African DJ and artist Leon Botha has died in South Africa. Botha was better known as Solarize, for his work with Die Antwoord. He appeared in “Enter the Ninja” and acted as Die Antwoord’s warm-up DJ in concert. What was less known is that Both was a qualified artist with several shows behind him. Sadly, he was also the oldest living sufferer of the rare progeria condition, which accelerates ageing in the body. He died in Cape Town just after his 26th birthday. Visit Botha’s amazing Flickr stream.
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 Ginglik in London on the 27th, notably. Click through for dates.
No matter who gets elected, the world will feel the impact of the next American president. So although politicians around the world are remaining very diplomatic, artists are coming out in support of Obama - particularly in Africa. Kenya’s Kenge Kenge have recorded one of the sweetest tracks a gentle tribute, which opens with a very laidback groove and then picks up. Neat. This track was featured on their European tour.
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 current music scene across Africa. Although South African and Nigerian artists get the most nominations, tiny Gabon is in with a good chance through one of our favourites: Movaiz’Haleine. They are nominated in the best video category for the track “Nous” (Us) directed by John Gibbs. Check it out and then visit the other tracks at MTV Base.
Shantel, the pioneer of Balkan dancefloor grooves, is touring Europe between October and January. The former DJ combines Balkan and Turkish music with dance grooves, creating a sound which is pretty much irresistible. His music offers a bold, colourful challenge to the wall-to-wall House/Lounge sounds of most clubs, provoking hysteria in more than one venue. He will be touring with an 8-piece band. Check out the album “Disko Partizani” and click through for the full tour dates.
The Ghent Film festival is screening “Sling Shot Hip Hop”, a film that follows Palestinian rappers as they try to travel through Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. The film screens on October 8, 10 and 11. The groups are DAM from the West Bank and PR from Gaza, who try to get to meet their counterparts. The film offers yet another view of Hip-Hop as a vehicle for political thought and aspirations, offering a voice to people that are very rarely heard. Click through for details.
Not a lot of people know that South Africa has a vibrant electronic scene. It gets a little showcase this month, with the release of the “Facebreaker” game on Xbox and PlayStation. The South African group Tone Deaf Junkies are featured alongside people such as Drop Kick Murphys on the game’s soundtrack. The track is from their album “Alpha”.
The College Music Journal Marathon (CMJ) is New York’s largest music, film and media conference and will host hundreds of live performances, films, lectures and networking events. This year’s CMJ INTERNATIONAL HIP-HOP THROW-DOWN will unite the talents of a creative and diverse group of lyricists and DJs from Africa, Korea, Canada, and Europe at club DROM, located at 85 Ave A in New York’s East Village on Thursday October 23rd 2008. The event will begin at 8 PM and will last until 3 AM and will feature live international hip-hop music and DJs spinning music.
The show feature a handful of rising stars including Blitz the Ambassador (Ghana), Drunken Tiger (Korea), King Reign (Canada), Empire Isis (Canada), Chachi (Cape Verde) and Too Many Fish (France). DJs Boo and Soulscape from Korea will be on the turntables. V.J Kwon from Korea will set the tone and visuals for the night. There will also be an all French Hip Hop showcase at Hiro Ballroom on Friday, October 24th featuring La Caution, Mangu and Wax Tailor.
After their recent live shows in Australia and in Tokyo and the support set with Massive Attack in France (Nuits de Fourvière festival), Checkpoint 303 has been invited to perform an audio-visual electro-acoustic set @ Scala in London, Sat. Oct 4th, 2008. The line-up of this event organized by SOAS students’ union & SOAS Palestine Society:
Checkpoint 303 (live electronics/visuals/oud, Palestine/Tunisia/France)
Ramallah Underground (trip-hop/hip-hop + visuals by Ruanne, Palestine)
Visionary Underground (live D’n'B, UK)
DJ U-Cef + DJ Bashir
Doors open @ 8 pm, CP-303 Live sets start @ 9 pm // so be there early! For details, visit the Scala.
