What can be heard here is actually a rather crude mixture, at least at second glance, of disco, reggae, hints of hip-hop, synth-pop, Latin influences and cool new wave, Turkish as well as English lyrics. Yet this solo début by Nyofu Tyson, released only on cassette in 1988, is a coherent blueprint of Turkish pop music.
Firstly, this is explained by the biography of the artist, who was born in Los Angeles of Danish-Lebanese-African-American descent, studied composition, classical double bass and classical North Indian music, and learnt the Turkish saz during his travels. In Sweden, where he lived for ten years, he played with Turkish legends such as Zülfü Livaneli and Okay Temiz, and later, back home in California, he fused Anatolian music with flamenco. Secondly, the key to this music is that the songs are essentially traditional Anatolian folk songs, which are transformed into a new Anatolian pop music in the hands of Nyofu Tyson and his fellow musicians (including the aforementioned Okay Temiz). A monumental rediscovery!
