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K’Naan to U.S. Presidential Candidate, Mitt Romney: ‘Don’t Play My Song’
February 3rd, 2012Its usually a musicians dream to have their song played during a major event like a presidential campaign. The logic: more exposure means, well, more exposure. But Somali rapper K’Naan isn’t too pleased U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney has taken to playing his “Wavin’ Flag” at campaign stops.
So unimpressed was K’Naan that he issued a statement, making clear who he’s supporting this campaign season:
“I have not been asked for permission by Mitt Romney’s campaign for the use of my song,” writes K’Naan. “If I had been asked, I would certainly not have granted it. I would happily grant the Obama campaign use of my song without prejudice.”
Well, now that’s sorted.
The Romney campaign has reportedly obliged to K’Naan’s request.
NYC Event: “Meet the Afropolitans” at Social Media Week – Feb 13
February 2nd, 2012Find out how Afropolitans are creating their own identities and reaching beyond their borders to connect and collaborate with contemporaries around their world.
Presented by Ngozi Odita of Society HAE.
Joelle Kayembe Is The New Face of Trace
January 31st, 2012Joelle Kayembe has posed for GQ, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, FHM and Sports Illustrated amongst other renowned publications. You might also recognise her from Ludacris’ Pimpin All Over The World video. The Congolese-born, South African beauty will now be known as the face of Trace, the international media brand available in 160 countries. Joelle will appear in jingles on all TRACE channels worldwide (TRACE Urban, TRACE Sports, TRACE Africa and TRACE Tropical) and will present the TRACE Sports signature show “In The Name of Good”. Joelle is also the ambassador of the TRACE foundation, the brand’s initiative to support causes and initiatives that contribute to the success of young people.
DJ Edu Afrobeats Mixmaster Mash-up (Listen+Download)
January 27th, 2012Set your weekend off just right with the Mash-up master DJ Edu
Tracklisting:
Camp Mulla-Party Don’t Stop vs Maroon 5 ft Christina Aguilera-Moves Like Jagger
Wizkid-Pakurumo
Kof-Looking At Me (DJ Edu Mix)
Djeff & Filipe Narciso-O Semba
D’Banj-Oliver Twist vs Chris Brown-Forever
Madtraxx-Ita Waiter
Rihanna-We Found Love vs Dr Sid-Over The Moon
Professor-Lento vs Beyonce-Run The World (Girls)
New York Event: D’Banj Makes US Debut
January 27th, 2012D’banj will perform for the first time in New York City on February 19, 2012. Presented by LiveNation at Irving Plaza, the “D’banj LIVE in NYC” concert will also feature several of Nigeria’s top music artists as well as special guests.
Besides the 2011 BET Music Award for Best International Artist the show will also introduce New York to other Mo Hits label mates Dr. Sid, D’Prince, K-Switch and Wande Coal.
Go here for more information on Mo Hits.
Venue: Irving Plaza 17 Irving Plaza on the corner of 15th Street
Date: Sunday 19 February 2012
Damage: $39.50 buy tickets here
Doors: 8pm
FOKN Bois: ‘Only Your Walkings’ (Video)
January 26th, 2012Don’t know if you guys are up on him but UK-based Richy Pitch’s production has some bounce to it. This song he did for the Fokn Bois is just cold! Apparently it didn’t make the cut for the Coz Ov Moni soundtrack which will be available on iTunes next week. And if an album has off-cuts as strong as this should we really have to tll you what to do with your money?
h/t This Is Africa
London Event: Comedian Kojo ‘Live N Kicking’ + Video Promo featuring The Dream, Wretch 32, Razzle Kicks
January 18th, 2012You’ve seen him on MTV Base with The Fresh Prince Of Hackney, Young Gods Of Comedy and Kojo’s Comedy Fun House. You listen to him every morning on the Choice Breakfast Show. Now with his first movie role in Noel Clarke’s, The Knot Kojo returns to Hackney Empire to tape his first ever DVD Live N Kicking.
Join the UK’s best loved urban comic alongside a celebrity audience for the DVD recording of his hilarious comedy special Live N Kicking.
Some of Kojo’s famous friends preview the gig for us here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=4qNkS0dR79c
Having previously sold out the Hackney Empire in 2006 and 2007, the event will also be his very first live DVD recording, set to be released at the end of 2012.
Support acts for January’s Live N Kicking dates Island Records latest signing, singer songwriters Angel and Cleo Sol and up-and-coming UK comedy acts Mr Cee and Maureen Younger.
Win tickets to the Friday taping of Live N Kicking by checking out This Is Africa. Good luck!
(photo credit: timeout.com)
Dates: 20-21 January 2012
Venue: Hackney Empire, 291 Mare Street, London E8 1EJ
Time: 8pm
Tickets: £15.50-£25 Hackney Empire Box Office 020 8985 2424 http://www.hackneyempire.co.uk/?lid=2380
Fokn Bois: Brkn Lngwjz (New Video)
December 15th, 2011Raps on raps on raps!If you ever had any doubts about the rhyming skills of the Fokn Bois, they should be over by now.
A Blog We Love: Afro-Synth
December 15th, 2011photo credit: all images courtesy of http://afrosynth.blogspot.com/
Pop music archaelogist DJ Okapi schools us on the 80s and 90s – the South African bubblegum pop golden era – on his blog Afro-Synth, drawing for gems never heard before and many not to be heard again. It’s a great platform to bring back memories and to trace the roots of some of South Africa’s best selling genres right now.
Where does one go out in South Africa if they want to hear the kind of stuff you talk about on your blog?
