Berlin based Dub and Techno producer Mark Ernestus (check his previous work with Rhythm and Sound) fell in love with Mbalax (how could you not?), went to Senegal, found a band, and produced a collection of songs for release on Honest Jons records.
The first release is Mbeuguel Dafa Nekh from the group Jeri-Jeri (led by Bakane Seck) featuring Mbene Diatta Seck. Since I’ve been experimenting with my own ideas of Club-Mbalax, the Mbalax Dub version has got me too excited!
The Ghanian Hip Hop pranksters FOKN Bois (who are deliberately setting out to prove that Ghanaian music is more than highlife, hiplife or azonto) are back with perhaps their craziest project yet. In celebration of yesterday’s day of christian love, they bring us the world’s first “Gospel Porn album by the most politically incorrect Christian Rap group of the times.”
Somali-Canadian R&B Singer A’maal Nuux wants to be Mufasa. The description of the song on Youtube says, “This song touches on the devastation and upheavals afflicting Somalia… offers a message of hope calling on the people that a devastated nation can actually rise from the ashes of war!” A little Somali pride in your radio R&B. I can’t be mad. I appreciate that more and more artists aspiring to the mainstream in the Americas are able to foreground their African heritage. Not too long ago it would have been a detriment. And although not necessarily a direct reference to the Lion King, just like the American President she flips the stereotype. Nice one!
Big up @M.anifest for the new video (showcasing Accra’s transportation infrastructure), and congrats to the Black Stars for topping their group at the African Cup of Nations!
AIAC contributor Anni Lyngskaer just posted this short video showcasing the rhythm of daily life in Sierra Leone, and the dancing talents of the country’s women. It’s a really nicely shot and edited clip, plus the incorporation of sounds corresponding to the action makes for an interesting audio visual experience. Great job Anni!
Two recent features in the mainstream British media turned out to be enough to spur some debate about the so-called “Rise of the Afrobeats” in the U.K. The Guardian interviewed DJ Abrantee (quoting Abrantee as him having coined the term “Afrobeats” — or so the journalist said, which Abrantee later denied, but which didn’t stop MTV Iggy from copying it) while BBC radio aired a one-hour show as “your complete guide to Afrobeats.” Both features came with popular music plugs but also with some ludicrous quotes (such as “Nigerians are just hustlers on a high level… A Kenyan you can just walk by, he doesn’t exude that super star flair”; “male African dancers are much better dancers than the female Africans”; “African music is just beginning, just starting now”; “Africa’s a place full of love, despite it being depicted as war-torn”; “these songs are not about sex, but about love”; etcetera). Host of the show DJ Edu later clarified he wanted to “package African music to the West who loves a story” but it got us thinking. [Read more...]
Kieran Hanson’s documentary “Shooting Freetown” is a short glimpse into the lives of various media creators in Freetown, Sierra Leone during July and August of 2011. I was in the city at the same time this was being filmed, and visited with some of the same people, so I have to say that Hanson did a great job of portraying what Freetown felt like this past rainy season (this being an election year, the city will probably feel quite different.)
Several international organizations have been investigating and reporting on the corporate and foreign government’s land grabs happening across Africa. We’ve covered it and the Ethiopian government’s policy of forced villagization here, here and here. Now the Oakland Institute has put together a petition to U.S. president Barack Obama and the USAID administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah, asking them to stop their support to the Ethiopian government while they engage in such deals. You can do something. [Read more...]
On February 1st, I will be participating in the Afro-Spectacle hosted by my Dutty Artz brethren. [Read more...]
Al-Akhbar English has an article up by Amal Ghazal, author of the recently published Islamic Reform and Arab Nationalism: Expanding the Crescent from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, 1880s-1930s, providing a brief and accessible historical review of the Omani empire (perhaps skewed a little to the Omani perspective), and its former capital Zanzibar, which Omanis refer to as their version of Al-Andaluz. I have to say that one of the things that impressed me the most during several visits to the Arabian/Perisan Gulf over the past couple of years were clear signs of African influence on the Peninsula. It made me think a lot about constructed notions of African vs. Arab identity, and the cultural fluidity that exists throughout the Indian Ocean in general.
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