Kwaito: (noun): “A music genre that emerged in Johannesburg, South Africa in the early 1990s. It is based on house music beats, but typically at a slower tempo and containing melodic and percussive African samples which are looped, deep basslines and often vocals, generally male, shouted or chanted rather than sung or rapped.”
Love this song. In sound it is a tribute to the original mid-80’s Chicago house that was just stripped down drum and bass beats with vocal samples (check out breaks in the last 30 seconds). Where, where, where can I find more of this?
SEE ALSO: Adonis: No Way Back[YouTube, audio only] Speaking of, here is some OG Chicago house from the pioneer house label Trax Records.
UPDATE: Wait! There’s more. As usual it seems like I was the last one to hear about DJ Mujava; this song blew up in the last couple of months, but has been bubbling under for about a year. However in its wake there has been a lot of interest in the kwaito scene, especially because of its similarities with the European electronica/dance scene. Fact Magazine has done a small survey of the kwaito scene from the more edgy, stripped down Chicago house to the more “friendly” garage, grime related sounds. Here are some YouTube links to the songs featured in the article:
FILM: “Pray the Devil Back to Hell”. Documentary about peace efforts of Liberian women led by Leymah Gbowee to end their country’s war. What started out as sit-ins at fish markets developed into meetings with the warring factions and even pressure during peace talks to ensure that negotiations went all the way to fruition. There is a quote over at The Daily Beast from film producer Abbey Disney (yes that Disney) on how easy it was to find Liberian war porn but (little) no footage of Gbowee and other women trying to end the fighting (they got some footage from a former presidential videographer):
One of the interesting things was how easy the combat footage was to come by—you do a search for it, and the next thing you know is you are swimming in the most disturbing images of blood and gore. What was hard to find were the women working for peace, because no one knew they were there—we had reporters say to us, “We knew they were there, but why shoot them?” They were so pathetic.
Trailer for This is Nollywood
FILM: “This is Nollywood”. Director Franco Sacchi spotlights the third largest movie industry in the world, by following Nollywood director Bond Emeruwa in his quest to make a feature length film with $20,000, a digital camera, 9 days and a whole lot of Lagos-style chutzpah.
“We are telling our own stories in our own way, our Nigerian way, African way,” Bond says. “I cannot tell the white man’s story. I don’t know what his story is all about. He tells me his story in his movies. I want him to see my stories too.”
Bond Emeruwa, Nollywood director
TEDTalks: Welcome To Nollywood. Franco Sacchi discusses the making of his documentary “This is Nollywood” and the significance of film and a vibrant storrytelling culture to Nigerian society. Includes excerpts from the documentary.
Kofia Tip for Nollywood linkage: Africa is a Country
You must have something to “say”. You must be brutally honest with yourself about this. Think about history , politics, science, literature, music, film, and anthropology. What affects does one discipline have over another? What makes “man” tick? Today , with everyone being able to easily make technically perfect photographs with a cell phone, you need to be an “author”. It is all about authorship, authorship and authorship. Many young photographers come to me and tell me their motivation for being a photographer is to “travel the world” or to “make a name” for themselves. Wrong answers in my opinion. Those are collateral incidentals or perhaps even the disadvantages of being a photographer. Without having tangible ideas , thoughts, feelings, and something almost “literary” to contribute to “the discussion”, today’s photographer will become lost in the sea of mediocrity. Photography is now clearly a language. As with any language, knowing how to spell and write a gramatically correct “sentence” is , of course, necessary. But, more importantly, today’s emerging photographers now must be “visual wordsmiths” with either a clear didactic or an esoteric imperitive. Be a poet, not a technical “writer”. Perhaps more simply put, find a heartfelt personal project. Give yourself the “assignment” you might dream someone would give you. Please remember, you and only you will control your destiny. Believe it, know it, say it.
