Pilgrimages

A former professor of mine and all-around great guy, Abdourahman A. Waberi (or, if you can't read French, check out his Wikipedia page here), is getting ready to head off to Salvador do Bahia, Brazil for an amazing literary project called Pilgrimages.  In the words of the project's organizers:

"The Chinua Achebe Center for African Writers and Artists has chosen to celebrate Africa’s first world cup by sending 13 African writers to 13 cities for two weeks during the World Cup. Each writer will produce a book of nonfiction prose, Travel Literature, of 30,000 words, for publication in Africa and abroad.

Using multiple forms of media, the writers will first blog their journeys and create momentum online and on mobile phones while the World Cup is taking place. A media website will be created, with local correspondents introducing their cities to fellow Africans online. The climax of this process will be the launch of this new collection of thirteen books in four African cities in January 2012, during the African Cup of Nations Tournament.

The collection will be the most significant single addition to the continent’s archive of literary knowledge since the African Writer’s Series founded in the 1960s.

At a moment in time when the whole continent is more visible to its inhabitants and to the rest of the world than at any other since independence, PILGRIMAGES will reintroduce Africans to the literary world in the same form that so many outside writers have employed to create a distorted idea of us to the world."

Abdourahman Waberi will be the only writer not traveling to an African city.  Other contributors to Pilgrimages include such prominent African literary figures as Alain Mabanckou (his Wikipedia page in English here), Binyavanga Wainaina (or check out his blog here and his Wikipedia page here), and Chris Abani (Wikipedia page here), among others.

For more on Pilgrimages, visit their website here.

The Ethiopian Trend

While browsing through a clothing store the other day, I noticed two racks of shiny new vinyl for sale.  I began flipping through their selection and amongst all the trendy pop albums (Grizzly Bear, the Talking Heads, etc.) I found Oh No's (the younger brother of Madlib currently signed with Stones Throw Records) most recent album, Dr. No's Ethiopium.  Finding this record reminded me that I've been meaning to do a post comparing it to Dub Colossus' A Town Called Addis ever since Oh No's album was first released.

The pop industry in the West has been appropriating African music into their creations (e.g. Paul Simon's Graceland, Radioclit's project with Malawian-born Esau Mwamwaya, The Very Best, among many others) to give their music that "exotic" air that is so often considered to be "cool" for as long as anyone can remember.  As with everything else, this strategy can result in something creative and enjoyable or it can end up sounding uninteresting and unoriginal.  In my opinion, Dr. No's Ethiopium and A Town Called Addis act as good representations of the two ends of the spectrum.

Both Dub Colossus and Oh No turned to Ethiopia as their source of exoticism.  Oh No, a hip-hop producer, opted to sample the old Ethio-funk/jazz sounds of the 60s and 70s in his beats.  It seems to me like he got most of his samples from the classic Ethiopiques (Buda Musique) CD series, using clips of songs by such legends as Mulatu Astatke, Mahmoud Ahmed, and Getatchew Mekurya.  The London-based dub producer, Dub Colossus, chose a different approach.  Instead of sampling, he actually collaborated with many of the most popular contemporary Ethiopian musicians for his album, combining his dub sound in the studio with the vocals and instrumentals of the artists with whom he worked.

The two albums are very different, using Ethiopian sounds from two separate eras, but the basic idea is the same.  I have my own opinion as to which one works better, but I'll keep that to myself.  Instead, listen to a few songs off each album, form your own opinions, and then let me know what you think (Click on the song title to listen/download):

Oh No - The Pain


Oh No - Great Oracle


Oh No - The Funk

Dub Colossus - Azmari Dub

Dub Colossus - Sima Edy

Dub Colossus - Neh Yelginete

Indépendence Cha-Cha

I've posted about Baloji before, but he has really out done himself this time.  Below is the music video for his latest song, "Le Jour d'Apres/Siku Ya Baadaye (Indépendence Cha-Cha)."  It is a remake of the famous song celebrating the DRC's independence, "Indépendence Cha-Cha," by the father of Congolese rumba, Le Grand Kallé et l'African Jazz.


LE JOUR D'APRES / SIKU YA BAADAYE (INDEPENDANCE CHA-CHA) from BALOJI on Vimeo.

