Africa Is a Country

tom-devriendt

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Tom Devriendt

Tom Devriendt was an editorial board member of Africa is a Country before there was an editorial board.

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Music Break

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06S7oMLvl2w French-Congolese musician Abd Al Malik's star is rising fast in Francophone Europe. Behind his, say, rather straightforward song titles are some revealing lyrics, so we don't mind his songs here being played on the radio over and over again. Above is last year's hit Ma Jolie. Last month he released another great single, Mon Amour, taken from his album Château Rouge. Earbugs, both of them.

Poetry Radio

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5syTnWDcl-8 Although it was only launched a year ago, Cape Town-based Badilisha Poetry Radio is rapidly building itself an impressive on-line database of weekly podcasts featuring new voices and poetic genres. "(Their) intention is to platform who and what Africa has to say to itself and the rest of the world." Hosted by Malika Ndlovu (introducing the radio in the video above), they are "constantly seeking new poets to showcase and would therefore welcome recommendations of Pan-African poets that are not yet featured." Visit their website.

Hip-hop's Language Problem

Rob Boffard writing in The Guardian:

Hip-hop in South Africa faces the same problems all music faces – how do you reach as wide an audience as possible? But it has additional posers unique to this country – can you rap in any of South Africa's 11 languages and still be relevant to all your listeners? And how much can you rely on American hip-hop before losing your own identity? But this is a genre bursting with talent, and South African rap artists are finding ways around the difficulties their situation throws at them ... Corporate interest helped South African hip-hop beat one of its biggest problems. Globally, few genres have taken to the internet like hip-hop, and it's now a vital tool for any artist. But in South Africa? Not a chance. Of the country's 49m people, only around 6m have access to the web. And in the predominantly black townships, which represent hip-hop's core market, internet access is almost unheard of. When it comes to publicising and distributing music, there's rarely a workable online option.

Is that so?

No One Will Remember The Book Cover

I received my copy of this year's Commonwealth Prize winner Aminatta Forna's The Memory of Love in the mail the other day. Not that I don't like its cover (or the book), but this is just silly. And here's why: Some of us (in Canada, Great Britain, South Africa and India) also know 2008 Commonwealth Prize winner Lawrence Hill's novel as The Book of Negroes and sure, this is the Australian edition's cover, but still...

Tidal Waves Goes South

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC9kJbnoPtI Anyone who makes songs about politicians eating all the money--what else do they do?--gets our vote. South African rock-reggae band, Tidal Waves (see also our earlier post) will be touring in the U.S. the next two weeks. Only in the American South, apparently, but don't miss them if you're around and you're in for some rock-n-reggae. The tour schedule.

March 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZg18qsycBk It's late already, but it is still March 6: Ghana Independence Day. Dutch rapper Kno'Ledge Cesare pays tribute in this video shot in Accra.

Konfab's Lost Tapes

Pioneer Unit's on fire. Yet another release by the Cape Town label, this time a collection of 'lost tapes' by Lesotho-born musician Konfab, who describes himself as a "presently disadvantaged, previously dissed and damaged, seriously pissed-off, with anger mismanaged, half-foreign, urbanised darkie." This is one of the featuring collaborations (with AIAC favourite JAAK): [bandcamp track=3741264537  bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short] (Picture by Ann-Sophie Leens.)

Kwame Dawes and Chris Abani

Last year, Chris Abani introduced Ghana-born writer and poet Kwame Dawes (who spent most of his childhood and early adult life in Jamaica) to a Lannan Foundation audience: http://vimeo.com/19905864 And talked with him: http://vimeo.com/19907737 The Lannan archive has enough talks to keep you entertained for a whole week, by the way. There's Howard Zinn in conversation with Arundhati Roy (and the same Arundhati Roy more recently), there's J.M. Coetzee, Eduardo Galeano, Octavio Paz, Cornel West, Czeslaw Milosz, Lucille Clifton, Nadine Gordimer, etcetera. I suggest you browse yourself. -- Tom Devriendt

Puppet History

Peter Muhumuza Tuke’s film “Kengere” – using puppets – tells the story of how soldiers trapped 69 people in a train that was then set on fire during Uganda’s civil war.

Music Break

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXl6ZcSJ_KY Tidal Waves (the "hardest working band in South Africa" - they really are) played a set at MK Studio 1 recently. 'What you got' is on their latest album Manifesto. They're planning to tour in the US later this year. We'll keep you posted, or you can follow them yourself of course. - Tom Devriendt

The Youth of Mali

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix_qL0IXdKQ Old Master Boubacar Traoré (also known as Kar Kar, “the one who dribbles too much”) has a new album out titled "Mali Denhou". He has some advice for Mali's youth in the above promo video. In the 2001 documentary I’ll Sing for You you’ll hear Ali Farka Touré say: “If the maximum is 5, I give 10 to Kar Kar.” - Tom Devriendt.