Culture

Friday Music Bonus Edition

Niagass comments on Senegal’s president Wade’s running for another term: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PqsCXR_l5o We’ve been listening to Robert Glasper’s new album since it came out and we think you should too. He played ‘Always Shine’ with Lupe Fiasco and Bilal on Letterman this week:

Arab Women Filmmakers in Berlin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg1IHGKPoQg ‘A Game’ is a short fiction film from 2010 by Sudanese director Marwa Zein, based on Italian novelist Alberto Moravia’s story ‘Let’s play a game’. Zein is one of the ‘Arab Women Filmmakers’ whose work will be screened and discussed at the Cervantes Institute in Berlin (with many of the directors attending). Other (older […]

Bilingual MC’s

On ‘Super Mc’, a group of rappers (Omar Offendum, Lou Piensa, Ceschi, Jarabe Del Sol, M.O.A, Hadjii — all residing in the US — and Outspoken, above– from Zimbabwe) flex their bilingual skills in a single verse over beats and cuts by Dj Nio and Dj Boo. Nomadic Wax has the details. ‘Super Mc’ is […]

Marrakech Biennale looks North

Kicking off this week is the 4th Marrakech Biennale. The opening days will see performances, debates, talks and screenings as well as the opening of the main ‘Higher Atlas’ visual arts exhibition. “Through partnerships with African and international voices,” the Biennale hopes to “promote the status of the artist and contemporary culture in North Africa […]

Music Break. Cabo Snoop

An older Cabo Snoop tune (kuduristas in Angola and elsewhere have been dancing to ‘Zagala’ since 2010) but it comes with a new video in which he gets away with dropping his name (and record) among the Kenyan Maasai, while effortlessly branding the South African clothing label Amakipkip in a next shot.

The Ungovernables

It seems rather arbitrary to pick out the African artists from ‘The Ungovernables’, the New Museum’s triennial show. The first thing that appears (if, like me, you start on the fifth floor and work your way down) is a neat stack of Zimbabwean billion dollar bills, put there by Thai artist Pratchaya Phinthong. The show brings together thirty-four […]

The sound of Joburg label Iapetus

From Zetina Mosia’s upcoming album “The RoundAbout”, this track: ‘Lately’. We’ve said this before, but the Johannesburg label Iapetus is an exceptional breeding ground for South African artists — remember Fifi the Rai Blaster, Yugen Blakrok, Robo the Technician or Gin i Grindith — with a special mention for Kanif, the producer behind many of […]

The Lagos preacher and the football final

When it comes to football punditry, hindsight is the easy way out. So while your very own and brave AIAC published a  top 10 list of African footballers who could emerge this year way back in early January, pundits, like the BBC’s Piers Edwards, waited until after the AFCON to make the same prediction. But our early or Edwards’ […]

Friday Music Bonus Edition

It’s a mixed bag this week. Kenyan artist Ato Malinda created a video for one of the tracks of last year’s BLNRB album (music is by the Teichmann Brothers, vocals are by Alai K):

Music Break. Kaba Blon

http://youtu.be/afO9RSfdVEA Thinking about Mbalax Dub, got me wanting to share some more of Kaba Blon. It doesn’t seem like they have uploaded anything online yet, and the only song available for purchase I believe is Moribayassa. But, Mo Laudi was playing me some more of their tracks the other day. He had gotten them from a […]

Sacha Baron Cohen’s Gaddafi spoof

The trailer for Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest comedy, “The Dictator,” where he plays a thinly veiled cut-and-paste Muammar Gaddafi complete with Bollywood remix, Hamid Karzai lookalike rival, camels and 9/11 themed jokes. Tons of teenage boys will go see this.