Here's the original version of the song (click to download/listen):
Le Grand Kallé et l'African Jazz - Indépendence Cha-Cha

RIP Sotigui Kouyaté

Malian/Burkinabé actor/griot/soccer player, Sotigui Kouyaté, died on Saturday in Paris.  He was 74.


More here.

"Makmende uses viagra in his eyedrops just to look hard"

So, I'll admit I'm a bit late on this one.  Below is "Makmende Amerudi," the music video for Just A Band's new single, "Ha-He."


The video has gained considerable popularity recently and is being hailed as "Kenya's first viral internet meme." It's not hard to see why it's so popular.

Anyway, I've had Just A Band's new album, "82," for a while now and it's quite entertaining. You can listen to the full album and learn more about the group here.

Also, good article on the video's viral status here.

Show Dem (Make the Circle Bigger)

Sorry I haven't posted anything new recently, it's kind of a crazy time for me. This is just a quick update to share a great song/video from South African artist JR featuring HHP. The song is called "Show Dem (Make the Circle Bigger)." Thanks to the guys over at Ghetto Bassquake for putting me on to this.




South Africa has been receiving a lot of attention in the blog world lately, presumably due to the upcoming World Cup. As a result, I've been turned on to its amazing and diverse music scene. There's a ton of great stuff coming out of the country right now, including Kwaito and all sorts of great Electro/Dance music (Pitori House, Shangaan Electro, just to name a few sub-genres). I'll try to put some of that up in the coming weeks, but this will have to do for now.

Lastly, Mulatu Astatke, the father of Ethio-jazz, just came out with a new album titled Mulatu Steps Ahead. You can listen to the first single off the album, "Green Africa," here.

Fascinating

Congolese Sapeurs and South African Smarteez

Over the past month or so I've been really taken up by two unique fashion sub-cultures in two very different African localities: the Sapeurs of both Congo-Brazzaville and the Democratic Republic of Congo (and the Congolese diaspora in France and Belgium) and the Smarteez of urban South Africa.

Sapeurs:
The word "Sapeur" comes from the acronym for the movement, SAPE, which stands for Societé des Ambianceurs et Personnes Élégantes (aka Kitendi-the religion/cult of the cloth). The term and acronym are also a play on the french verb "Se Saper," meaning "to dress." It is a culture of high fashion, with Sapeurs sporting suits and formal clothing in a style reminiscent of the 1930s with designer labels such as Armani, Gucci, and Versace.

La SAPE has been around for at least 25 years now and was popularized by the famous Congolese (DRC) musician Papa Wemba.  The fasion cult was created in response to Mobutu's "authenticity movement," which was an attempt to break from European colonial identities and create a more "African" Congo. As part of this "authenticity movement," Mobutu advocated the banal abacost uniform, a Zairian spin on the three-piece suit, as the official attire of the new Zaire (now DRC). Papa Wemba and other Sapeurs developed their style in opposition to this aspect of the "authenticity movement."

Here are a few pictures of Sapeurs:

For more information and pictures:

The Congolese Sape by Héctor Mediavilla
Colors: Paradise is a Fabulous Suit
SAPE by Francesco Giusti

the Smarteez:
I know considerably less about the Smarteez of South Africa. I can tell you that the style originated in Soweto, that it is much more of a youth sub-culture and has little to nothing to do with politics. There tends to be an emphasis on color and a lot of the ensembles are seemingly "random"-an eclectic mix of colors, accessories and styles.




For more information and pictures:

South Africa's "Harajuku" Kids
Mail & Guardian: The designer, the buyer and the irreverent edge
What a lot 'o style they've got: A close analysis of the Smarteez

Pitchfork and West Africa

Pitchfork recently published an article titled "Killin' the Game: New Music From West Africa," which discusses some of the music that has been coming out of Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria. It's not the greatest article I've seen, but it's still worth checking out. There are a few technical problems with it: some of the songs don't seem to work, and at least one of the songs is mixed up (the song titled "Chupa Chups" by Ofori Amponsah is really just another copy of Praye's "Angelina"). Also, a couple of the songs are likely played out by now (for example, the song "Zies Dedjas" by Nash and the group P-Square were popular in Cameroon when I was there a year ago, I highly doubt you would hear them being played in bars and clubs today). Minor criticisms aside, it's a solid article and it's good to see some contemporary West African pop getting attention on a popular American music site like Pitchfork. Not to mention there are some pretty good songs on there (I really like "Zies Dedjas," "Yahooze," and the production on the song "Kosoaa" is ridiculously catchy).

