The Yoruba have a word–tutu–for cool. Robert Farris Thompson describes it in his book Flash of the Spirit: “As we become noble, fully realizing the spark of creative goodness God endowed us with, we find the confidence to cope with all kinds of situations. This is Ashe. This is character. This is mystic coolness. All […]
The first time I heard about rapper Youngsta (government name Riyadh Roberts) was during Public Enemy’s tour of Cape Town, in a club awkwardly named @mospheer. Chuck D and Flavor Flav rocked the crowd that night, with a high-energy performance lasting longer than two hours (according to Flavor Flav’s giant clock necklace). In the middle […]
What happens? An 8-track remix compiled from “… dozens of hand-picked samples from the Nigerian instrumentalist and political figure Fela Kuti, and 8 carefully-chosen acapellas from the Native Tongue rap trio De La Soul” called Fela Soul. The remix is the work of America Gazaway for Gummy Soul. Above is the promo video. Here’s a link […]
Last week The New York Times published an odd piece of writing by one its theater “critics”, Charles Isherwood about the Broadway show “Fela!” about the life of the Afrobeat king. Isherwood, in a piece that was begging for reaction, accused the show of “tilting” towards minstrelsy (basically Bill T Jones promotes blackface) aimed at […]
Interview with Nigerian singer, Nneka, about her new album (the cover of which is striking) by my friend, Siddhartha Mitter, in “The Boston Globe” this weekend.
