Fox of FoxOnTheRun drops a post about a twenty-year old memory and a changing neighbourhood:

“The jerseys represent a who's who of international soccer and national colors. as dusk settles in - the social scene moves to the parking lot. ghana has made it through the group stage. the spirit is lively. an african summer party in the central ohio suburbs -where only the upper can afford to live. the alien music from the canal st kiosks re-appears. all the current sounds in african rap, dance hall, and reggae are represented. man this city has changed.”

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Yesterday dj earball of Sound Roots posted an mp3, “Take Out the Fences”, from Togolese singer/musician Yawo to inspire the Togolese football team, Les Eperviers (Sparrow Hawks).

“Up With People” veteran Yawo started his music career in his native Togo, studying flute, electric bass, and classical guitar. The title of this album might refer to his musical influences as much as the world harmony he so clearly desires. Yawo's feel-good Afropop music straddles the walls between African, pop, jazz, and reggae. Singing in a mix of English and African languages, he calls for freedom, justice, and more bodies on the dance floor.”

“Take Out the Fences” is from the album of the same name and is on general release.

Wen, a guest blogger on the excellent music blog Benn loxo du tacu, drops a post on Ghanaian Hip Life:

“Ghanaian Hip Life is a hybrid of Afro-American hip-hop and West African highlife. It is characterised by rapping over a 4/4 beat, however it differs from most traditional hip-hop with its melodic lead vocals. The rap is mostly in the local languages Twi, Fanti, Ga and Ewe, but also in the lingua franca of the Muslim minority, Hausa. The official language in Ghana is English, though due to migrant relations with the neighbouring countries French is also used. In these songs we hear a more pidginised form of English which contains old expressions from colonial times that are still used today.”

The post highlights the Hip Life group VIP and provides mp3s to the songs “Ahomka Wo Mu”, “Ni Ne Naki” and “Adoley”. Enjoy.

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Matt of Benn loxo du taccu keeps it football blogging live and direct from the media center at the World Cup in Berlin. He talks about the War Child “Help” albums and their importance:

“10 years later the Help compilations are still great and still raising money for a good cause. Originally Help was brought-out by War Child to raise money for war-town Bosnia-Herzegovina. It’s amazing that the Bosnia conflict was only 10 years ago, especially when you consider that some of the countries involved are now vying for EU membership.”

Matt goes on to mention Tinariwen, a Tuareg band featured in the latest album, Help: a day in the life, and provides an mp3. He will be dropping posts on African teams in the World Cup so look out for that.

Generation Nubia answers requests to post pictures of 2Face Idibia, winner of Best African Act at the MTV Music Awards 2005.

“This are pictures from the Mtv music awards last year so why are we posting them,two reasons actually :We didnt see to many full lenght decent pictures of him at the event and secondly this is probablly the only picture that shows him with his ‘baby mama'..so this is one for the history books.”

Generation Nubian also blogs about the recent black eyed peas tour of South Africa to support their aid foundation. Pictures of the Peas and Nelson Mandela are also posted.

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Anandkumar Arumugasamy of My XPerience as me blog talks on the inclusion of music in computer games and highlights an in-game song, “Baba Yetu” (The Lord's Prayer in Swahili), featured in the game Civilization 4:

“The first track, “Baba yetu”, is like THE perfect song and made quite an impression the first time I heard it. It's an awesome intro song for an awesome game. The song itself is in Swahili (an African tongue) and features bold drums, a great voice and a soothing chorus. You wouldn't understand a word of it of course, but if you care to know, the song's supposed to be a famous christian prayer called ‘The Lord's Prayer'”

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John Buckman of magnatune blog gives a reason for the lack of African music on magnatune

“I received two great African music CDs recently. These are musicians from Africa, recording in London. However, I can't accept that CD for Magnatune, because the recording is totally owned by a producer in London, who would then receive all the sales royalties, and none would go to the actual performers. This situation, where the recording company or producer owns all the rights to an album, is the norm in world music.”

A very moral and importance stance. The artist must have ownership of his material.

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Found a really cool online African music show, African Beat, hosted by David Vandy and Executive Producer Matthew Lavoie (Voice of America). I really dig Vandy's presenting energy with a beautiful selection of music streaming out of my computer's speakers. What did one do before the internet? Great show (available in various media formats). Soundtrack to this roundup. Enjoy.

