South African kwaito house with an explicit message: we don’t get to hear it often. Shota’s Etshwaleni has been playing in clubs for months, I’m told. Its straightforward lyrics make it stand out: have fun while still respecting others (“hlonipheni abanye abantu”) and drink responsibly (“pasop ugu dakwa”) during sleepless (“asisalali”) weekends. But you figured […]
I was going to post the link to Das Racist’s latest offering, a funny, irreverent and poignant mixtape by Heems AKA Himanshi Suri, unofficial leader of the NYC rap group, but the FBI has just shut down the file sharing site Megaupload, which Heems used to post his free mixtape, “Nehru jackets.” Apparently Megaupload has been accused of pursuing a business model based on copyright infringement. This comes after a week of high profile protests against the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA). Interesting times indeed.
In May South Africans go to the polls to vote for new local councils. With few surprises, the result should be predictable. But the parties are going through the electioneering motions. This includes coming up with election songs. Something people can dance to while you make promises from the stage. They all did the same […]
Like many others, US photographer Krisanne Johnson headed to South Africa earlier this month but, as The New Yorker points out, she didn’t go there for the football. Johnson has been to South Africa several times over the years to document youth culture in Johannesburg, including the culture surrounding Kwaito and, most recently, the fashion […]
The first collection of remixes from San Francisco-based DJ Chief Boima. Consists of Afro dance remixes of, among others pop hits by Birdman, Akon, The Jacka and Fabo & T-Pain. Download here.
