CHICO MANN "AFRO FREESTYLE" MIX CD & T-SHIRT

Chico Mann, a time-travelling multi-instrumentalist-producer who with drum machines, synthesizers, and guitars has singlehandedly filled the 30+ year gap between afrobeat, afrocuban, freestyle and electronic music while throwing a wrench into the cogs of musical history. Chico Mann grew up in a musical family in New York and New Jersey. His father was the owner of a Latin record label based in Hell's Kitchen in New York City and a young Chico observed the ins & outs of the biz while practicing his guitar and piano. It was then that he began to propagate his deep musical roots with such influences as Afrika Bambaata, Lisa Lisa, Willie Colon, Celia Cruz and Fela Kuti. Ignoring his father's advice to stay out of the business, he found his voice at age 12 and began his journey into sound. It was in the winter of '04 that Chico began putting together a series of tracks during his offtime from touring with Antibalas. What started as a lo-fi beat making excursion quickly became "Manifest