Why did we choose African music for the Kaiyo Mission?

If you have played our demo or watched our trailer, you have probably noticed that we have used a non-conventional type of music for our science-fiction game... Not many people associate space travel and the exploration of our universe with anything related to Africa. This is often so, because many of us are biased to rather associate these topics with classical music (for example Odyssey 2001), or sometimes western music (Serenity, Firefly), or bespoke ‘futuristic’ music (original Star Trek series). The Kaiyō Mission wants to break this sub-conscious bias, and use this uplifting music to enhance our game.

The Bristol-based Afro-Jazz group Hélélé kindly allowed us to use some of their music to lend our game the positive and hopeful message of peace it conveys. The music is inspired by the rhythms of the Bantu Forest of Cameroon with influences from Assiko, Makossa and Bikutsi. ‘Alphonse Daudet Touna formed Hélélé to ‘enrich and share his music with the world.’ He started at an early age playing the drums at traditional village ceremonies where he developed his talent as a composer and performer. The vocals of the group are mostly sung in the tribal language ‘Bassa’, sending messages of peace and reconciliation. Hélélé ’s line-up includes Alphonse Daudet Touna on vocals, Balafon, and percussion, Dino Christodoulou on tenor saxophone, Neil Smith on lead guitar, Ron Phelan on bass and Greg White on drums’ (https://helele.org/music/). Please do check out their music and story.