The Indelible Mark of the Mbira

pungwe artwork

The multi-named thumb piano is quite an important foundational instrument for contemporary music all over the world, although it’s perhaps not always recognized as such. In Congo, colonial era missionaries banned the instrument from their services, saying that its association with traditional spiritual practices sullied the sacredness of the choral music they were adopting to […]

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Party Business

Change The Mood

With the help of Bunce Booking and Africa is a Country, Dutty Artz presents the 2nd iteration of the Change The Mood series: Africans Are Real.

Diplo in the dock

boima

Chief Boima 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.

Shameless Self-Promotion

da015_chief_boima_african_in_ny300dpi_high

So I released an album this week, and shot my first ever music video for it as well. This is my personal reflection on Sorie Kondi’s original message, integrating footage from his video, and my own from New York and Freetown. I hope you enjoy.

Afro-Spectacle

afrospectacle-feb1

February 1st sees Afro-Spectacle hosted by Dutty Artz and featuring DJ Rupture, Lamin Fofana and myself host a special 2-hour live radio show from south Williambsburg’s Spectacle Theater.

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