First massive big up to MsaniiXL for winning the Kenyaunlimited Best entertainment blog award 2006 (the kaybees). MsaniiXL, in addition to an appreciation post, writes about poet and rapper Muki Garang:

“If “ya'll” havent heard about Muki Garang, he is an emcee that has been doing his thing for minute, he also does poetry(I know one of KBW fam posted something about this but it escapes me who, apologies are in order)”

The post provides a video stream to one of Muki's music videos and some great links to other artists. Muki is a Nairobi based Sudanese rap artiste.

Still on the topic of Sudanese rap artistes Street Knowledge reviews the album, “ceasefire”, by Sudanese rapper, Emmanuel Jal:

“You may have heard the story behind this more than the music, but definitely don’t sleep on the sound, which is deep no doubt. Jal’s garnered much press as a rapper who was conscripted as a child into the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in the war that has torn up Sudan the last few years.”

Emmanuel has an excellent website with loads of media for your enjoyment. Good stuff.
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“The Coupe-Decale created by Doucoure during the militaro-political crisis in Cote d'Ivoire,reflects the aspirations of the Ivorian youth. Coupe-Decale is a very melodious and percussive African samples, deep bases, rythmic and very well accommodated. It is a unique style. Coupe-Decale is about happiness,expresses the day life of the Ivorian society, and also gave an insight into the political situation of the country. The prominent artists of Coupe-Decale are Sagacite (Doucoure), DJ Brico, DJ Arsenal, Papa Ministre with his famous tune “Coupe-Decale Chinois”, and many others talented Ivorian artists.”

I did a quick blog search which turned up loads of results but all in French!! The frustration I feel sometimes. It's one thing not understanding the language to the lyrics of a song (not a big issue because the music vibe plays a big part) and another not being saavy to a huge musical movement because of language barriers. Like the French say C'est la vie. Summer language classes calls beckons. Welcome to the African music Round up.

Hans of Powershot drops a good review of the recent WOMAD festival which took place in Adelaide, Australia in March. His review mentioned a lot of African acts that performed at the festival:

“Cape Verdean singer Lura's second show, in the rain on Sunday, was a revelation. Her sensual dancing and vocal style seemed to fit with the later timeslot, showing the various musical styles of Cape Verde, ranging from slow blues to vivacious funk.”

he goes on to write:

“Kanda Bongo Man's Congolese Soukous dance music was a prelude to the glorious Cuban-influenced swing of the legendary Orchestra Baobab from Senegal who kept a mellow, inviting and happy groove. Their version of Coumba, from the classic Pirates' Choice CD, sang with delight.”

Got a link to Steve Ntwiga Mugiri's blog (thanks Sokari) and his latest entry provides an mp3 link to Samba Mapangala's song Marina (Listening as I type). Steve blogs on Kenya, Africa, music and “the world we live in”. He's also taking taking requests for mp3s to link on his blog so visit and join in the party.

Soul on Ice reflects on the recent death of Nelly, founding member of the Tanzanian hiphop crew X Plastaz.

“I read of the passing of Faza with great sorrow. I discovered the X Plastaz sound through africanhiphop.com and it introduced me to that East African slice of hiphop also known as Bongo Flava. The idea of Masai warriors putting their feelings and inner city plight to wax initially sounded gimicky but when I saw a few videos and heard a few tunes i was impressed. I saw what they were about and read up on the crew.”

Please visit their website and sign the condolence book. Rest In Peace.

Red Ruin has compiled a mp3 list of hiphop songs from across the world featuring an X Plastaz song, “Nini dhambi kwa mwenye dhiki“:

“In recent years the X Plastaz have become known for being the first hiphop crew to use Maasai music and culture in their performance. Maasai singer Yamat (also known as Merege) is now a full member of the group who has joined on tour and in the recording studio.”

Soi Disantra provides an interesting take on African music classification:

“The second thing I discovered: “African music” as I generally imagined it at least, doesn’t really exist. By that I don’t mean that there isn’t a ton of music from Africa; anything but. Nor am I trying to say that “African” can’t be a fair and accurate descriptor – “Afropop,” I think, is a pretty all right broad classification. What I mean is that to take a continent that’s churned out so much rich, amazing and – dare I say – diverse music, and just sorta imagine that it’s all the same was pretty damn naïve. Soukous is not mbalax is not afro-funk is not rumba is not Ethio-jazz is not Afrobeat is most certainly not one of the myriad traditional/tribal musics. Fer example: while they’re both Western forms of music, and pretty closely related ones at that, metal ain’t Merseybeat.”

