“The SAPE is an ode to joy, the joy of living. The SAPE is an art form, the pure wit born from poverty in our streets almost a hundred years ago,” declares DJ Carlos La Menace in Al Jazeera’s documentary Sunday In Brazzaville directed by Enric Bach. In 2002, Brazzaville was considered the worst city in the world to live. Now, thanks to the Society of Atmosphere Setters and Elegant People(SAPEURS), […]
Sounds like: An artist Luambo ‘Franco‘ Makiadi would be proud to know he influenced. The low down: Ferre Gola, known in DRC as Fally Ipupa’s nemesis, had one of the biggest Congolese pop hits song in recent years. One could hardly walk the streets of Kinshasa without hearing Tshekele Le Pete. The verdict: He has only recently dropped his much-anticipated LP entitled Boite Noire so it’s rather early to tell. However, the two-volume album is […]
Alec Lomami is the best African producer you’ve never heard of. With good reason. The story of the African music producer is rarely heard. The general public knows little of the behind-the-scenes hitmakers you love today. There are rare exceptions, of course, like the now defunct and infamous artist-producer collaboration of D’Banj and Don Jazzy (the story of their very public divorce currently eclipsing their musical legacy). In that sense, […]
Is Viva Riva director Djo Tunda Wa Munga Africa’s Tarantino? Lynsey Chutel spoke to the man behind the most exciting African film out now. Read the interview and win copies of the cult classic in the making
Kerry Washington’s new starring role alongside Jane Fonda in a film set in Congo, a hot new clothing line inspired by Xhosa initiation ceremonies, MI, Jesse Jagz, Ice Prince and Brymo’s freestyle on Westwood’s shows… Pop the hood and have a natter with us on these stories and more
Available now on DVD is Soul Power, a documentary about the legendary Zaire ’74 festival which brought North American stars like Celia Cruz, James Brown, Bill Withers, Miriam Makeba and B.B. King to the stage during the famed “Rumble in the Jungle” match between Muhammad Ali and George Forman in 1974.
