Posted: February 25th, 2006 | Author: kamau | Filed under: fashion | Comments Off
chris seydou and the evolution of modern “african style”.
Annoyed by THE African style he had himself forged, he wanted his production to break free from generalised baroquism and interpret contemporary African society with its contradictions between narrow identity linked to heritage and the commonplace urban modernity he liked to live. Chris Seydou was starting his revolution and, without denouncing his desire to integrate the Seydou African materials and patterns, was seeking a new path that would reintegrate the meaning of the Chris in his name, which he took as a tribute to Christian Dior.
see also:
xuly.bet: fashion line of mali-born lamine kouyate.
alphadi: niger-born fashion designer.
stoned cherrie: south african designer nkhensani manganyi’s “urban african” fashion line inspired by DRUM, sophiatown and the culture of protest in rsa.
Posted: February 3rd, 2006 | Author: kamau | Filed under: music, radio | Comments Off
WGBW, the microwatt radio station of my alma mater UWGB played “black music” from 4 p.m. friday to late on saturday. it kicked off with pancho playing the “urban” sounds of his native nyc. philly expat “the fat cat” played old school r&b late and gave the “brothers out in four corners” (green bay’s prison) a channel to the outside world by reading their mailed-in dedications on-air. mehdi managed to get himself on every indie label’s mailing list and played hour-long mixes of club sounds all saturday morning. the mysterious “bus” mixed in the art-dance-rock-funk of the b-52’s, talking heads, etc., with his hip hop when there wasn’t a saturday afternoon b-ball game on. and rounding it off on sat night was tom brown with chicago flavored soul.
for those 24 or so hours i could forget i was going to school in the middle of nowhere; a small consolation for not living “out there it was all happening”. yet the music and the community that developed around that 24+ hours of music had such a deep influence on me that i have sought out college/community/local radio stations in every other place i have lived.
it led me to KCRW when it really was a small station in the basement of santa monica college; when i would play congolese soukous to provide a deliciously incongruent soundtrack to my saturday afternoon cruises around la and oc.
it later led me san francisco’s KPOO (flava, baby!) and to donald lacy’s richard pryor-inspired political humor, to polo moquuz, “ghetto radio” and sunday morning gospel music.
all this came back to me yesterday as i was listening to afrika bambaata’s tuesday night show “true school” on harlem’s WHCR. he plays the same hip hop, funk, electro, and soul that i first heard on WGBW. it took me back all those years to when i first landed in this country and would sit glued to my radio every weekend to experience the musical world that existed beyond the snowy fields that surrounded me.
*refers to how the low end of the fm dial is considered the less desirable end of the fm spectrum.