Lovely Amphibian talks on Ugandan Artist Ragga Dee winning the Pearl of Africa Music Award for best Ragga artiste of the year 2005:

“To give an indication of how monotonous the event is becoming, the man himself, while accepting the award, said the organisers should scrape the raga artiste of the year category, or better still rename it, the Ragga Dee Award.”

Moistworks reviews a few albums by the late South African Jazz musician Johnny Dyani. On the song “Song for Biko” he writes:

“You know the way that on most CDs the so-called bonus track is not worth listening to - an alternate take that was ditched for quite obvious and audible reasons? Well, in this case the bonus track was the best track: the long, two-part “Lonely Flower in the Village.” It starts with Dyani's amazing bass. You only need to hear a couple of notes to hear that he is a great bass player.”

Mosistworks goes on to “Witchdoctor's Son” and “Good News from Africa“. He's also provided mp3 links to the songs reviewed. Excellent stuff.

The we mourn the sad passing of Ali Farka Touré of Mali aged 67. Ali has a left a huge legacy for generations to get to know and enjoy.

Matt of Benn loxo du taccu remembers and salutes “grand Touré”

“Way, way before I ever even thought of moving to West Africa - or even out of Canada - I was into Touré’s albums Talking Timbuktu, Radio Mali and Niafunké. They were a gateway into the rich world of contemporary African rock and blues, and ultimately helped shape my musical taste for the region.”

To remember him Matt has left two mp3 audio links for us to enjoy and listen to the voice of the Blues man from Mali.

Supa Sista leaves us a simple message with a link to Ali Farka Touré's Discography.

“Thank you for blessing us with your music.”

SoundRoots also remembers the great man:

“Sometimes called the “African John Lee Hooker,” Toure won a Grammy award recently for his duet album with Toumani Diabate, called In the Heart of the Moon. It was his second Grammy, following one in 1994 for Talking Timbuktu, his collaboration with Ry Cooder.

Toure died in the capitol, Bamako, but will be buried in his hometown of Niafunke. He was elected mayor of Niafunke in 2004.”

SoundRoots waxes lyrical on the South African Movie “Tsotsi” that recently won an Oscar.

“I don't think of the Academy Awards as a great promoter of world music and culture. But their selection last night of the South African film Tsotsi as Best Foreign Language Film is certain to gain attention for the soundtrack, which is dominated by kwaito. Sometimes called “South African Hip Hop,” kwaito (the term translates as “anger”) seems to run the gamut from cheezy knockoffs of western hip hop to amazing blends of modern beats with roots drumming and choral singing.”

Afrobeat Trainspotter announces the Lake of Stars Festival 1ST - 3RD September 2006 @ Chintheche Inn, Norther Malawi.

“This year the word has spread throughout Africa with artists and festiver-goers alike coming from Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and Zambia. Headlining and hosting the event will be BBC 1Xtra's Ras Kwame http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/onemusic/ras/ , Chibuku residents the Beat Monkeys, Phat Phil Cooper, Maverick Mitchell and Malawi stars Tikhu Vibrations, the Black Missionaries and Wambali.”

Afrobeat Trainspotter talks about Mpho Skeef linking an interview:

“South African born Mpho Skeef seems to be cutting a path through the music inustry. Heard ‘booty la la' track by Bugz in the Attic? Thats Mpho on vocals.”

Soul On Ice has provided a link to an mp3 playlist (london cosmic junction on webjay.org) with the “booty la la” track. listen and enjoy.

Rizoh's Rapup profiles another South African born Artist, the rapper Jean Grae:

“Since she kicked in the door about 10 years ago, Jean Grae (Tsidi Ibrahim)has captured rap in a choke hold and she’s not letting go. Born in Capetown, South Africa to a jazz pianist father and a vocalist mother, the former LaGuardia High scholar is no stranger to music or the controversies that come along with it. Her parents fled to New York when she was a toddler in order to escape the blooming apartheid in South Africa at the time. Rapping about struggles, joy, pain, and sometimes simply kicking knowledge Nasir Jones style, Jean Grae is everything an average female rapper’s not. She’s the exact antithesis of Foxy Brown and Lil’ Kim.”

Doug Paterson guest hosts the Best Ambiance online show to drop sweet African music from across the Continent. Something for all listeners.

ASID blog (anti slackness intellecutal development) drops a reggae style podcast from badgals-radio.com to support the “save daffur coalition rally to stop genocide Apr 30 2006″ presented by Mama Asid.

