K. Frimpong & His Cubano Fiestas - The Black Album LP

Label: Soundway

The second of Alhaji K. Frimpong’s two self-titled albums released during Ghana’s musical renaissance of the 1970s, this 1977 opus stands as a triumphant sequel to the record that first propelled him and his group to national fame. Backed by the formidable Vis-A-Vis band—here operating under the alias Cubano Fiestas—Frimpong delivers a deep, sinuous fusion of Ghanaian Highlife, American funk, and Afrobeat influences, producing a sound that is at once timeless and electrifying.

Sometimes referred to as The Black Album for its striking cover, this LP pushes further into experimental territory. The infectious “Hwehwe Mu Na Yi Wo Mpena” brings sharp electronic touches and razor-tight grooves, while the undeniable centerpiece lies on the flip side: the hypnotic “Adam Nana.” Stretching to over 15 minutes, the track unfolds with languid, evolving guitar lines, funk clavinet stabs, ghostly vocal refrains, and off-world percussion. The result is a sprawling Afro-psychedelic jam that rivals contemporaneous jazz-funk experiments coming out of the U.S. and Nigeria.

Though celebrated within Ghana upon its release, the album was never distributed internationally, making original copies exceedingly scarce. Tattered first pressings are known to fetch hundreds of dollars among collectors. A limited reissue surfaced briefly in 2011, only to vanish again, with even those copies now commanding premium prices on the second-hand market.

More than four decades on, K. Frimpong & His Cubano Fiestas remains a landmark in West African music—a record that captures a moment of boundary-pushing creativity, fusing the deep roots of Highlife with a forward-thinking global vision. A true Ghanaian masterpiece.