Name: Yolanda
Bio: Daughter, Wife, Mother, Yolanda Sangweni, the founder of AfriPOP!, is on a quest to craft the sweetest love letter ever written for Africa. She currently works as senior editor at Essence.com. Her work has appeared in Arise Magazine, Time Out New York & TRACE, where she was a features editor.
Posts by yolisang:
Vogue Names Oroma Elewa ‘Rising Style Star of 2011′
November 18th, 2011Congrats are in order for Pop’ Africana editor, and bonafide Afropolitan, Oroma Elewa. The glossy calls the Nigerian-born fashionista, whom we recently featured as one of the 6 most influential Africans in fashion, a “natural tastemaker.”
“Her bright disposition and knack for graphic getups are what makes this polished editor pop,” says Vogue.
The list also includes American actress Emma Stone, “Wonderland” fashion editor Julia Sarr-Jamois, and Florence and the Machine frowntwoman, Florence Welch.
Congrats Oroma!
Arise Editor Helen Jennings Talks ‘New African Fashion’
November 16th, 2011AfriPOP!: What motivated you to write a book on African fashion?
Helen Jennings: Well, as you know, I’ve edited Arise Magazine for three years, and African fashion has become my new specialty. In those three years I’ve seen individual designers grow, and interest in African fashion weeks grow internationally as well. So, I did a bit of research and I saw there was no book on the subject. Everything out there was old, and very out of date. I was like, ‘Oh, I see a hole, I see a niche.’ I approached a couple of publishers, and did it very quickly.
5 African Designers You Should Know
Are you taking a historical look at African fashion?
It’s a coffee table book. The idea is to make it accessible, you don’t have to be into fashion to enjoy it. It talks about the history of African fashion both in terms of its influence on international catwalks, and designers like Yves Saint Laurent. I look at the older designers from the 50s and 60s and up to now, and more Afrocentric designers. I look at textiles like Ankara and Shweshwe, and how important cloth is. I also look at how the industry has evolved more recently, and how it has evolved. I also highlight 30 or so contemporary African designers like Duro Olowu, Mimi Plange, Xuly Bet and Mimi Plange.
6 Influential Africans in Fashion
Before working at Arise, how exposed were to African fashion?
I’ve always been obsessed with fashion, and global trends. I’ve written about fashion for magazines all over the world. I’ve always been interested in what’s going on everywhere but it was Arise that gave me the opportunity to focus on Africa.
What African designers are you excited about?
I love the Nigerian designer, Maki Oh. I think she epitomizes the strength of African fashion right now. She uses Nigeria as inspiration, but her work is totally international and modern. There’s a lot of meaning in her work, but it doesn’t hit you over the head. I think a lot of African designers don’t get past making an African message, to making fashion. People like Maki Oh do. I also love Jewel by Lisa — her stuff is very simple and buyable. Also, Adrien Sauvage, he’s kinda like the new Oswald Boateng, though he hates to be called that. He went back to Ghana for his latest collection and made his own version of Kente, but in a subtle way. I’m a big fan of Duro Olowu as well.
What do yo love about African fashion?
I love the fact that it’s not afraid to be itself. It’s very bold and brave. It’s very much about being layering, and color and spice. It’s very much about being well dressed. It’s about appearing upper-crust, and I’m a very big fan of more is more. There’s no such thing as being over-dressed. When you go to an African event, you cannot be overdressed, and I love that. African fashion has that pizzazz that I love.
Are African designers making money?
I think they are, in their own markets they definitely are. It’s just about how they translate that internationally. As you know the four main markets are very hard to break, and you have to have a consistent, long-running presence to get any buyers before anyone’s going to take you seriously. And it’s hard because the infrastructure and great production is not there yet. It’s a challenge designers have to meet.
“New African Fashion” is available on Amazon.com for $35.
50 Cent Wants to ‘Feed 1 Billion African Kids’
September 12th, 2011Sigh.
Here we are again. Said U.S. celebrity wants to save the people of Africa. Pardon my skepticism, but haven’t we been here before, with Bono and co.?
Usually this kind of announcement by any celebrity makes me cringe. A billion kids…in Africa? Really? How? But most importantly, why? Oh yes, there’s a profit in there somewhere. Every purchase of 50′s new energy drink, Street King provides a meal “for a child in need.”
Somehow the Chinese proverb “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime” comes to mind.
We can only wait and see how this will turn.
What do you think of 50′s latest effort?
