Afro/Cosmic Music - Etymology

Etymology

Cosmic, Cosmic Disco, or the Cosmic sound derives from Cosmic Club; referring to the sound of that venue. As such, the term is principally associated with Baldelli, who makes a claim to its invention.

Afro is Loda’s term for 1. his selections from African-influenced disco, soul, funk, and jazz fusion genres; 2. his selections of alternative and experimental dance music that typically comprised the first hour of his sets; 3. his general mixing style; and 4. a 1982–1984 series of his mix tapes. In recent interviews, he has suggested a preference for the term freestyle rather than Afro, and he makes a distinction between Cosmic and his style, claiming that Cosmic music is the sound of mid-1980s and later pretenders, is a misnomer popular only outside of Italy, and isn’t even a real genre.

Baldelli claims that during his military service around 1984, there was a “guest” DJ who became famous playing Baldelli’s selections at Cosmic Club. Baldelli's protégé, Claudio ‘TBC’ Tosi Brandi, performed at Cosmic Club around that time, as did Beppe Loda.

Loda counters that no one person invented the genre and style of mixing; he says he coined the term Afro in 1979 to collectively refer to the eclectic, African-influenced music that he and other Northern Italian DJs were playing at the time, and later applied it to the integration of Baldelli’s electronic style with his own.

The liner notes of a mid-2000s Cosmic Club tribute album featuring Baldelli uses both Afro and Cosmic in reference to the music.

The term afro-cosmic was also used by one music journalist in 2006 to describe the late-1960s/early-1970s music of saxophonist Pharoah Sanders.