Mos Dub
This is sick. Free download. HT: Will Youmans
Culture
Is this Nollywood?
With few exceptions, I usually celebrate South African photographers. Among them is Pieter Hugo, whose most recent work, “Nollywood”– a series of portraits recreating what for Hugo represents “archetypical characters” from the southern Nigerian film industry–opens tonight (from 6:00 to 8:00 pm) at Yossi Milo Gallery in Manhattan (525 West 25th Street). Anyway, not everyone […]
The Messiah
There is something tail-swishingly devilish about the way Lionel Messi runs with a football.
Ambrose Akinmusire's Jazz
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNzE2nTCtxE&w=480&h=295] I love Akinmusire and his band’s flow. I want to see him live.
The New York African Film Festival
The New York African Film Festival was just voted the fourth best festival in the city–no mean feat. The 17th edition of the festival kicks of later this week at Lincoln Center and a few other venues around New York City. Highlights include Oliver Hermanus’ claustrophobic “Shirley Adams,” about a mother in a coloured township […]
Trailer: "Distant Relatives"
The new 5 minute trailer for the new Nas-Damian Marley collaboration, “Distant Relatives”–out next month–where they engage with the music of Africa. (I’ve blogged before about some of the leaked tunes from the album.) Can’t wait for this. They’ve announced a tour schedule in the US and Europe this summer to promote the album. Sadly, […]
Not Your Parents' Music
There’s more to Kenyan popular music than Just a Band (even CNN’s David MacKenzie has taken notice of the band’s viral activity) as Chief Boima at Ghetto Bassquake has shown recently. He has been posting videos and links–based on a recent visit there and with reference to sites such as Get Mziki–of some of the […]
Italian colonists dressed well and other Weekend Specials
And although we loathe the "resilience of Africans" trope, I can't stop celebrating the Kinshasa Synphony Orchestra.
Prodigal Son
A white man dressed like Mobuto with two black "assistants" in tow, throw around fake money in Basel. What's this about?
Illegal or Dead
Sorious Samura joined African migrants trying to make it to Europe for menial jobs and loneliness.
Madlib’s Radio Freedom
Madlib's "Medicine Show No. 3: Beat Konducta in Africa" is about African liberation in the 1970s, especially south of the Limpopo.
All About Nicholas Kristof
Nicholas Kristof's journalism, which is largely focused on Africans, is exhausting to watch. And it is always about himself.
Liz Johnson-Artur’s Archive
The Ghanaian-Russian photographer documents the African diaspora in Europe, mostly in the United Kingdom.
The Trumpet King
Zeal Onyia was a master Nigerian trumpet player from the 1950s treated as an equal by Louis Armstrong.
Jeffrey Gettleman, Our Man in Kenya
Is the New York Times' correspondent in East Africa, a journalist or just someone relaying stereotypes?
Addis Swing
The revival of Ethiopian jazz, a tradition that dates back to the 1920s, and had its heyday under Emperor Haile Selassie.
Lifestyle TV
Parts of Johannesburg's inner city has been subjected to aggressive gentrification. It also comes with lots of mindless media.
Among the Savages
Why does a progressive Spanish TV channel close to the ruling Socialist government exploit Africans for entertainment?
Die Antwoord is Blackface
Die Antwoord is basically blackface. But blackface is also tricky, argues poet and writer Rustum Kozain.
Akon’s Africa
The Senegalese-American crooner's uninspiring "Oh Africa" reminds of bubblegum South African pop from the 1980s.