Vuvuzela Spotlight: Nomsa Mazwai
July 8th, 2011Be sure to catch Nomsa Mazwai at the Viva La Vuvuzela Festival in New York City, this Saturday, July 9th.
So who are you and what do you do?
My name is Nomsa Mazwai and I am an artist, a masters student, lover of life and a social activist.
How do you describe the music you make?
My music is a mixture of dtum ‘n bass fused with afro jazz and neo soul.
It must be awesome to win a SAMA (South African Music Award) for an EP.
It was absolutely incredible. We worked hard on the project so when we got nominated in three different categories, myself and my team were very very very excited.
What do you hope people will get from your music?
A message to question what goes on around them and motivation to stand with integrity. I also want people to fall in love again, madly deeply in love.
How has being in New York influenced your music?
Being in New York has made me compose more songs with a distinctly African feel. I want to sing in my language more often so that I can teach people about my culture, who I am, what I stand for. We have a lot of humanity back home, something New York lacks and sometimes I just wanna let people know its possible to live in a world where people don’t take advantage of each other.
Who do you consider your musical contemporaries?
Sakhile Moleshe, the male vocalist in GoldFish, a hot South african band, Rihards Fedotovs another Fulbright scholar in Philadelphia who plays the drums, really extraordinary guy. Zakes Bantwini, a house DJ from South Africa who is breaking the boundaries when it comes to performance and many more. I like people who are doing intersting things, like Outkast and Janelle Monae. Like Prince and Jamiroquai. I’m into great musicians who do amazing performances.
So everyone must ask you about your sister, Thandiswa…
Of course, she is a musical genius and a legend. I love my sister, her music, her message, her spirit. She also supports me in everything that I do which is great for me.
You have great personal style, what influences it?
My sisters played a big role in that but I also have a great stylist here in New York caled Stacey Jordan of Divine Styling International. She suggests really dope pieces for me to wear that always make a look really awesome. I am also dressed by Palesa Mokobong, a South African designer who has shown at New York Fashion Week and shows annually at Fashionweek in South Africa. One of South Africa’s best designers.
What makes someone an African?
You feel it and it makes you know and understand your responsibility as an African to ensure that all have access to a decent quality of life. Its where the beat comes from, so if you can feel the beat.
What is your dream for Africa?
I love my continent and my dream is not only for Africans but actually for the rest of the world to find humanity. When the world finds humanity, Africans will suffer no more at the hands of greed and plundering.
What do you love most about the continent we come from?
I love that we live in colour. My continent is full of different bright colours, loud flavours. It is a really beautiful and vibrant place. Every single corner is special and rich with culture and language. We should not allow development to mean, losing that and becoming more Americanized.
What was the last African meal you ate?
Lamb chops with pap and chakalaka at home before I came back. I don’t eat meat here, I’m a vegetarian in New York, but the meat from home is amazing.
What proverb/motto do you live by?
Success is a dream waiting to happen.
Vuvuzela Spotlight: Osekre & The Lucky Bastards
June 21st, 2011Osekre and the Lucky Bastards will be performing at the Viva La Vuvuzela Festival in New York City, this Saturday, July 9th.
Ghanaian-American singer Osekre describes his music as “sweet, catchy-tasty West-African style melodies/hooks called “jama,” dipped in soft elements of hip-hop, pop and rock” and heavily accentuated by his poetry. On the eve of his performance at Joe’s Pub with his band, Osekre and the Lucky Bastards,the Columbia University graduate spoke with AfriPOP! about his influences, whether or not he makes “world music,” and what makes someone an Africa……(click on pic to read the story)
AfriPOP!: First of all, what does the name Osekre mean?
Osekre: Osekre means relentless.
AfriPOP!: What inspires your music?
Osekre: Moments in life … an advice from my mum, a funny love story, a moment of being so broke that I can’t get on the bus, a girl I’m checking out who keeps turning away when I look and looks at me when I turn, a crazy political situation … Life, moments in life does it for me.
AfriPOP!: There’s a tendency to call any music by artists from Africa, world music. Are you comfortable in that category?
Osekre: I really don’t care much about categorization. Some cultures are more obsessed with labels than others. My music is so fluid that calling it rock or reggae wont do justice to it and yet, not associating it with world music will be deceitful.
AfriPOP!: Who do you consider your musical contemporaries?
