This weekend after watching this surreal clip on CNN of a hyped-up Jason Russell addressing Joseph Kony directly through the screen (on Piers Morgan’s “interview” show on CNN), we asked Swedish anthropologist Sverker Finnström if we could share his thoughts on #Kony2012: The machinations of the Invisible Children lobby, in its ability to lure the […]
It has come to this. Musicians, especially rappers, had to wade in on the American social media campaign to "Make Kony Famous."
In this video, about a week old, American R&B singer Ne-Yo (if you don’t know who he is) tells VLAD-TV (definition: “the TMZ of hip hop”) that his wife is a “bleeding heart.”
Actor Djimon Hounsou doesn't take his own advice about the media he makes about Africa.
The history of popular music in South Africa continues to interest documentary filmmakers. Of recent offerings two films stand out: “Punk in Africa,” about the history of the genre in Southern Africa since the 1970s (word is it’s a bit unfocused), and Daniel Yon’s beautiful film about jazz singer Sathima Benjamin, “Sathima’s Windsong.” I’ve just gotten […]
I like the tone and aesthetic of this commercial. It makes Paris look like parts of Brooklyn. We’ll leave the close reading for another day (the relationship between identity politics and consumption for example), except to note it would be interesting if mainstream France engages with this reality, i.e. accepting of difference and diversity. (By […]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahwth3qxnig The video for South African hip hop head Khuli Chana’s ‘Tswa Daar’ comes with a nod to Craig Mack’s Get Down. Have we already said DJ Raiko’s beats (and writing) are underrated?
On a recent trip to London I was hoping to catch a performance by Cape Town drummer Louis Moholo Moholo, the last surviving member of the famed jazz bands, The Blue Notes and The Brotherhood of Breath. Especially with the release of “Before the Wind Changes,” a live recording of The Blue Notes on tour in Belgium in 1979.
A quick review of films showing at two festivals with a focus on gay people: The Out in Africa Festival and the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.
Our weekly round-up of new (and a little less new) music videos. First, this great video for ‘I Am An African,’ the first single of Dutch-Ghanaian artist Papa Ghana’s EP ‘I Am An African.’ (The song came out last year).
Writing gays and lesbians into the political and social history of South Africa – a history from which LGBT people are so often obscured and ignored.
The creatives at South African satellite TV channel Kyknet — which also produces movies now — not only blatantly rip off American romantic comedy plotlines, but inhabit a South Africa where there is not a single black face to be seen. On the other hand, maybe they’re being honest.