Great To Be Here
View on Discogs
Album Summary
The Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band — the Hamburg-based ensemble helmed by the deeply gifted producer and multi-instrumentalist Björn Wagner — laid something truly special down when they dropped 'Great To Be Here' in 2019 on the incomparable Big Crown Records. This is a record born from a philosophy that is as pure as it gets: take the hip-hop, soul, and funk that moved the world, strip it down to its percussive and melodic bones, and let the steel pan sing it back to you with that warm, analog glow that Big Crown has made its sacred mission to preserve. Recorded with the same DIY reverence and hands-on devotion that has defined the band's entire catalog, 'Great To Be Here' stands as a testament to what happens when an artist truly loves the music — not just the sound of it, but the soul underneath it.
Reception
- The album was met with genuine warmth from the global funk and soul underground, earning praise from fans and listeners who recognized the band's gift for finding the emotional core inside familiar source material and presenting it in a wholly new light.
- Critics and devotees alike celebrated the record's rare ability to speak to multiple generations at once — hip-hop heads who knew the DNA of these tracks and world music listeners drawn in by the resonant beauty of the steel pan instrumentation.
- The release deepened the band's devoted cult following across Europe and North America, finding particular love among vinyl collectors and the fiercely loyal community of record store faithful who trust Big Crown Records to deliver the real thing.
Significance
- 'Great To Be Here' holds a singular place in contemporary music for its bold and loving use of the steel pan as a vessel for hip-hop and soul sampling culture — brilliantly flipping the script by covering tracks that were themselves constructed from samples, creating a rich and circular conversation across generations of Black music.
- The album continues the important work of documenting the steel pan as a fully modern instrument, one capable of living and breathing inside contemporary Black American musical traditions rather than being confined to its Caribbean folk origins — a statement that is as political as it is musical.
- The project is a profound demonstration of hip-hop and soul's global citizenship, showing with grace and authority how a German ensemble could engage authentically and creatively with those traditions through an instrument whose roots run deep in the soil of Trinidad and Tobago.
Tracklist
-
A Great To Be Here —
3:04
-
B All Tha Ca$h —
2:38
Artist Details
The Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band is a mysterious Hamburg, Germany-based outfit that emerged in the 2010s, led by producer Björn Wagner, fusing the sun-kissed soul of Caribbean steel pan percussion with raw hip-hop breaks, funk grooves, and soul samples to create something that feels like a lost crate-digger's dream. Their instrumental covers of classic hip-hop and R&B tracks — reimagined entirely on steel drums — caught the ears of DJs and record collectors worldwide, earning them a devoted underground following and a home on the respected Big Crown Records label. Their work stands as a beautiful testament to the global reach of Black American music, proving that the soul of funk and hip-hop transcends borders and instruments in ways that would make even the heaviest heads nod in deep appreciation.
