Outrageous South African hip-hoppers Die Antwoord (The Answer) have announced the dates of their upcoming North American tour. Starting on October 12 2010 they will play at Vancouver, before touring the West Coast and then switching coasts until a last date in New Orleans on October 30. Expect mayhem and broken beats, no subtitles! The… Read More »
Palestinian/Tunisian/French electro outfit Checkpoint 303 will be appearing (for free) in Rome on Sunday May 31 as part of the “Finding Palestine” event, featuring traditional and contemporary arts. They will also be appearing at the Venice Biennale. Click “read more” for further details.
Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. will host the 4th annual Trinity International Hip-Hop Festival, the first and largest international hip-hop festival in the US, on April 3rd and 4th, 2009. This year, the event is headlined by K’naan, the rising star in international hip-hop. The Somali MC spent the last 2 years touring with Damian… Read More »
Rokia Traore provides another superb track in “Dounia”, with a clip that is as elegant, refined and intriguing as her music. She recently won a César award in France for the album “Tchamanche” and has a date in Paris in May. Click through for other dates and to see the clip of “Dounia”:
The Palestinian/French/Tunisian electro collective will be appearing at the Générale en Manufacture in Paris on February 2: They will then appear at the Chabada in Angers the following day, February 3. Click through for details.
Brussels is getting ready for three days of slam and hip-hop. The “Sessions Ubraines” will feature a presentation of the new book “Souterrain 95-08 Bxl”, the first of its kind about the Belgian scene. There’s an extensive panel of guests from noted journalists to rappers Defi J, Lady N and others. Date December 17 at… Read More »
Romania’s impressive Fanfare Ciocarlia has announced a series of Australian and European dates in January and February. Zece Prajini is a village of just four hundred souls and home to the twelve Romany Gypsy musicians who make up the Fanfare Ciocarlia brass ensemble. The rugged, secluded hills have been echoing to the sounds of brass… Read More »
For 30 years already, Africa Fete has been one of the motors of African music, through their annual festival in Dakar and different events in France. The founder, Mamadou Konte, died some time ago but had built a up a highly professional team that is pursuing his work. If you look a the festivals and… Read More »
Mehdi Haddab & The Speed Caravan Nutty oud players DuOud will be playing shows in London and Paris over the coming weeks. Mehdi Haddab’s experiment in blending percussive and snappy oud playing with electronics and even speed metal is a sight to see. They’ll be at the K-Wa in Paris on the 22nd and the… Read More »
MTV Base has announced the nominees for their upcoming MAMA African music awards to be held in Abuja, Nigeria on November 22. The ten categories cover best male, female, live performer, alternative, Hip-Hop, artist of the year, new act and video. I strongly recmmend a visit to their site to get an overview of the… Read More »