“Also we ask that you Take a Moment and send a copy to your favorite email lists and your closest email friends. ask them to circulate this plea as humanitarians to end the killing in Darfur. Remember that Darfur Today could be Detroit or Dayton Tomorrow..”

Please support this campaign and listen to the Podcast.

Another French/African (Cameroon) classic is the neo-soul album “Princesses Nubiennes” by the group Les Nubians. breath of life blog waxes lyrical on the remix of their hit song “tabou”.

“the feature track—an alternate version of Les Nubians’ French-language cover of Sade’s “Sweetest Taboo”—is subtitled ‘Roots Remix,’ but it is actually a remake. The original version appears on the album; for the new version, Les Nubians enlisted the The Roots band to provide all-new and all-live instrumentation.”

It's a brilliant remix of the original and the Roots crew live backing is incredible. breath of life blog goes on to talk about their output to date:

“the first Les Nubians album is best experienced all at once, as an album. “Saravah” is from their 2003 release, One Step Forward, a collection that is both more scattered and more ambitious than its predecessor. It also happens to be blessed with one of my all-time favorite cover photos.”

Jon Kertzer of The Best Ambiance blog has posted his usual cracking show blessing us with some of the best music out of Africa. Any radio show that opens with Miriam Makeba's world wide hit Pata Pata (2000) gets three thumbs up.

“A real varied mix of African music on the program this week, including music from Cameroon, Tanzania, Uganda, Gabon, Angola, Congo, South Africa, Togo, Algeria, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Zimbabwe, Guinea , Zambia, and Gambia.”

As usual The Best Ambiance provides a playlisting of all the artists played.

Soul on ice brings us a very special documentary. BBC music dj and UK emcee Rodney P travelled to Sierra Leone to see how hip hop was playing a part in rebuilding a war torn society and the result is a riveting documentary.

Soul on ice has provided a link to Rodney's website and you can listen to the interview and read his travel journal.

jazz-not-jazz blog posts an interview with one of South Africa's leading jazz artist Andile Yenana.

“Andile Yenana’s album Who’s Got The Map? is already one of my favourite jazz albums this year. If you want to discover South Africa’s jazz music of today, I guess there couldn’t be a better start.”

jazz-not-jazz blog also provides an indepth review of Who's Got The Map? With the artists such as Hugh Masakela South African has a very rich jazz tradition which is worth the exploration.

Talking of interviews, Naija Jams recently dropped a post on an interview with Nigeria's hottest talent Mode 9. Mode 9's is also popular for one of his hip hop songs “419 state of mind part II“. The song is a cautionary tale to the would-be advance fee fraud victim told over a beautiful, bouncy beat.

“You know that feeling you get when you discover something special, something rare or extraordinary? It’s the feeling of finding a sealed 1985 Dele Abiodun album in a dusty San Francisco record store. And it’s the feeling I got early last year when I first heard the music of Mode 9.”

Naija Jams has provided a few mp3s showcasing Mode 9's work. Get sampling as they don't last long.

The Hiplife Complex, who spent a year in Ghana making a documentary on the genre, blogs on the thoughts of everyday people on hiplife and it's effects on Ghanaian youth.

“This guy is worried about profanity in hiplife lyrics and its effect on Ghanaian youth. He gives us a laundry list of hiplife's good and bad contributions to society, making many of the statments I heard repeatedly from a variety of players in the industry.”

The Hiplife Complex concludes his post with a link to Maximus Ojah's entertaining and thoughtful insights on Hiplife in Ghana

One of hip hop's best and prolific producers JayDee a.k.a JDilla passed away two days ago. This is a great loss and his extensive talent will be missed. rest in peace my brother JayDee. toddkelley.net pays tribute to the great man on his blog and drops a dope selection of his work on radio.blog. I couldn't say it any better.

mixtapeshow.net makes a departure from his usual music blog format to present an audio interview Kareem Edouard. Kareem has made an impressive and educative documentary called Bling: Consequences and Repercussions which explores the deadly trade of conflict diamonds.

“What does this have to do with you? Well, if you’ve watched a rap video in the past 7 years, you’ve probably seen someone that is (probably unbeknownst to them) helping to fuel the conflict diamond trade. If you’ve already seen the documentary, this should provide some more information and background on what the production and whatnot are all about.”

mixtapeshow.net also provides a link to a free 11 minutes download of the documentary.

Negro Please waxes lyrical about Red Hot + Riot, a cd dedicated to the music of Afrobeat founder Fela Kuti, the Nigerian legend who died from AIDS-related complications in 1997:

“As this album plays, it's funk and jazz blended with traditional Nigerian root music and these contemporary artists singing or rapping above it, I know, without a doubt, that I am both African and American. I feel this music at my core.”

