I recently had the chance to sit down with Congolese-Belgian MC, Baloji during his visit to New York City. Here’s what transpired.
Interview: Baloji
May 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The adventures of Tintin in the Land of the Law
April 30, 2012 By 3 Comments
Guest Post by Jogchum Vrielink
“Tintin,” the brainchild of the late Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi (better known as Hergé) is experiencing new and exciting adventures these days. Not just in the cinema, but in Belgian courts as well. A Brussels court has rejected the suit of a Congolese student and a minority organization to obtain a ban on the comic book ‘Tintin in the Congo.’ The main conclusions about the case: One, despite this outcome, the reasoning of the court jeopardizes free speech. And two, as regards the applicants: offensive as the comic may be, their recourse to the law is both misdirected and counterproductive. [Read more...]
The Hissène Habré “political and legal soap opera”
April 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Guest post by David Styan
In recent weeks media coverage of African criminals and their victims have been dominated by capture (Kony) and conviction (Lubanga), largely overshadowing the latest twist in the most comprehensive and longest-running African legal case, that of Chad’s Hissène Habré. His crimes — the torture and extra-judicial killing of tens of thousands of Chadians during his presidency between 1982 and 1990 — and his ability to evade prosecution for so long, speak loudly of African leaders’ attitudes to punishment and impunity. [Read more...]
‘The Love Mantra’
March 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment
New video for single from Brooklyn-based Rwandan singer Iyadede‘s new album, “The Demo.” (Remember her recent cover of Theophilus London’s “Flying Overseas”?) The video is directed by Sam Kessie.
‘Very African and Very Modern’
February 1, 2012 By 2 Comments
Written by Wayne Marshall*
As if there weren’t already enough to tease out about Konono N°1 and Congotronics, a recent article in The Guardian points to a song and video called “Karibu Ya Bintou” by Baloji, a Congo-born rapper who cut his teeth on the Belgian hip-hop scene but who has worked over the last few years to return to “roots” — in part by incorporating “traditional” sounds of the Congo, from soukous guitars to Konono’s hallmark distorted likembé. The latter can be heard supporting the vivid video for “Karibu Ya Bintou”:
‘Support unborn African babies’
January 19, 2012 By 1 Comment
A Belgian organization (backed by a smart advertising agency) “is calling on unborn babies in Belgium, to do something about the thousands of unborn babies in Africa that do not survive their own birth.” [Read more...]
I remember Black Pete*
November 25, 2011 By 1 Comment
As a child, I never believed in Santa Claus.
I believed in Saint Nicholas and Zwarte Piet (Black Pete). I remember waking up as a child on December 6, 1983, three hours before daybreak. I also remember waking up early on December 6 for years afterwards. Always early, always too excited to go back to sleep the night Saint Nicholas came by our house. Over the years, I got to share this rush of euphoric anxiety with my two younger brothers. We would be jumping on our beds, calling our parents, yelling out to ask whether it was time yet. They were never amused. My brothers and I knew there was no way we could pussyfoot downstairs into the living room to see which presents He had left us. Because each year, Saint Nicholas’s black servants, those sneaky Black Petes (‘Zwarte Pieten’) would have locked the room’s door on their way out. My parents held its only key.
You know Black Pete?
Beyoncé does it again
October 7, 2011 By 7 Comments
You think Beyoncé flew in Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaker and her dance company Rosas for the second part of her new video ‘Countdown’ (watch the video on her website – starting around 2:30)? We know she can. Ask Tofo Tofo. But she didn’t.
Today I’ll eat for Belgium
September 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Yes, some Europeans, specifically Belgians — who else but “a fine group of web designers, web developers, communication specialists, tech, boys and girls” — came up with this idea. So if someone asks you why you need another piece of cake, just say “I’m eating for Africa.” To help starving “people and children” in East Africa.
Get people to eat. Endless opportunities for creative people like you.
Music Break
June 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment
This new video for Belgian MC Akro (former member of Starflam, the same crew Baloji used to be part of before he decided to go his own way) pretty much sums up his (and my) country’s imaginary relationship with the DRC: Tintin, King Leopold, King Baudouin, Mobutu and Soukous. Leopold’s 19th century Triumphal Arch (which he paid for with the money he leached off Congo) forms the background for guest singer “Jesus De Tchango”. Look out for the “Leopold Wants You” flyers.
