Hear Dogo du Togo's Voodoo Melodies and Gazo Rhythm

<p>In honor of this week's program, “The Voodoo To Go Festival,” take a trip to where<em> vaudou</em> originated, in Togo.</p> <div class="video-container"><iframe loading="lazy" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/UiIs6rZrPZM" allowfullscreen="" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0"></iframe></div> <p>Serge “Massama” Dogo leads the Washington D.C.-based band Elikeh, but he's never been shy about celebrating his home country in West Africa. The video for his newly released song “Obligation” takes Dogo and his band on a bus trip through Togo, from soccer games to bustling motorcycle traffic to, in a few clips, a vaudou ceremony.</p> <p>Originating in the Dahomey Kingdom between Togo and Benin, and now called vaudou, <em>vodun</em> or <em>voodoo </em>depending on where you are, the West African religion spread through Haiti, Cuba, Brazil and the United States in the 16^th century by way of slavery. </p> <p>Music is an essential component of the vaudou ceremonies, leading participants into the trance, and Dogo describes “Obligation” as voodoo melodies set over a Gazo rhythm from the nearby Volta region. </p> <p>The song's lyrics call for unity for Togo, which Dogo calls too small a nation to be so divided. Tying together disparate rhythm and melody is a pretty neat unity of composition and lyrics.</p>