Brooklyn Funk Essentials is an acid-jazz, funk, and hip hop collective feat… Read Full Bio ↴Brooklyn Funk Essentials is an acid-jazz, funk, and hip hop collective featuring musicians and poets from different cultures. The band was conceived in 1993 by producer Arthur Baker and bassist and musical director Lati Kronlund. Lati Kronlund played the bass, and other members included Hanifah Walidah (aka Sha-key), Joi Cardwell, Papa Dee and Stephanie McKay (vocals), Everton Sylvester and David Allen (dub poetry), Josh Roseman (trombone), Bob Brockmann (trumpet), Paul Shapiro (sax & flute), Yancy Drew and Tony Allen (drums), E.J. Rodriguez and Danny Sadownic (percussion), Desmond Foster and Masa Shimizu (guitar), ATN Stadwijk and Yuka Honda (keys), Bill Ware (vibes) and dj’s Jazzy Nice and Smash on turntables.

In the mid-1990s the group became a staple of the New York City club scene. Their debut album "Cool and Steady and Easy" (1994) scored an underground hit with the rendition of Pharoah Sanders's "The Creator Has a Master Plan". "Cool and Steady and Easy" (1994) also featured prominent guests like Maceo Parker, The Tower Of Power Horns, Michigan & Smiley and even Dizzy Gilespie.

The album, "In The Buzz Bag"(1998), included Turkish folk music rythms and instruments, recorded with the Turkish band, Laço Tayfa. In The BuzzBag became a milestone in collaborative projects and earned BFE a Grammy nomination. It also escalated the group to a stadium capacity act in Turkey.

In 2000, BFE released their third album "Make Them Like It", which concluded where the first album left off: a happy mélange of funk, Latin, reggae, jazz, house, dub, electro and hip hop which featured the fan favorites ‘I Got Cash’, ‘Mambo Con Dance Hall’ and ‘Woman Thing’.

After the 2001 world tour the band members took a hiatus and pursued a number of noted solo interests.

Offers of recording and touring where plentiful, and BFE songs kept being featured on compilation albums around the world, and in the summer of 2006, a core of BFE members got back together again to do a tour of three world continents as BFE Sound System (mixing classic BFE with electro and dub). By the end of 2006, the sound system model had been abandoned for a return to the group’s original all live funk line up consisting of Hanifah Walidah, Papa Dee and Everton Sylvester (vocals), Lati Kronlund (bass), Yancy Drew (drums & vocals), Desmond Foster (vocals & guitar), Iwan van Hetten (trumpet, keys & vocals) and Philippe Monrose (percussion). The group continued touring the world in 2007.

In the spring of 2008 the band released a new album ‘Watcha Playin’. The songs on the album have been written and developed during the band’s tours in front of audiences around the world, and it has been recorded in studios in New York, Paris, Amsterdam, Istanbul and Stockholm.

Mambo Con Dancehall
Brooklyn Funk Essentials Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

This is a clash to remember, a clash to remember
This is a clash to remember, ooh!

Mambo con dancehall on a Friday night (x4)

[this part is very difficult to understand, sorry]

Mambo con dancehall on a Friday night (x4)

Overall Meaning

The Brooklyn Funk Essentials's song Mambo Con Dancehall is a fusion of two popular genres, mambo and dancehall, which creates an energetic and exciting atmosphere perfect for a Friday night. The lyrics emphasize the significance of the evening, stating that it is a clash to remember. This phrase could represent the intense and competitive nature of both mambo and dancehall music, where each genre competes for the attention of the listener. Alternatively, it could also relate to the coming together of two diverse cultures to create something new and exciting.

Despite the challenging nature of the song's lyrics, the energy conveyed in the music is infectious. The upbeat rhythm and catchy melody encourage listeners to move and dance. The song's fusion of two genres adds to the depth and complexity of the overall sound and demonstrates how the mixing of different musical cultures can create a unique and memorable experience.

Line by Line Meaning

This is a clash to remember, a clash to remember
This event is going to be unforgettable and noteworthy, something that will be remembered for a long time

This is a clash to remember, ooh!
The excitement and anticipation for this event is palpable and unmistakable

Mambo con dancehall on a Friday night (x4)
The music being played is a fusion of Mambo and Dancehall genres, and it's happening on a Friday night, which signifies the start of the weekend and freedom to have fun

Writer(s): Paul Shapiro, Daniel Wahlgreen, Lars Kronlund, Lars Erik Charles Kronlund, Daniel David Wahlgren Copyright: Telegram Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Mgb Ltd., Sharp Eye Music

Contributed by Caroline I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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