Research, Interviews and Travel
Although the characters in MOJA are fictional, they are based on the true stories of millions of enslaved people throughout the history of Africa, America, Cuba, and other nations. MOJA was born when its creator, lifelong roots musician Carl Gustafson, set out in search of the answer to his question: “Where does the music I love come from, and why did it happen?”
To truly understand this, Gustafson spent several years of his life in Africa, Cuba, and more than 40 other countries. He spoke to professional historians, local musicians, native tribespeople, and current-day slaves — yes, modern day slavery still exists today.
He took in these experiences and asked himself how they must have been feeling, being so close to home but so far from any possible escape.
Even though Gustafson is a musician and not a historian, he made a conscious effort to visit these places in Africa to meet and speak to those who live there. He has first-hand insight and perspective that not many others do.
No Agenda
Gustafson approached the MOJA project not as an activist, but as a journalist — without an agenda to take away from the authenticity and emotion he found in the answer to his question. He listened to stories from all kinds of people, not only those with stories that fit into a particular group’s beliefs or goals.
Agenda is almost always the explanation for the revision of history, with certain nations and their leaders changing the facts to reflect the way they want it to have been.
The stories of the enslaved are all different, but our history classes often stereotype it for the sake of time, simplicity, and agenda. There are many different forms, eras, types, and levels of slavery, most of which are not found in the history books. This is thanks to the political agendas of government leaders, who did not want to reveal the true extent of the history and business of slavery.
With no agenda to fulfill and no desire to revise history to his benefit, Gustafson focused on throughout his eight trips to Africa, Gustafson traveled off the beaten path to ensure he was hearing as many stories as possible from as many different types of people as possible. He backpacked all around the continent, often with translators guiding him.
He interviewed people who typically are not consulted on these issues, and he asked them personal, emotional questions to learn their true stories.
Gustafson walked the slave trails, putting himself in the minds of those who walked them 200 years earlier. He dove into the experience using his imagination of what it felt like in the dungeons by chaining himself to ledges and sailing in the small overcrowded Dhow slave ships. A feeling unmeasurable by far, but still he felt sick traveling from Zanzibar to a prison island.
Agenda is almost always the explanation for the revision of history, with certain nations and their leaders changing the facts to reflect the way they want it to have been.
Gustafson approached the MOJA project not as an activist, but as a journalist – without an agenda to take away from the authenticity and emotion he found in the answer to his question. He listened to stories from all kinds of people, not only those with stories that fit into a particular group’s beliefs or goals.
The stories of the enslaved are all different, but our history classes often stereotype it for the sake of time, simplicity and agenda. There are many different forms, eras, types and levels of slavery, most of which are not found in the history books. It is also known that government leaders have political agendas that cover up the true extent of history and the business of slavery.
With no agenda to fulfill and not desire to revise history to his benefit, Gustafson focuses on the human experience that many historical documents have left out, and the music that was created because of it.
The Music
More than 500 musicians from all over the world contributed to the making of MOJA. It was Gustafson’s intention to choose independent artists rather than musicians attached to labels, agents, etc. This allowed the production team to have full creative freedom and expression with this eclectic group of talent.
The MOJA team traveled all across the world to record more than 150 songs. When the story references a particular place, the accompanying music was actually recorded there
Recording locations included:
- Havana, Cuba — Areito Studio
- Bamako, Mali
- Ollerton, England
- Jackson, Mississippi
- Boulder, Colorado — KMG Life Studios
- New Orleans, Louisiana — Irish Channel Recording Studio
- Silver Spring, Maryland — Blue House Productions
- Manhattan, New York — Flux Studios
- Chicago, Illinois — Joyride Studio
- El Cajon, California — The First Baptist Church of Hollywood
- Nashville, Tennessee — Hilltop Studio
Some of the key players in the making of MOJA were:
- Weedie Braimah — Musician, Historian, Performer, and Djembe Master from Ghana
- Tony Shepperd — Lead Engineer
- Natalie Litza— Chief Songwriter
- Linda McCrary — Gospel and R&B Singer
- David Kahne — Composer and Producer
- Pedrito Martinez — Cuban percussionist, singer, and educator
- Billy Branch — Voice of Innes Ellis
MOJA was written by Gustafson and brought to life by these musicians, sound engineers, songwriters, studio executives, and collaborators. However, Gustafson reminds us the saga was made possible through the lives of thousands of gone and forgotten enslaved people.
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