Africa Is a Country

New blood coming on strong

Africa Is a Country Podcast
African Five-a-Side Podcast

New blood coming on strong

By
Boima Tucker

Meta and the Corningstones: a humble and talented African-born reggae singer whose message is clear and sincere.

Meta of Meta and the Corningstones (Promotional Image).

Meta and the Cornerstones is a Brooklyn based roots reggae band, headed by Senegalese singer Meta Dia. I spotted the video for their song Cornerstone at the Large Up blog (If you don’t know Large Up, it is a must-stop for Caribbean music culture).  Here’s what they have to say: “…it’s not easy to win the approval of the often fickle reggae massive, especially when you’re not from yard or even trying to suggest that you might be, for that matter. But I think you’ll agree that Meta is creating a bright future for himself and the Cornerstones by simply being himself; a humble and talented African-born reggae singer whose voice is undeniable, and whose message is clear and sincere.”

It’s nice for Large Up to give a nod to Meta gaining respect from an often hard to please crowd, but African reggae has been here for a long time.  Don’t overlook the history of reggae greats like Alpha Blondy (who recorded at Tuff Gong), Lucky Dube, and Tiken Jah Fakoly. For me, I’m glad to see new blood coming up strong.

Further Reading

Leapfrogging literacy?

In outsourcing the act of writing to machines trained on Western language and thought, we risk reinforcing the very hierarchies that decolonization sought to undo.

Repoliticizing a generation

Thirty-eight years after Thomas Sankara’s assassination, the struggle for justice and self-determination endures—from stalled archives and unfulfilled verdicts to new calls for pan-African renewal and a 21st-century anti-imperialist front.

Drip is temporary

The apparel brand Drip was meant to prove that South Africa’s townships could inspire global style. Instead, it revealed how easily black success stories are consumed and undone by the contradictions of neoliberal aspiration.

Energy for whom?

Behind the fanfare of the Africa Climate Summit, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline shows how neocolonial extraction still drives Africa’s energy future.