Before that, Checkpoint 303 will be the guests of “Les visiteurs du jour” a daily program on Radio France Internationale (RFI Paris Studios / 44 million listeners worldwide). The radio magazine is dedicated to news about the trends and challenges of the world’s societies with in-depth analysis and conversations with the world press and “audio snapshots” of key players in the world’s social mix. The program starts at 11h40. The Checkpoint 303 interview is scheduled for this thursday (2nd Oct. 2008) live from Paris (and by phone from Jerusalem) at 12h10 (World: 11h10 UT // Africa: 3h10 UT ). Check RFI for frequencies.
The German label Piranha takes a look at Hip-Hop and Islam on the compilation “Many Lessons”, recently released in Europe. Islam is a strong influence across West Africa, despite the fact that most countries are secular by nature. This selection of tracks looks at how Islam is incorporated into the buoyant Hip-Hop scene, which is one of young Africa’s ways of getting itself heard. The artists include General Snipe, Keur Gui, Dread Skeezo and Sister Fa. Click through for the full track list.
Despite having toured the world already several times, the Congolese bands Kasaï Allstars and Konono N° 1 have been refused visas by several European countries, so disrupting a number of major festivals and bringing their agent to the brink of bankruptcy. The group first had problem renewing their passports in Congo, and were then sent on a labyrinthine chase for visas and paperwork from the French, Belgian and UK embassies (where they were to play). At the end of the day, these proved unsuccessful and the tours have been cancelled - over 25 dates in all.
This promises to be a pretty hot ticket. Pee Wee Ellis, former saxophonist of James Brown, has brought together some excellent artists for a tribute to the legendary James Brown. Among them are Fred Wesley and Tony Allen (drummer of Fela Kuti), the Nigerian-London singer Wunmi (who DJed in 2004 at Couleur Café in Brussels), The Family Stone-singer Fred Ross, the Senegalese artist Cheikh Lô and the still very young but already celebrated South-African jazz singer Simphiwe Dana.
They will be playing under the banner, “Still Black, Still proud” (a reference to the James Brown track “Say it Loud”). They recently got a three-star review in the UK’s Independent. Look out for them in your local press.
Movaizhaleine, probably the best hip-hop outfit on Africa’s West Coast, have created a viral hit with “Quaffffoutre”. They used a sample of the Gabonese president saying “Moi, je n’ai qu’à foutre” (me, I don’t give a shit) and looped it. As France and Gabon are having a little push and pull for the moment, the clip features the Gabonese president, Nicolas Sarkozy, Jacques Chirac and the French Socialist Ségolène Royal. Fun.
Wendo Kolosoy, the veteran World music star, has released an album of material recorded in 2004 on the IglooMondo label. Kolosoy is hailed as the father of the rumba, having helped shape the style already in the fifties and sixties. “Banaya Papa Wendo” features 10 tracks with old sparring partners such as Jean-Louis Kayala Bikunda on bass and Vula Diankatu Missy on guitar.
Wendo Kolosoy on Amazon.fr
Checkpoint 303 - the Palestinian/Tunisian/French outfit that bills itself as “free tunes from occupied territories” - will perform a DJ set at the legendary Tacheles alternative art-house in the center of Berlin on Thursday 7th of February, 2008. The gig will take place at the opening of a photography exhibition organized in collaboration between Tacheles Kunsthaus and the Conflict Zone Art Asylum network. The show starts @ 7 pm (Free entry).
Although it was only released in Belgium, one of our favourite albums in 2007 was “Hotel Impala” by Baloji. This Belgian rapper of Congolese origin has created an album that spans Hip-Hop, 70s soul, Afro Beat and chanson - quite a programme. The breakout single was “Congo”, a 7-minute masterpiece.
Baloji will be bringing his show to the Cafe de la Danse in Paris (5 Passage Louis Philippe, 75011) on February 15 before travelling around France later.
Click through for the full dates in France and Switzerland and the full version of “Congo”.
