisis the world is facing… ‘Yita’ is a heartfelt Gouro-language ode to our commonality, a sentiment similarly expressed on tracks including ‘Tile Tete’, sung in French…there’s palpable joy in the album’s mix of Afrobeat, Afro-pop and electronics…”
-Alan Tigay, World Listening Post
As Fely explains, “The song YITA was written after my 2016 humanitarian trip to Greece in support of volunteers
helping the Syrian refugees camp in Greece. As well as crisis surrounding the migrants in the Mediterranean seas,
YITA recalls a childhood memory where my grandmother used to tell us that some of our forefathers
had gone into deep water never to return.
They did not know what had happened to them. Thinking about the transatlantic slave trade, the world crisis in human trafficking and police brutality, this is a way for me to pay tribute for those who have lost their lives during the different voyages.
YITA not only mourns the lives of the ones we lost, but also celebrates immigrants all over the world.”
YITA is performed in Gouro and was filmed by highly-respected filmmaker, Romeo Carey on location at Beverly Hills College, Malibu Beach with special effects by Romeo Carey and was directed by Fely Tchaco.
YITA includes footage of refugees from Open Arms Organization based in Madrid Spain.
A percentage of proceeds from YITA download sales goes to Open Arms charity: https://www.openarms.es/en 2021
“Yita is not only an outstanding album but also an inspired map of space, time and sound.”
-Alan Tigay, World Listening Post
“Fely Tchaco is the total package. With a powerful persona and a positive aura, she is a dynamic performer and dancer as well as specializing in rhythms of the West African forest region – such as Gbegbe, Gaou Alloukou and Zaouli, et al.
This quite mesmerizing new album opens on the rhythmic drum mastery of both ‘Ato Lagoh’ and ‘Cawe Yoko’ and follows them seamlessly with the lusciously Latin-flavored ‘Blamer Les Autres’ and the electronica-inspired beats of ‘Djebi Dje,’ and then we get one of my own personal favorites here, the sweepingly ambient ‘Do Afe.’
Next up are more foot-tappin’ beats within ‘Zaouli’ which is backed by the highly spirited ‘Zante,’ which are in turn followed by the quietly moving title track ‘Yita,’ the percussion-imbued ‘It’s Never Too Late,’ with the album rounding out on the light and breezy, Summer’s day, top down drive of ‘Tile Tete,’ closing on the joyous tones of ‘Kubeli.’“
-Russell Trunk’s Exclusive Magazine
“Yita (Deep Water) is the superb fifth album from elegant Ivorian artist Fely Tchaco. She is a fascinating, multifaceted artist. She composes and writes her own material, conceived the album artwork and created her fashion design, style and accessories. Fely Tchaco’s music is multidimensional. She put together a captivating mix of Ivorian roots, such as traditional rhythms of the West African forest region, such as gbegbe, gahu, alluku, and the zauli. Additionally, she added a wonderful set of styles such as Afrobeat, Afropop, rock, and electronic music. Fely Tchaco sings in many different languages, including English and French as well as in the languages she grew up speaking, such as Guro, Bete, and Dyula.”
-Angel Romero, WorldMusicCentral.org
Congratulations to Fely Tchaco also for the featured listing of her new album “YITA (Deep Water)” on the iTunes Worldwide pre-order page!
Discover the Singular Voice of Ivorian Singer-Songwriter FELY TCHACO on Her New Album YITA (DEEP WATER)
For Immediate Release – San Francisco, CA – FELY TCHACO might be one of the Bay Area’s best-kept musical secrets, but not for much longer. Her highly anticipated new album YITA (DEEP WATER), originally scheduled for release last spring but postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, is now set for release on March 8, 2021, to coincide with International Women’s Day.
YITA (DEEP WATER) marks the fifth full-length album from FELY TCHACO on which she explores themes of migration, human trafficking, and calls for social justice and the end of police brutality against civilians. The title track “Yita” was inspired by her 2016 humanitarian trip to bear witness to Syrian refugee camps in Greece, and the album is dedicated to African and Middle Eastern migrants who lost their lives crossing the Mediterranean Sea. YITA (DEEP WATER) was conceived as a tribute to migrants seeking better lives all over the word, but the album is not just a solemn remembrance; it is also a positive, inclusive celebration of cultural diversity and black joy, where FELY TCHACO offers an uplifting vision of immigrant triumph and African excellence.
An immigrant who faced tremendous challenges herself, FELY TCHACO was born and raised in the West African nation of Cote d’Ivoire, where she released two albums to critical acclaim in the 1990s. She now resides in San Francisco, where she continues to refine her sound and vision. Since 2004, FELY TCHACO has released two more albums and an EP, racking up more accolades on this side of the Atlantic including an Independent Music Award for “Best Song” in the World Beat category, and a “Just Plain Folks Music Award.”
YITA (DEEP WATER) is an album firmly rooted in tradition, but cosmopolitan in composition and outlook. FELY TCHACO’s unflinching lyrics are inspired by current events, and always grounded in her own life experiences. FELY TCHACO sings in many different languages: English and French as well as in the languages she grew up speaking, such as Gouro, Bete, and Dioula. A dancer as well as a musician, FELY TCHACO specializes in the traditional rhythms of the West African forest region, such as gbegbe, gahou, alloukou, and the zaouli – a mask dance from her own Gouro people that has been inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2017. The track “Zaouli” is a celebration of this very special mask dance.
FELY TCHACO’s commitment to Ivorian music, dance, and traditions led her to found the Pan African Arts Academy in San Francisco, with a mission to teach arts and crafts originating in Africa and the African diaspora based on a spirit of cultural diversity, dynamic growth, and sustainability. FELY TCHACO has deliberately chosen to release YITA (DEEP WATER) on International Women’s Day 2021, whose theme this year is #ChooseAChallenge.
“I am so grateful to be able to represent my culture as a Gouro woman, because there are not many of us. It is mostly men that are known in the crafts, arts and dance. I hope that I can add to that by celebrating not only the Gouro women but to celebrate the entire women all over the world who have contributed so much in art and music.” -FELY TCHACO
Discover singular voice of FELY TCHACO this spring with YITA (DEEP WATER), available on all major platforms March 8, 2021.
For more information about FELY TCHACO please visit:
To order YITA (DEEP WATER) on digital services please visit:
https://smarturl.it/FelyTchacoYITA
For Press and Interview inquiries please contact Billy James of Glass Onyon PR:
(828) 350-8158 or glassonyonpr@gmail.com
For Digital Marketing, please contact Jerome Forney at Independent Distribution Collective: jerome@independentdistro.com
Additional Media Contacts:
North Am Radio: Tom Pryor – tom.pryor@gmail.com
UK + European (excl. France): Angie Lemon – angielemonpr@gmail.com
France PR: Leo Ferte – leo.ferte@differ-ant.fr
Promotion of YITA (DEEP WATER) has been made possible through the support of
AccountingSuite™ – www.accountingsuite.com
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