Osekre: Hm. Before mentioning my contemporaries, I definitely want to recognise one of the biggest musical geniuses from the African continent, Kiki Djan who shaped my ambitions as a young high school graduate. I am a protege of Kiki Djan, the late keyboardist of Osibisa whose influence on my life during an intense 6-months phase with him can’t be overlooked in my development as an artist/person. I do not have immediate contemporaries because most of the guys I w’d identify as contemporaries are AHEAD of me in varying degrees: Esperanza Splading, friend and awesome talent. Vampire Weekend, fun music and also part of my Alma mater, K’naan, a guy I admire a lot, Nneka, whose “heartbeat” keeps my heart beating, Blk Jks, awesome live band, and Blitz the Ambassador who’s got excellent music and sound.
AfriPOP!: How does being a Ghanaian in New York City influence your music?
Osekre: Being Ghanaian in New York city is quite interesting musically because my sounds and rhythms constantly intersect with reggae, hip-hop, jazz, blues, and rock and roll, something I keep hearing more of now that I live in the heart of a lot of indie and raw musical talent in Bushwick.
AfriPOP!: What makes someone an African?
Osekre: Jaja … that’s a good question. Being an African is in the heart. I have some European Middle-Eastern, and Asian friends whose passion for Africa challenges the notion of who is really African. And I have met some folks with Africa in their blood line who feel unsettled when connected to the continent, and I have met other folks from Africa who do not associate with the continent. So being African has to be something that is deeply from the heart, and yet it has to be more than feelings, knowledge, biography or geography.
AfriPOP!: What do you love most about the continent we come from?
Osekre: It’s essence.
AfriPOP!: What was the last Ghanaian meal you ate?
Osekre: Fufu and Pea-nut soup!
AfriPOP!: What proverb do you live by?
Osekre: My mum once told me, “If you don’t know, don’t act like you know, even if you know, act like you don’t know, so you might learn, something you don’t know.”
Be sure to catch Osekre and the Lucky Bastards at the Viva La Vuvuzela Festival in New York City, this Saturday, July 9th.
Lest we forget…
June 16th, 2011AfriPOP! takes a moment to commemorate June 16th, 1976 (Soweto Uprising), the day students in Soweto took a stand against systematic oppression and protested being taught in Afrikaans, among many other grievances.
We honor those who had enough courage to risk their lives on that say, despite the teargas and bullets; despite the calls from their mother’s to “come home!” If faced with the same issues today, would we follow in their footsteps? Would we throw stones against bullets?
Above is the iconic photo of Hector Pieterson, then 12, who was shot and killed by police in the Soweto uprising on June 16, 1976. It was taken by legendary photographer, Sam Nzima.
Also check out:
30 South African Female Game Changers
6 Influential Africans in Fashion
June 3rd, 2011There’s no better time to be proudly African than the present. It seems everywhere you look nowadays — from Broadway to international runways — there is Africa. And when it comes to fashion, there is plenty of African inspiration to be found. Even First Lady Michelle Obama can attest to this (more about that later).
No longer bound by our complicated past a fresh crop of African fashion designers, editors and are pushing the boundaries of African style. Whether it’s in the pages of Vogue or W Magazine, or designing for a French design house, here are a few Africans who are pushing the culture forward and determining what’s hot and what’s next.
5 African Designers You Oughta Know
January 13th, 2011
‘Lion King’ Star, Selloane, Talks New Album, ‘Lerato’
September 6th, 2010Like most fantastic vocalists, Selloane Nkhela got her start singing in church, at three years old. The South African native went on to win the “Shell Road to Fame” competition (a throwback version of “American Idol”) in 1995 and later released two gospel-tinged albums, Thel’u moya and Vuma, before joining the Toronto and Los Angeles productions of “The Lion King.” Now settled in New York with a third album “Lerato” (“love” in Sotho), Selloane is ready for her American debut. She spoke with AfriPOP! about her African sound and how the Big Apple inspires her music.
30 South African Female Game Changers
August 9th, 2010
Fifty four years ago, on August 9th 1956 more than 20,000 women of all races marched to South Africa’s Union Building to protest against the imposition of pass laws on women in South Africa. Activists like Albertina Sisulu and Lillian Ngoyi led a group of women to deliver a petition to then prime minister JG Strijdom.
AfriPOP! commemorates South African Women’s Day (August 9th) by highlighting 30 women who have changed the game in their respective sectors — from a new generation to the old, in politics, culture, music and business. We salute you for your courage, and most of all, paving the way.
“Wathint’Abafazi Wathint’imbokodo!” (You strike a woman, you strike a rock) indeed.