Writer Imraan Coovadia, on lit magazine n+1‘s blog, writing about the tenplate for “the South African story” in Western media: … In the run up to the [2010] World Cup even usually intelligent publications like Harper’s and the London Review of Books were replicating the hoariest clichés in sight. Each magazine had rented out space to its […]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqrQCRxD-u4&w=500&h=307&rel=0] Rapper Young Kay is “a leader of the younger urban music scene in Malawi.” [via blogger Justin Kraus, who is relocating to Malawi from South Korea.]
In the mid-1980s, Fela Kuti and his band, then in their prime, came to play in New York City.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA23GnvAXWQ&w=500&h=307&rel=0] Yuri Da Cunha is a household name in Angola,and is on his way to becoming an international star. He has taken the older Angolan genre of semba music, and modernized its appeal to urban youth. His lingering vocals combined with his fluid dance style has captured fans from Angola to Portugal. His combination of dance […]
Are publishers unwilling to back anything besides more of the same tried, tested and tired old formula?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeUxzYbQQSo&w=500&h=307&rel=0] The video for “Fairy Tale” by South African-based Mozambican band, 340ml. The video was shot in the Mozambican capital, Maputo.
In the latest issue of The New York Review of Books, novelist Norman Rush reviews V.S. Naipaul’s new book on African belief systems, “The Masques of Africa.” Naipaul, it seems, got very upset at how Africans threat some animals: Trying to figure out Naipaul’s foundational worldview is too hard for me. It’s a secret he […]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADTUDx8-Pbg&w=500&h=307&rel=o] Last Sunday against Chelsea, Sunderland’s Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan scored his team’s second goal on the way to a 3-0 win over the defending English Premier League champions. As usual Gyan did his victory dance (you could not have missed it during the 2010 World Cup whenever he scored which was often). Gyan, of […]
The author, a German journalist new to South Africa, writes about her first impressions and experiences, especially with local whites; so different from anything she knew or experienced before.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZyd-vDzKlg&w=500&h=307&rel=0] I am still trying to figure out what Kate Bush‘s 1979 tune “Egypt” and its video (part of a Christmas Special in the UK) is all about. I Newsreel, orientalism, and an odd plot (Kate gets threatened by what looks like Egyptian government goons at the end? Is this a protest against authoritarianism?), doesn’t […]
New York City artist Maria Buyondo grew up in Russia and Sweden, the child of a Russian mother and an Ugandan father.
The film "Limbo" covers the frustated life and dreams of Sudanese immigrant and trained architect, Issam.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNUgJMDsOuY&w=500&h=307&rel=0] If you don’t notice the awkward “acting” at the outset of this music video and you’re a fan of retrified 60s R&B and soul, this is a nice tune and video by Paris-based Nigerian singer, Asa. It’s for her new single “Be My Man” off her just-released second album.
This December 2010, Kenyan literary magazine, “Kwani?” will publish the top five entries of their “The Kenya I Live In” Short Story Competition. (Over 500 entries were received, the judges read 65 of these and announced the winners in February 2010.) See Kwani?‘s website for more details. Image: Allan Gichigi.
The King of Bubu, Janka Nabay, translates this music and his culture for rock kids in the trendy hangouts of New York City.
If you’re into house music (I can tolerate some of it) it’s worth listening to this DJ set by South African Culoe De Song recorded at the Oppikoppi Music Festival in South Africa. His new “afro-house” album will be released on November 30th, Listen here.
Any ban on blood diamonds would ultimately harm low-paid Congolese mineworkers and would be too difficult to enforce anyway.
We know Jacob Zuma can dance. But can Julius Malema, the future President of South Africa (ha!), dance? At least we we know that neither Malema or his colleagues at the ANC Youth League understand social media. Johannesburg’s DJ Cleo throws Malema and social media both in the mix for this video. And gets away with […]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mLtdHQeIZA&w=500&h=307&rel=0] My 5-year old has known for quite a while–long before mainstream media caught onto it–that the children’s TV show, Yo Gabba Gabba, has the best musical guests. Among them: Solange Knowles (Rosa’s favorite singer), Mos Def, Biz Markie and of course The Roots, one of dad’s favorite bands. Here’s The Roots doing “Lovely, Love My […]