This 60 minute radio program on the music and ideas of Oumou Sangare–known as “The Songbird of Wasuru”–is one of the 25 excellent episodes (at last count) with an African theme in the online archive of the BBC 3 Radio program, “World Routes.” h/t Tom DeVriendt

[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/13045384 w=600&h=368] This short clip of Brooklyn’s Mos Def, offering greetings while performing at the most recent edition of a Muslim-led arts festival held annually (in mid-July) on the southside of Chicago, is an appropriate choice to end our break of about 3 odd weeks. We’ll be getting slowly back into the swing of things.

A few of us are taking a break from daily blogging to enjoy what’s left of the northern summer, to transition into new jobs or catch up on offline relationships. BTW, there’s only so many times you can debate with people why we don’t care about Naomi Campbell’s diamonds.  See you after Labor Day (for […]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zoqsw3n8D6g&w=500&h=307&rel=0] My man Gary Younge, New York-based feature writer and columnist for The Guardian, has a new book out on 21st century identity politics: Who are We–And Should It Matter in the 21st Century? The clips above and below, are from an interview with Gary about the book on the BBC program, “Booktalk.”  After the jump, […]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_TU7lhqnN0&w=500&h=307&rel=0] From an article in last week’s “Detroit Metro Times”: ‘… In the ’60s, Motown was so popular in Italy that Berry Gordy had his artists record translated versions of their songs specifically for the Italian market. Back then, the transistor radios of teens from Turin to Palermo were blaring such hits as The Supremes’ […]

Woke up this morning with the sad news in my email inbox–from music journalist Gwen Ansell–that Ezra Ngcukana (b. 1954), the great Cape Flats jazz musician and a member of the Ngcukana jazz dynasty, had passed away. Ngcukana had been diabetic with high blood pressure. Ngcukana’s death is “… no doubt exacerbated by the sadness […]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVfAi7PNaeE&w=500&h=307&rel=0] The G.O.A.T. Muhammed Ali interviewed on the British TV talk show, “Parkinson’s”back in 1971, about whether he would like to be President of the United States.

That’s the only way to explain the “career” of  the really bad rapper, Bangs (Sudan-born, Australian-based), that includes doing TV commercials, being mocked as “The 11th Hottest Rapper in the Game,” getting interviewed by hip hop journalists, and having a distribution deal. Here‘s some background if you missed this mess.  And Bangs, who mimics 50 Cent […]