Naija Jams highlights one of the songs off the Red Hot + Riot album, a remake of Fela's hit “Zombie” by Bugz in the Attic and Singer Wunmi. He gives an interesting background to the song:

“In 1976, the planning of the Second World Black Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC77) was underway and Fela was invited to part of the Organizing Committee.
He soon realized that many of the involved were interested only in lining their own pockets & pulled out, staging a protest performance at The Shrine running concurrently with FESTAC77. It was here that Zombie made its public debut.”

Naija Jams has removed a link to the remake but the song can still be heard on aurgasm's music blog.

Continuing on the afrobeat theme SoundRoots did a roundup of the current players on the afrobeat scene.

“Anyone with an inkling of musical curiosity has at least heard of Afrobeat. It's the funk-drenched, politically charged Nigerian music pioneered by Fela Kuti. For some reason, lots of this anti-establishment music tends to be available for free download around the internet.”

SoundRoots has provided links to free downloads on Afrobeats acts like Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra and Akoya Afrobeat

I'll sign out by linking to the sternsmusic.com's African music top 25 chart for feburary ‘06. enjoy the week.

Complicated Fun posts on Kenyan hip hop and Afrofuturism and talks on the Kenyatta Day ‘05 celebrations in Minneapolis (October 10).

“While Kenyatta Day offers a glimpse of Africa's future in hip hop and cinema (see below), the local exhibit, discussion, and events surrounding Afrofuturism at the Soap Factory (near St. Anthony Main) peer forward into the future of the African Diaspora, and use the sci-fi imagination to satirize the past”

Complicated Fun goes on to talk about the local premiere of a documentary called Hip Hop Colony by Kenyan director Mike Wanguhu.

Bob's blog talks on Senegalese hip hop crew Daara J:

“If Africa is in the midst of a hip-hop renaissance, the Senegalese trio Daara J could be the movement's foremost statesmen. Earning accolades worldwide for their vibrant 2004 record Boomerang (Wrasse Records), the Dakar-based MCs Faada Freddy, N'Dongo D and Aladji are keen to explore the links between worlds old and new, and their music lies at the crux of what they call an emerging “hip-hop civilization.”

Bob's blog provides a link to an interview with Faada Freddy and a link to some of their music (kexp seattle).

The African Cup of Nations is on and Naija Jams reminds us of Nigeria's failure to qualify for the world cup. On the eve of their opening match against Ghana words of encouragement come from US-based musician and self-acclaimed soccer nut, Pa-J:

“When it comes to Nations Cup,
Ghana Go Hear Wien…
Na den, them go sabi what’s up
Ghana Go Hear Wien…
Shebi na 3-0 dem go chop
Ghana Go Hear Wien…
When the green white green enter the green grass
Show time, make we skata anything dey waka pass”

Naija Jams look forward to some excellent football and provide an mp3 link to Pa-J's song, Ghana go hear wein.

The Best Ambiance blog introduces us to:

“New music tonight from Ladysmith Black Mambazo and the Mahotella Queens from South Africa, as well as music from Brazil, Madagascar, Angola, Cameroon, Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria, Senegal, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and much more.”

The Best Ambiance blog has posted a link to the online radio show (kexp seattle) and provides a playlist for the music. You can also find links to archived shows in the blog. I find the Real Audio links work the best. Excellent music.

BluePie Artists blog posts an interesting interview with Thomas Turino, a professor of musicology and anthropology at the University of Illinois at Urbana.

After conducting extensive field work in Zimbabwe during the 1990s, he published
“Nationalists, Cosmopolitans, and Popular Music in Zimbabwe” (University of Chicago Press, 2000). A complex work examining the role of music in Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle and establishment of statehood, Turino’s book provides an excellent account of the social, political, and historical circumstances in which Thomas Mapfumo rose as a composer, singer, and bandleader.

Thomas Mapfumo was and is still very popular for his musical stance against the then Rhodesian government. In the interview Professor Turino talks on his research work and time in Zimbabwe.

WFMU's Beware of the blog highlights a very interesting music project by DJ Doug Schulkind's called Culture Shock.

“Dont pass up this amazing collection of jaw-dropping, mind jarring cross-cultural music hybrids. Eighty minutes of melodious map-melters that set the world on its ears”

Culture Shock features music from a number of African (Ali Farka Toure, Babba Maal), Indian and Chinese artists. Doug has provided all the mp3s free for download with information about each song as a gift to his listeners. He also hosts an online music show called Give the Drummer Some . Past shows are archived on his page.