Killin' the Game: New Music From West Africa

***Edit: Pretty much immediately after posting this article, I came across another article on Pitchfork. This one, titled "Africa 100: The Indestructible Beat," is simply outstanding. It acts as a sort of introduction to Afropop of all kinds from the 60s and 70s. In addition to giving you a brief history behind much of the music, the author directs readers to some of the best record labels and blogs to seek out if you want to find more music.

Africa 100: The Indestructible Beat

Good luck, Mr. Goodluck Jonathan

Nigeria's president, Umaru Yar'adua (top), has been in Saudi Arabia for over 3 months now, where he is being treated for a heart condition. So Nigeria has effectively been without a president for at least 79 days. Then on Tuesday, the National Assembly finally passed a resolution that put the country's vice president, Goodluck Jonathan (bottom), in charge as acting president. It's about time! Full story here: http://www.afronline.org/?p=3457#more-3457

Not music, but still interesting.

Talk given at the TED conference by the beautiful and brilliant author of Half of a Yellow Sun, The Thing Around Your Neck, and Purple Hibiscus, Chimamanda Adichie. She discusses what she calls "the danger of a single story."

Karibu Ya Bintou

I just wanted to share this great video I came across today. It's titled "Karibu Ya Bintou" ("Welcome to life in limbo"). The song is off the album "Kinshasa Succursale" by Baloji and features the incredible Konono N°1 on likembe (if you haven't heard of Konono N°1, I highly recommend you check them out-their album Congotronics is amazing). The video was shot in the streets of Kinshasa. Enjoy!

BALOJI feat. KONONO n1 - KARIBU YA BINTOU from BALOJI on Vimeo.

Kamba Benga

So it has certainly been a while since my last post. I have been a bit lazy (and busy), you'll have to forgive me.

Anyway, today's post is on the Kenyan style of music known as benga. More specifically, the benga made by the Akamba of south-central Kenya. But first, a little background on benga is appropriate. Benga is not actually a Kamba creation, it was originally developed by Luo musicians in the area around Lake Victoria in western Kenya sometime during the 60s. Before I go any further, here is a song by one of the pioneers of benga music, Daniel Owino Misiani (aka "the grandfather of benga") and his band, Shirati Jazz. He sings in Dholuo and Kiswahili. The song is called Piny Ose Mer.



It didn't take long for benga to catch on among other groups in Kenya and pretty soon benga was being produced by groups like the Kikuyu, Akamba, etc. I have had the most exposure to Kamba benga, so that will be the type of benga I present here. Most of the songs in this post are originally from the blog Likembe. Likembe is one of my favorite resources for all types of African music, I highly recommend that you check it out.

Peter Mwambi - Matatu

Peter Mwambi - Mueni

Peter Mwambi, Charles Mutiso, & Kyanganga Boys Band - Mwenyenyo

Peter Mwambi, Charles Mutiso, & Kyanganga Boys Band - Beatrice

The Kalambya Boys - Eka Nzasu

The Kalambya Boys - Mwendwa Losi

Finally, to give you an idea of another type of music popular in Kenya around the same time, here is a song by a band called Super Wanyika. They play a Kenyan style of rumba that is directly influenced by the Congolese style known as Soukous (see posts below for more on the relationship between Congo and Kenya). The two lead members of the band are actually Tanzanians and Super Wanyika is an offshoot of an earlier project of theirs called Simba Wanyika, meaning "Lions of the Savannah" in Kiswahilli. Simba Wanyika and its two offshoots, Super Wanyika and Les Wanyika, were some of the most popular bands in Kenya in the late 70s and early 80s. They sang in Kiswahilli, a language understood and used by the vast majority of Kenyans. This made their music more accessible than most Kamba benga, which is usually in Kikamba, a language used only by the Akamba.

Super Wanyika - Nimesha-Kwambia