Kinshasa One Two

In July 2011, DRC Music - a collective of producers led by Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz) - headed to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo to make a record with contemporary Congolese musicians. DRC Music is comprised of producers: T-E-E-D (Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs), Dan The Automator, Jneiro Jarel, Richard Russell, Actress, Marc Antoine, Alwest, Remi Kabaka, Rodaidh McDonald and Kwes. Each of them has donated their time and waived all royalties to this work. The sounds created were completely different to normal instrumentation because the local instruments were primarily homemade from whatever was available. As Dan the Automator said, ''The equipment they created to make music was amazing. The drive and spirit to create with whatever was available was the highlight to me--old fans, tins, tree trunks, homemade drums, metal rods.'' The Democratic Republic of Congo has long been wracked by conflict and is home to one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. Proceeds from the album will benefit the local performers and Oxfam's work in Congo. Oxfam fights poverty and suffering in DRC through the empowerment of individuals and communities based on their rights, such as the right to clean water or to live in safety. Oxfam has been in DRC for 50 years and now has more than 350 staff in projects across the country, responding to emergency situations in order to save lives.