Onslaught on Watch The Throne
It has been interesting watching the reactions to Jay-Z and Kanye West's Watch The Throne. Album has been out for a minute and, with the release of the first single Otis, everyone and their mother did a remix across the world, from Busta Rhymes, DMX and Justin Bieber through to South Africa's Slikour and Kwesta. The one that stood out for me was Chuck D's Notice which focuses on the unique position that Jay-Z and West are in to influence the global discourse and shift attention away from the seemingly prevalent materialism to the true challenges Americans - and the world - are facing with...
Anthony Hamilton – True Soul Man
Some moons ago, when I was a teenager, we would put together mixes on cassette tape (yes, cassette) for our romantic interests, incorporating songs that expressed our feelings much better than we could. Or we would phone, put the handset up to the speakers and press play. This was also an era where there were generally regular segments during the course of a party where the DJ would switch to slow jams for some up close dancing. In mainstream music today, it is getting harder and harder to find music that you could do the above with unless you are working to bypass hello and head straight to...
Dirty Loops Do Bieber & Gaga
This is one of those wonderfully random things one would probably never ever hear of if it wasn’t for the interwebs. Amidst the noise, some things still do get heard, reaching beyond their traditional borders into the ‘everywhere else’. A friend of mine put me onto the Dirty Loops. Made up of three Swedish musicians, who all eventually came together at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, they have been building a name for themselves with Youtube videos of their various jam sessions in studio. The group consists of: Jonah – versatile, he sings, plays the piano and writes, arranges and...
Indian Family Who Lost Custody Of Children
I don't usually stray from the specific subjects I explore on my blog, when I actually do post, but felt the need to put this out. Last week, on my Tumblr blog, I reblogged a post about an Indian family in Norway who were said to have had their children removed by that country' child services because they were "feeding them with their hands and sleeping in the same bed as them." I also signed a petition and put up the links on my Facebook page. Having children, my greatest fear is them being taken away from me or hurt in any possible way so I felt compelled to do the above. In signing this...
The Roots Undun
With Undun, which chronicles the life of the fictional Redford Stevens , The Roots also put out a short film. Beautifully shot, intense and engaging.
The Future of Africa
What is Africa’s future? A group of 2011 Archbishop Tutu Leadership Fellows – part of a programme under the auspices of African Leadership Institute – created 2 scenarios of Africa in 2025. They explored how the continent would turn out depending on what Africans and their leaders do today.
Red Bull Beat Battle
The 2011 Red Bull Beat Battle was a fascinating merger of styles and genres as 8 dance crews, primarily from Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban came together to battle for the title Champions. From Pantsula and Krumping to freestyle and Isbhujwa, the rowdy and enthusiastic crowd watched Artistic Intelligence take the title in a tightly contested final with Ubuntu from Cape Town.
Gareth Cliff On Everything (The Book)
Gareth Cliff has become one of those South African personalities that people either absolutely like or totally detest with very few in the middle. In his new book, Gareth Cliff on Everything, he waxes lyrical sharing his views on just about everything that happens in South Africa and beyond. From politicians, celebrities, fat people to guns, it does feel like he leaves no stone unturned. I am relatively nonchalant by Gareth Cliff and his opinions. They do not really affect me so I don’t really register them.
M.anifest’s Immigrant Chronicles
Ghanaian emcee M.anifest epitomises the marrying of influence, culture, origin and progression and, with the release of his second solo album, Immigrant Chronicles: Coming To America, he builds on his debut album, Manifestations, and his free-for-download album/mixtape, The Birds and the Bees, which was recorded in support of the non-profit Young Entrepreneurs Africa. He is also part of the African Rebel Movement (A.R.M) with Uganda’s Krukid and producer Budo and S&M with Sarah White.
You Started, What Next?
Beyond starting something, one of the greater challenges is maintaining once you have started. Sometimes, it is easy to get caught up in the newness and actually initiate something but what happens when it gets to the less sexy part. Many of us fade. In participating in the National Start Something Day campaign with Sanlam, this is a something that I have continuously been cognisance off; the risk of starting to procrastinate and fade. It is awesome that we Start Something, even better that we follow the full course.
The Future Of Soul Music Is The Past
When one looks at / listens to the soul and R&B music that has been released in the last year, one cannot help but notice how much seems to be drawn from and inspired by eras of old. Melodic, rich and soulful, artists like John Legend & The Roots went the whole way, releasing an album primarily of covers of songs by everyone from Bill Withers to Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes. R. Kelly, with the album Love Letter, finally showed us why he is considered by some one of the greater songwriters in the last 15 or so years and Raphael Saadiq continues to pay musical homage to the musicians that inspired him with an expansion on the Motown sound of his previous album.
Foo Fighters Garage Tour Documentary
Rock group The Foo Fighters led by former Nirvana member Dave Grohl have – over a 16 year career, built a dedicated and passionate following that reaches across the globe, often transcending race, nationality and gender. As homage to the people that have helped them reach the heights they have, they ran a competition in the US where fans could win a private concert in their garage. They had eight winners and, as part of the Garage Tour, they also filmed a 40 minute documentary giving insight into the journey as well as themselves. How many people can say they had their favourite band play in their house?
Wanlov – A Fokn African Gypsy
With his latest album, African Gypsy, Ghanaian / Romanian musician Wanlov embraces all aspects of his heritage, musical and culture, bringing them into the music in unique and creative ways whether it is in terms of instrument, language or attitude. A lot more of the Romanian in him is reflected in the album which could also be attributed to the fact that he produced the whole album except for one track, which was done by often-time collaborator Kweku Ananse – who produced his first album Green Card. Witty, intelligent and insightful, Wanlov, lyrically, builds layers that can be missed if one doesn’t engage fully. It is often easy to get lost in the humour and lose connection to the social-consciousness and awareness in his content. Definitely worth a listen.
National Start Something Day Campaign
Sanlam’s National Start Something Day is an initiative to encourage South Africans to stop procrastinating about the things they’ve always wanted to do and actually start something. We spend too much time lamenting the what-ifs and could-haves and this initiative is a great platform to actually do. As part of the campaign, there is a competition – run on the NSSD site and Facebook page – where someone could win R50,000.
Mandela Day, The Cheesekids Way
Our future will be determined by how many of us picked up the mantle of responsibility and did something, without expectation, simply out of the recognition that we all have a part to play, in one form or another. Cheesekids is an organisation that was started a couple of years ago as a platform for those in slightly more privileged positions, whether through work or background, to contribute to the upliftment of society as a whole. In celebration of Nelson Mandela Day, the organisation, with sponsors like Old Mutual, organised for 6700 young people to go to community projects as their 67 minutes of service.
Taking Pretty Pictures
I was invited to take part in Sanlam’s National Start Something Day campaign. I went into the very long list of ‘want to dos’ and decided to try my hand at photography, in particular learning how to use a D-SLR camera. I enrolled at the College of Digital Photography for a Fundamentals of Digital Photography course. For the first two lessons, we learned about ISO, Shutter Speed, Aperture, White Balance and Light.