I am not necessarily a “young” photographer, but Harvey’s message about having something to say, about being an author not a technician deeply resonates with me. I started this blog offline just for myself a few years ago because as a photographer I was very disenchanted with my output which said nothing about me as a globalized African. I’ve been trying to find my own unique viewpoint (what to say) by exploring Africa’s visual culture as well as the politics, history, music and art which underlies it. Along the way I’ve learnt so much about Africa and its diaspora as well as about other Afropolitans who are on a similar journey for various reasons. I’ve become a more aware person, more comfortable in this hybrid existence I live. It’s also made me better understand what photographs I want to make and why, lack of results notwithstanding.
The cultural cocktail is the brainchild of Serge Mouangue, a Tokyo-based concept- car designer for Nissan, who joined forces with Kururi, a Tokyo-based kimono- maker, to produce the traditional Japanese attire in 18 African prints sourced in markets from Nigeria to Senegal.
The Wafrica Project site here with more images and artist statement.
[kofia tip: Jamhuri Wear Gazette]
MUSIC: The Very Best: Esau Mwawamaya and Radioclit. Free download of 15-track mixtape bringing together Malawi’s “Phil Collins” and of-the-moment DJs/producers/remixers Radioclit. “Salota” [mp3 file] featuring South African art rockers BLK JKS is currently on heavy rotation here at casa forota.
Screen shot (Untitled, Boxer by Jean-Michel Basquiat) from Christie’s web site
ART: A painting (”Untitled (Boxer),” 1982) by Jean-Michel Basquiat has been sold for $13.5 million at an auction in New York City.
So where were we? Oh, yeah, looking for and sharing afromedia goodness around the Internets. Now that I am only checking out the Daily Kos, Politico, Fivethirtyeight.com and Huffington Post twice a day instead of twice an hour, I can get parts of my life back.
South African popular music that has long been influenced by American jazz and gospel. In the 40’s and 50’s a jazz/urban sound hybrid flourished in Sophiatown, Jo’burg’s racially integrated (for a while) neighborhood that was immortalized in DRUM the magazine and the movie. Letta Mbulu and Miriam Makeba were part of that scene. The influence of gospel and jazz continues today in the work of female singers like Thandiswa and Simphiwe Dana.
Kenyatta, Mboya and Kibaki are overwhelmed with joy on hearing that K.A.N.U. had won the election. From the book “Kenyatta: A Photographic Biography” by Anthony Howarth.
This is the image that has been floating around in my head since Obama’s election victory and the resulting celebrations. It is one of those iconic images I remember from my childhood that condenses the import of a certain moment in history. Something in the image speaks to the start of a new era, to overwhelming joy that what seemed impossible to visualize at some point has come to pass.
If I was more eloquent, I would be able to describe why a historic image from independence-era Kenya can stand in for a just completed election in the United States. I would be able to discuss the complex relationship between Kenya and the United States, about how Kenya saw fit to declare a national holiday to celebrate the results of an American election. But, for now, I will just let that picture stand in for all those words and for how I feel.
Earlier this year, celebrated photographer Rankin briefly turned his back on the glitz and glamour and took his camera to the refugee camps of the war-torn DR Congo. These portraits – now part of a stunning exhibition on London’s South Bank – capture the true personalities of people living in one of the most troubled places on earth.
This exhibition formed a part of our ‘Sun, Sand, Sea and Sweatshops’ campaign, which focused on exploitative labour conditions within tourism. Our research demonstrated that tourism workers have always been vulnerable and suffer from poor working conditions.
24 Nairobi brings together local, regional and international creative professionals to evolve powerful and realistic images and narratives that would reflect the working-life diversity, cultures, energy and dimensions of cities in Africa.
Four years ago Time photographer Callie Shell met Barack Obama backstage when she was covering presidential candidate John Kerry. She sent her editor more photographs of Obama than Kerry. When asked why, she said, “I do not know. I just have a feeling about him. I think he will be important down the road.” Her first photo essay on Obama was two and half years ago. She has stuck with him ever since.
