Easy listening. ‘Bassa’ is a song by the Côte d’Ivoire-born, Mali-raised and now France-based artist Fatoumate Diawara. We could use a translation — because maybe it’s no easy listening at all. Anyone?

By Dan Moshenberg Tuesday, August 9, 2011, was the annual celebration, in South Africa, of National Women’s Day. This public holiday commemorates August 9, 1956, the women’s march on the Union Buildings in Pretoria, in protest of the infamous pass laws. That day 20,000 or so women famously, and heroically, chanted, shouted, screamed: “Wathint’Abafazi Wathint’imbokodo!”. […]

There’s still time left to recognize Chad’s Independence Day today, and keeping with our regular feature, we’re posting popular music from the country. First up is a short clip of Mounira Mitchala, handling a live show in Paris: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gM-LNwHo2w&w=600&h=373]

French-Cameroonian rapper Lalcko released a strong record earlier this year: ‘L’eau lave mais l’argent rend propre.’ Ever seen this video he recorded ‘between Yaoundé and Douala’ for his 2007 track ‘Lumumba’? It’s dedicated “to all my Lumumbas born of aggression and cemented by the fight.”

Photographer Glenna Gordon, no stranger to AIAC, is working on a new project in Staten Island, home to the largest population of Liberians outside of Liberia. I asked her if I could publish some of the work here. You can view the full set here. She also sent this note: Most New Yorkers still think […]

What do you do as a South African tourist industry when the promised surge in visitors after the World Cup fails to materialize? You move your aim, target the local ‘upcoming individuals, independent couples and families’, draw up an ‘energetic, vibey and pacey’ campaign, get some of those upcoming individuals on board — and you […]

German-Ghanian singer Y’akoto’s biography on her website made me look up the meaning of the word “hegira” — a beautiful word, but maybe not the best translation of the original German ‘Suche’, as in: “search” (for herself). Great track, and a nice video. Live recordings show her playing with the Mighty Embassy Ensemble, Blitz The […]

You’ve heard the news about Romelu Lukaku? The 18-year-old Belgian-Congolese striker signed a contract with his dream team Chelsea over the weekend. Lukaku’s star rose fast since debuting for the national team in 2010. Football aficionados aren’t surprised by the move. And Lukaku? He knew it all along. The above fragment* is taken from a […]

An interview in a (South African) Sunday paper with a ‘hopping mad’ Caiphus Semenya (the South African musician* was surprised to hear his music was being sampled in the ‘Murder to Excellence’ track on the Jay-Z & Kanye West’s Watch The Throne album — without him being consulted) got us curious about the song used. […]

Excerpt from Sharifa Rhodes Pitts‘ memoir of the black metropolis, “Harlem is Nowhere,” which came out this week in the UK: The Langston Hughes Atrium [of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture] is available as a rental facility, so that Hughes’s resting place is also the location for receptions, conferences, and cocktail parties. […]