10 songs we’ve been listening to this week. First up — and fresh — Gaël Faye and Tumi (who needs no introduction):
Friday Music Break(s)
May 18, 2012 By 1 Comment
British based Nigerian rapper Modenine starts off our weekly Friday Music Break. Here’s four more.
Why We Loved Warda
May 18, 2012 By 1 Comment
Yesterday, 72 year old French-born Algerian-Lebanese songstress Warda Al-Jazairia passed away. Known just as Warda to her millions of beloved fans, she leaves behind a legacy comparable to such musical stars as Umm Kulthum. Warda died in Cairo, her adopted home since the 1970s. [Read more...]
‘Afropolitan Divas’ in London
May 17, 2012 By 2 Comments
The second Numbi of 2012 happened – with undeniable flamboyance – last Saturday, bringing a team of ‘Afropolitan divas’, and with them an influx of poetry and music from East Africa and elsewhere, to East London.
Diplo in the dock
May 14, 2012 By 1 Comment
Chief Boima (government name: Boima Tucker; and AIAC collective member) was invited to OPEN ARTI in Milan recently to talk about art and politics and to DJ. In the video of the event (above), Boima is joined by fellow DJ, Venus X (profiled here in The New York Times). AIAC gets some shout-outs. A lot of things get referenced: music and race, how we listen to music, Shakira, cumbia, hard style, LMFAO, David Guerra, Rihanna, etcetera. But the elephant in the room is Diplo, the famous DJ and tastemaker. It’s Venus who speaks frankly, and openly, about her run-ins with Diplo (he attacked her on Twitter after she objected to him recording her set and then bringing out a mixtape). Boima discussed the implications of the Venus-Diplo feud in this AIAC post. (At the time Diplo felt compelled to comment on the post; just scroll down.) In the video, Boima also gets to talk about that meeting with Diplo set up by Eddie ‘Stats’ Houghton (of Okayplayer/Large Up) in the wake of our post. This new video–given the viral quality of the web–will sure ignite this debate again.
Interview: Baloji
May 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment
I recently had the chance to sit down with Congolese-Belgian MC, Baloji during his visit to New York City. Here’s what transpired.
Acoustic Guitar Break
May 11, 2012 By 1 Comment
We thought it would be nice to compile a Bonus Music Break centered on acoustic guitar music. First up is Toronto-based Ghanaian Kae Sun with “Lion on a Leash”:
Africanos Latinos
May 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Latin America and the Caribbean haven’t gotten enough attention on this site. We’re going to intentionally rectify that, and I’m excited to start by sharing this video from sometimes collaborators of mine, Los Rakas. [Read more...]
‘We found love in a hopeless place’
May 9, 2012 By 32 Comments
The central point of this song and music video by violinist Lindsey Stirling (the singer is one Alisha Popat) begins with an invocation of a familiar trope: Africa is a hopeless place. But African love springs eternal. So much so that it has the ability to save and teach privileged people from the west, who arrive with fancy hopes of ‘saving’ picturesque Africans. Hell, I’m sure you could even save the elephants if you spent long enough prancing around them playing the violin and the elephants somehow managed to resist the temptation to grind you into the dust with their massive feet (note to American celebrities). And people love this kind of thing. By late last night, this video had nearly half a million views since it was first posted on Youtube on Monday, May 7.
Yuna
May 8, 2012 By 6 Comments
Malaysian singer-songwriter Yunalis Zarai sings here in the classic tradition of seafaring island people: the lyrics use the metaphors of water, swimming, and voyaging as an invitation to love. What is different about her words is that it is typically the male figure who approaches the woman, captured in the ‘island’ figure, and the invitation is for her to leave her safety, and be engulfed by the intemperate, vast, and living thing that surrounds her. Instead, Yuna’s words are aimed towards a boy, to whom she beckons. [Read more...]
