Refugee All Stars To Release Album Sept. 26

Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars will release their album, Living Like a Refugee, Sept. 26 on Anti Records. The new disc is a companion to the band’s award-winning documentary, The Refugee All Stars, which follows a group of musicians who escape their home of Sierra Leone in West Africa during the 10 year civil war.

The album was recorded from August 2002 to October 2005 while the film was in production. The members of the Refugee All Stars, who range in age from the 42-year-old Reuben M. Koroma to the orphaned teenage rapper Black Nature, united in the Sembayounya Refugee Camp in Guinea, where they went on to make early recordings. After they were able to return back home, the members recorded tracks at Island Studios in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Living Like a Refugee is a mix of West African, reggae, hip hop and classic R&B, while the lyrics venture deep into the members’ struggles with the war, corruption and the poor living conditions they struggled through.

As of recent, the Refugee All Stars have been playing various festivals around the United States, including South by Southwest, Bonnaroo, Summer Stage in New York City’s Central Park and the Montreal Jazz Festival.

For more information, click here.

Got news tips for Paste? Email news@pastemagazine.com.