A handful of other DJs will drop Burnout or Weekend Special but it usually stops there. There isn’t enough of an interest for any scene to develop, even in Joburg, where most of the music was recorded. People want to dance, and to dance people want stuff they’ve heard before. Those who are old enough to remember it are too old for clubs, and younger people are programmed to prefer new music – if it’s old skool they only think of American or British stuff. They’re reluctant to listen to their parents’ music. As a DJ I’ve always tried to offer something different, and people are slowly catching on – but unfortunately I doubt there’ll ever be a huge market for it. So wherever I’m playing is where you can hear this stuff (Facebook DJ Okapi for details). I’m aiming to move into radio as a lot of it is better suited for that.
What made you want to start Afrosynth?
Through DJing and digging for old funk and 80s records I’d come across the odd bubblegum LP, which I’d buy whenever I could find them, usually for about R20. As the collection grew, I started compiling all the album info – production credits, labels, serial numbers, etc. In 2008 I wrote an article for the Sunday Independent that also appeared online – short reviews of some of my favourites with cover pics and an interview with the former archive guy at Gallo, who was let go soon after. It underlined that not only was the music unavailable on CD or for download, there was a huge lack of information on the artists themselves – not only one-hit wonders but also many of the big-selling stars of the day. By the time the article was published I was living in Korea and had plenty of time and fast internet to be able to start putting the blog together.
How old are you and where are you from?
I’m 28 and grew up in C
ape Town. Now I live in downtown Jozi. Though I was born in the 80s most of this bubblegum stuff is well before my time. It’s only in the last few years that I’ve really started exploring it. That’s what makes Afrosynth different from a regular nostalgia project – I’m sharing it as I’m discovering it for myself, not trying to sell something or show off how much I know or own. To me its main appeal is that the music is still so fresh. The design and fashions on the cover art are still cool. It’s about more than the huge historical significance – it’s still relevant today.
Do you think we will start to see record labels doing reissues of South African pop records from the 70s and 80s as is the case with West African music? Or is it happening already?
I’m skeptical about it. In Europe or the US there may still be a market for collectors who’ll pay a fortune for vinyl re-issues of Afrobeat or Ethio-jazz. But here it’s a different story. There’s no market for vinyl anymore. Record pressing plants closed down long ago. Even major labels can’t make ends meet, even from CDs – piracy is rampant and even condoned by cops here in SA. It’s hardly an environment conducive to new independent specialist labels. There’s always been interest in SA music over the years, most recently Shangaan techno, but it;s usually by Americans selling it to other Americans, or Europeans to other Europeans. As an African I’m more interested in making it relevant and accessible to as many people as possible, rather than trying to cash in. And it’s one thing re-issuing old music, but how much of the revenue goes back to the artists who made it? The music industry today is completely different to how it was during the 1980s, when the stuff on Afrosynth was put out. Now we can find anything, but we can’t make money from it. I’ve had requests from people in Europe to sell them extra copies of sealed albums I pick up, but I’m wary of even bringing money into the equation, so I keep putting them off. If the demand were there, I’d love to re-issue the stuff or print hard copies of the Afrosynth mixes. But realistically in terms of getting it out there, the internet is the only option.
Name three of your favourite finds from digging in the crates.
It’s hard to say – my favourite finds aren’t necessarily the records with the best music – because there’s just so much good music from back then. Occasionally it’s albums I’ve heard about but never expected to find – like I recently picked up an album by Oom Hansie – an alter ego of Lucky Dube before he got into reggae. It’s full of programmed beats and it’s all in Afrikaans – Lucky was pulling off Afrikaans alter-egos years before James Phillips and decades before Die Antwoord. More often my favourites are the ones I find for R2, or the ones that are still sealed and I get to listen to it for the first time, 25 years after it was meant to be sold. The other day I found an early album of the Bhundu Boys, a Zimbabwean group that made it big the UK before self-destructing. It was still sealed, never been played before. Then there are others I picked up overseas that were banned in South Africa – like Mzwakhe Mbuli’s ‘Change Is Pain’, or anti-apartheid vinyls put out by the ANC in exile. I’ve also had the opportunity to meet some of the musicians and got them to sign their records, which they’re always happy to do most of them don’t own their own records on vinyl anymore. So I’ve got signed copies from Splash, Ray Phiri, Hugh Masekela, the Soul Brothers, Sox – I guess those are the ones I hold closest.
Visit Afro-Synth here
Find DJ Okapi on Facebook
London Event: Asilia and Afri-Love Present a Tropical Christmas
December 15th, 2011Creative agency Asilia and the Afri-love blog are hosting A Tropical Christmas: a celebration of creativity and good company.
A laidback afternoon in beautiful surroundings, the event hopes to take some edge off any holiday stress. Guests are invited to get some last minute Christmas shopping done, away from the bustle and support quality African and African Diaspora design.
You can expect:
• Fashion accessories by Adèle Dejak
• Clothing by Chichia London
• Hand screen-printed T-shirts by Creativity and Noise
• Contemporary home furnishings by La Petite Congolaise
• Art calendars by Asilia
• Renowned for their inventive cocktails, The Drift Bar has designed a cocktail especially for the day – The Afropolitan!
Guests are invited to bring business cards for the “collaboration board” – an opportunity to share your passion and make exciting connections for 2012.
Date: Saturday 17th December
Time: 12:00- 8:00pm
Venue: The Drift Bar, Heron Tower, 110 Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4AY
More details are available on the Asilia event page, Asilia’s website and the Afri-love blog.