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Brand new label Odion livingstone, based out of Lagos, Nigeria, presents its debut release, a reissue of the sought after Nigerian disco LP rarity ‘Friday Night’ by Livy Ekemezie. “I was just out of senior secondary school and I wanted to make an album,” recalls Ekemezie. “I was into disco and funk at the time and I was looking for a bassdriven funky sound. The entire idea was to make an album that sounded like something made in London or the U.S. I tried to sound “American” but we ended up with something else: a mix of American and Nigerian.” ‘Friday Night’ was recorded at Goddy Oku’s Godiac 24-track recording studio in Enugu, one of the best studios available in Nigeria at the time. “It took about 9 months to a year to make the album,” continues Ekemezie. “I financed it by myself so I had to resort to friends helping out with loans for session men and studio time. The original LP was released on blue vinyl and that idea came from William Onyeabor. We used his pressing plant and he sold the idea to me. It was different so I said ‘why not?’” The LP has been picked up by many in recent months as the demand for Nigerian disco originals has grown with the track ‘Delectation’ receiving an unofficial edit and DJs like Motor City Ensemble dropping the album into their sets. This first ever reissue of the LP remains faithful to the original issue, remastered and pressed on blue vinyl. It features full original artwork along with new interviews with Livy Ekemezie and contributing musician Jules Elong by Odion Livingstone’s Temi Kogbe.- First ever reissue of sought after Nigerian disco original LP- Blue vinyl edition, echoing the original release which was pressed at William Onyeabor’s vinyl plant- Includes the DJ track ‘Delectation’- New package features all original artwork and new interviews with Livy Ekemezie and musician Jules Elong

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It is a rare occurrence, especially when you consider that we are writing this in the year 2017, that an unreleased soul/disco album from the 1970s surfaces after 40 years. The Tramp crew first heard about the album while discussing the re-release of Teakwood's sole 45RPM single release "Can You Dig It?" with former band leader and founding member of the group, Fred Forsh.It was in 1972 when two new Berry College freshmen met and realized that they were both music majors which led to an impromptu jam session in the lower level of the student center. This was the beginning of what would soon become Teakwood. "Those two original members, Ralph Moore on saxophone and me on piano, along with five others went into the studio in 1976 and recorded two songs for our first and only single", remembers Fred Forsh. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, Moore and Forsh parted ways but Teakwood continued with four remaining members plus two new ones and with this new lineup, went into the studio in 1977 to record nine songs under the collective title "A Distant Star". However, for some obscure reason the songs were never released but luckily the reel-to-reel master tapes survived.The tapes were sent to the head quarters of Tramp Records in early 2016. In the end it took several attempts at three different recording studios to transfer them successfully. It took some more months to get the material mastered and finally pressed on good old vinyl. Mr. Forsh says: "Here we are, forty years later, finally releasing it to the public thanks to Tramp Records! This is a dream come true for me and it is my hope that you will enjoy listening to the music of Teakwood!" Happy New Year 2017!- Previously unreleased album from 1977 - All songs taken from the original reel-to-reel master tapes - Deluxe vinyl LP including full album download code, housed in original 1970s old school tip-on cover

OYE Edits is back with the 2nd release: this time with Jonny Rock, a close friend, who is also responsible for the amazing Disco Hamam & Hamam House releases. Here we have four different styles on one record. From Disco to proto-House to Funk & Balearic... Party music for party people!

LIT is a snapshot of Bluestaeb und JuJu Rogers' musical endeavors in Fall 2016. Both had a successful 2015 & 2016 with highly acclaimed albums and a European support tour of Oddisee for JuJu Roogers. Both musicians are working on new solo albums and both of them are not happy with having the "boom bap" stamp forced on them. Their perspective is about progression, live music, changing the formula and going new ways. This doesn’t mean that they’re blindly following trends but to question and adapt one’s own formula. In the case of lit it means adding live musicians to the equation, going for a sound that refines the direction they took on their previous releases.With regard to content, JuJu's raps on the project deals with the important questions of our time. The trend word „lit“ becomes „LIT“, an abbreviation for "lost in translation" and a metaphor for the disconnection from trends of our society in general and hip hop especially. Racism, police brutality, gangsta rapper turning activists while still following a pattern of hate and destruction. Bluestaeb’s productions fluctuates from soulful and smooth to raw and gritty without sounding redundant or interchangeable.Be on the lookout for Bluesteab’s and JuJu’s solo albums dropping in 2017."This record is dedicated to the wretched of the earth. The weak and poor. To the people all around the world less privileged than us who are forced to live under even worse circumstances. The criminalized, racialized and marginalized people of this planet. RIGHT ON! ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE!"

Carthago: Rare Tunisian Disco Including Unreleased Instrumentals And Eight Page BookletWhen we first decided to start Habibi Funk, a label dedicated to re-releasing „funky" Arabic music from the 1960s to 1980s, a band called Dalton was the first release we worked on. Dalton was a band from the Tunisian capital of Tunis and they played a unique mix of soul & funk with an Arabic DNA. We licensed the release from the band’s composer Fawzi Chekili, and when we spoke to him on the phone in preparation of the release he mentioned another band he was part of, called Carthago. Our work with Habibi Funk is like a big treasure hunt. There are too many great bands that fully vanished into obscurity and didn’t leave any traces in the digital sphere yet. We are so used to the internet providing all informations we might be looking for, but Carthago was one of those bands where the internet largely failed to provide any infos despite the fact that Carthago created some incredible music in the form of an highly infectious Tunisian take on disco music. Luckily most of the members of the 1970s musical scene of Tunis are still around to tell their story.Carthago was founded in the late 1970s as a fusion of Dalton and a second band called Marhaba Band. Both bands frequently played at hotels and night clubs in Tunis and Sousse. They had similar musical influences and despite the fact that they were competition for the most part, they came up with the idea to join forces for a new band. Musically Carthago kept on walking on the musical path of Dalton and Marhaba but incorporated disco music, a new style that was making its way to North Africa from Europe and North America. The band had quite some success on local radio and played a number of big shows with thousands of people showing up. The band’s concerts were a mixture of their own compositions as well as cover versions of the hits of the time from Stevie Wonder to Chicago. At the end of the 70s they went to Paris to record their only, self titled album. For our reissue we picked out two of our favorite tracks: „Hanen“ and the outstanding disco version of the Dalton track „Alech“ which has proved to work on every dance floor we played over the last two years.When I came to Tunis for the first time after the Dalton reissue I met Fawzi in person. He still lives in Tunis and still works as a full time musician though his focus has shifted more towards Jazz over the years. Luckily he did not only keep a spotless copy of the Carthago album but he also kept the master tape of the instrumental versions of the album which to this day were unreleased. Being able to add exclusive content to a reissue is something that is rare and we feel highly privileged to be able to do so. Futher more we are so happy that we will be able to add something new to the bands legacy not only musically but also visually: One day I realized that most of the releases from Tunisia I liked, be it from Dalton, Carthago or Marhaba Band had the same photographer credit.Hassen Turki started taking photos at a young age and when he was 18 he started going to the gigs of the bands of the time that were playing in the Marhaba Hotel which was managed by his father at the time. He became friends with the bands and ended up being the person to be asked when it came to shooting the photos for the covers of the records. After some research I managed to get in touch with Hassen and met him in his hometown Sousse. Luckily he kept most of the negatives of the photos he took so we’re more than happy to be able to share these unseen photos with whoever is interested.