Earlier this year, two giants of funk joined forces to create an international heavyweight single guaranteed to set audiences in motion. New Orleans–based collective Galactic enlisted Cuban songwriter Cimafunk for the track “Ready for Me,” which seamlessly saw the two artists integrate their sounds as Cimafunk trades verses with Galactic vocalist Anjelia “Jelly” Joseph. “Last year Cimafunk was rolling through New Orleans and hit us up to record some stuff together,” Galactic’s Robert Mercurio recalls about linking up with the musician. “We played him our demo of ‘Ready for Me’ and he immediately started writing his verses right there in the studio.”
With “crowd favorite” written all over it, the new music video for the track that arrives today sees Galactic making a trip down to Cuba to perform the new single for an engaged audience. “Since we had recorded the song with one of Cuba’s hottest rising stars, and we had a trip to Cuba on the calendar, it was a no-brainer to shoot the video down there,” Mercurio adds. “The backdrop of Havana was so visually exciting that the video kind of made itself.”
“I see Cuba as the foundation and the origins of a lot of the culture and music that we have in New Orleans,” adds the band’s Stanton Moore, while “Jelly” Joseph echoes this sentiment: “Great music, delicious food, and beautiful people. It felt like home!”
“Galactic and Jelly have always taken care of me in New Orleans, it was so dope to have them on my turf in Cuba,” Cimafunk shares. “Making the video was a lot of fun—a bunch of artists chilling together, making music, sharing our culture. When we get stuck understanding something between the English-Spanish divide or complicated politics, we just turn to the music to connect. And damn, can those Galactic guys play music. And Jelly’s voice and groove—she’s the truth.”
Watch the artists jam together below. You can catch up with Galactic on tour here, and Cimafunk on tour here.