“Like many big-name West African musicians, lately Keita has been sticking more to his acoustic roots and less to the casio synth. While the album still may be overproduced in my opinion there are still some great tracks that highlight much that is great about contemporary West African acoustic guitar music, particularly that coming out of Mali.”

The really cool thing about Matt’s blog are the mp3 links and the special feature where you can listen to a song right there on the site. Salif’s song “Yambo” is posted and he’s also included a link to an interesting interview.

Msanii_XL, blogging out of Kenya, is the one stop for all things African hip hop. He current post profiles a new emcee called blitz. blitz is in the mould of the rap group Dead Prez and focusses on conscious, political, uplifting material. Msanii also gives an interesting run down of his top ten rap albums of 2005.
he talks on rap duo Zion I:

“True & Livin‘….Amp live the beatmaker behind the group completely changed up his entire production and what he came up with is one of the better albums i have heard this year, with Zion I the emcee of the group spitting some realness, minus the thug poser-ism. This Bay area crew dropped some hotness, with varied guest spots “Nerd-rap” fav Aesop rock , Talib, Gift of Gab among others. Fav joints ‘Poems 4 Post Modern Decay’, ‘So tall’, ‘Birds Eyeview’(took a page from commons i used to love her), ‘What u hear’.”

Msanii also posts a podcast featuring Kenyan/African and American rappers (includes “2000 seasons” by Reflection Eternal. heavy)

SoundRoots reviews the “Sierra Leone & The Refugee All Stars” album. This project was recorded by six Sierra Leone musicians living in refugee camps in neighbouring Guinea.

“The album Living Like a Refugee includes one disc of raw field recordings from the refugee camps in Guinea, and one disc of studio recordings done in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The music — African folk/pop with a strong reggae influence — includes heartbreaking messages of peace and forgiveness, despite what the refugees have been through. A film on the band recently won “Best Documentary” award at the American Film Institute’s International Film Festival. Information on future film screenings and other band news is available at the Refugee Allstars site.

SoundRoots have also posted a song, “Mental Slavery“, off the album for download. Listen and support.

Naija Jams hails 2Face for winning MTV’s African Artist of the year 2005:

“Earlier this month, 2 Face Idibia (formerly of the Plantashun Boiz) was awarded African Artist of the year at the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards in Lisbon, Portugal. It’s nice to see one of the so-called “local boys” getting international recognition!”

Naija Jams goes on to talk about how hard it is to get hold of information and music by 2Face and features a 2Face photo gallery:

“The one place I was able to did find 2Face’s Face 2 Face, sent me a poorly packaged bootleg CD-R that was so badly reproduced (copied) that it was completely unplayable… and for $8 (1000 Naira) no less. Complete with a smeared, inkjet-printed, paper adhesive cd-label of an off-center color copy of the original CD. The other films/music cds purchased from the site were more of the same.”

Island of Spice blogs on the richness of South African music and it’s lack of world exposure:

“South African jazz–and the many genres that influence it, like marabi, kwela, isicathamiya and mbaqanga–is amazing, especially when you see live performances and feel the energy the artists bring to the audience. The South African music tradition is as profound and varied and extraordinary as African American music–it just hasn’t had the same international exposure.”

He details an interesting parallel between South African music and African American music:

“But beyond the sad story of “Mbube,” there are great sparks of creativity in the parallel history of South African and American music. The seeds were sown when migrants from rural South Africa brought their indigenous rhythms and musical traditions to the big cities, where they blended new hybrid styles heavily influenced by American jazz and big band sounds.”

BadGals-radio highlights the upcoming Bob Marley celebrations, “Africa Unite“, kicking off Feb 1-6th.

ALTHOUGH THE second annual ‘Africa Unite’ two-concert series is slated for Ghana, Africa, in early February, Rita Marley made it clear on Tuesday evening that the celebrations of Bob Marley’s 61st birthday are not restricted to one continent. Or, in fact, one race.

When we say ‘Africa Unite’ we mean black people anywhere you are. It is not really black by skin, but black by heart,” she told those gathered in the rear courtyard at 56 Hope Road, St. Andrew, on Thursday evening.

I’ll sign off by pointing readers in the direction of africanhiphopradio which is an excellent online radio station operating out of Amsterdam. It covers hip hop from all over Africa presented by famous regional djs and includes interviews and interesting studio banter.