David Byrne released three albums before I got to Luaka Bop, Beleza Triopical, O Samba and Forro. THE PHILOSOPHY OF SAMBA Samba, like many other Afro-Latin music forms, propels and ignites the lower body; the hips, the butt, the pelvis, etc. by letting the downbeat float. By de-emphasizing the first beat of each measure, a rhythm becomes more sensual and ethereal; one floats outside the time and space of earthly existence. Repetition creates a timeless, communal otherworld, a floating ethereal cycle that is both rooted in biological rhythms and in the beyond or the meta-biological. Any activation of the hips-sex-butt-pelvis relates to the source of all life, the womb. This music is definitely a respectful prayer in honor of the sweet, the feminine, the great mother, the sensuous life-giving aspects of ourselves and our lives and to the Earth, the mother of us all. To shake your rump is to be environmentally aware. - David Byrne