African Head Charge

African Head Charge functions as a psychedelic dub collective anchored by percussionist Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah and a rotating cast of supporting players. Embodying the more experimental dimension of sound system traditions, the outfit merges hallucinatory yet grounded elements drawn from African and Caribbean rhythmic heritage with sampling techniques and intensive studio manipulation, thereby shaping the approach of numerous bass-oriented electronic and worldbeat acts. Adrian Sherwood has overseen the majority of their recordings for his On-U Sound imprint, frequently drawing in personnel from affiliated projects including Dub Syndicate and Tackhead. What originated as a studio-only endeavor yielded its first release with the landmark 1981 album My Life in a Hole in the Ground. Subsequent efforts layered nearly industrial sonorities atop tribal rhythms, while the ensemble shifted toward live presentation toward the decade’s close. A turn toward greater accessibility marked projects such as the devotional Songs of Praise (1990) and the smoother, dub-reduced Akwaaba (1995). Later works including Voodoo of the Godsent (2011) revived a disorienting, bass-dominant aesthetic, whereas A Trip to Bolgatanga (2023) delves into the heritage of the Ghanaian town Bonjo has called home since the 1990s.

The project took shape in 1981 when British producer Adrian Sherwood initiated a partnership with Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah, who had trained in traditional Rastafarian drumming under Count Ossie at Wareika Hill, Jamaica. Sherwood drew impetus from a Brian Eno remark envisioning a psychedelic Africa. He constructed rhythm foundations around Bonjo’s percussion, incorporating contributions from recurring associates such as guitarist Crucial Tony, saxophonist Deadly Headley, and melodica player Doctor Pablo, together with vocals supplied by deejay Prince Far I. The outcome fused unrestricted dub exploration, free jazz, and ancestral rhythms. Their inaugural album, My Life in a Hole in the Ground, surfaced late that year, its title echoing Eno and David Byrne’s influential My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, issued earlier in 1981. In 1982 Noah House of Dread, a roots-reggae vehicle fronted by Bonjo, issued the album Heart, while African Head Charge delivered their follow-up, Environmental Studies, which probed found sounds and tape editing. The same approach continued on 1983’s Drastic Season. Off the Beaten Track, released in 1985, included bassist Jah Wobble, keyboardist Skip McDonald (aka Little Axe), and a sampled Albert Einstein. Originally issued solely on vinyl, the early catalog was later assembled as the two Great Vintage CDs in 1989.

African Head Charge first performed live in the late 1980s and quickly earned renown for their vigorous, bass-dominant shows. Songs of Praise, their 1990 studio album, integrated African chants with dub rhythms. It marked the first occasion Bonjo served as a principal songwriter alongside Sherwood and McDonald, with his lead vocals assuming greater prominence. Pride and Joy: Live arrived in 1991, followed by the more refined studio effort In Pursuit of Shashamane Land in 1993 and its companion EP Touch I in 1994.

Bonjo moved from London to Ghana in 1995. Akwaaba, the initial African Head Charge album produced solely by Bonjo, appeared on Acid Jazz and carried a markedly celebratory tone, at moments approaching soca. He launched Bonjo I Records and restored elements of dub on 1997’s Sankofa along with the second Noah House of Dread album, Heart 2. Rejoining On-U Sound, 1998’s Drums of Defiance, a remix collaboration with Professor Stretch, incorporated jungle and trip-hop touches. Live Goodies, compiling concert recordings from the late 1980s and early 1990s, emerged on Bonjo I in 2001, while On-U issued the compilation Shrunken Head in 2003.

Sherwood resumed production duties for 2005’s Vision of a Psychedelic Africa, initially available solely in Japan via Beat Records owing to On-U Sound’s distribution setbacks following EMI’s collapse. The EP In Charge: Live in Japan followed later that year, and Vision of a Psychedelic Africa received a global release in 2009. Marking the group’s 30th anniversary, 2011’s Voodoo of the Godsent sustained the return to an exploratory path. Two archival sets of early rarities and variants, Return of the Crocodile and EP Super Mystic Brakes, surfaced in 2016. Both featured in the box set Environmental Holes & Drastic Tracks 1981-1986, which gathered the first four albums. A further box, Drumming Is a Language 1990-2011, assembled the four On-U studio albums from that span plus the outtakes disc Churchical Chant of the Iyabinghi, also released independently. A Trip to Bolgatanga, reuniting musicians such as McDonald and Doug Wimbish and featuring Ghanaian artist King Ayisoba, appeared in 2023.