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DEBUT SINGLE 'OGOU (PRAN KA MWEN)'

30 Mai 2021 , Rédigé par www.afrocultureblog.com Publié dans #music, #afroculture, #ENG, #lazoumizik, #haiti

LAKOU MIZIK AND JOSEPH RAY SHARE DEBUT SINGLE 'OGOU (PRAN KA MWEN)' FROM NEWLY ANNOUNCED JOINT ALBUM 'LEAVE THE BONES'

Lakou Mizik & Joseph Ray - Leave the Bones

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Iconic Haitian Band Lakou Mizik and electronic producer Joseph Ray share the debut single Ogou (Pran Ka Mwen) from their forthcoming project Leave The Bones. The track is available on all platforms via Anjunadeep now.

Lakou Mizik and Ray premiere the album's debut single, 'Ogou (Pran Ma Kwen)', giving a telling look at what's to come. Characterised by vibrant strings, traditional Haitian rhythms and a jubilant chorus, 'Ogou (Pran Ka Mwen)' is an impassioned plea to the Vodou spirit of Iron and War for protection from the brutality of life's daily battles - "Ogou, you brought me here, take care of me." Since its inception, Lakou Mizik has sought to re-define people's conceptions of Haiti through its music. The nine piece band, formed in 2010, is emblematic of the melting pot that is Haiti's musical culture. Lakou's figurehead, Sanba Zao, one of only ten original Sanba poets left, played a central role in Haiti's Rasin (roots) movement of the 1980s which sought to re-imagine traditional Haitian Vodou music through radical experimentation with modern instruments. This spirit of Haiti's rich musical history underpins Lakou Mizik today; a multi-generational genre-blending ensemble that plays traditional Haitian music with a punk energy and a deep sense of their heritage.

Leave the Bones paints a musical portrait, a fresh glimpse of an oft misrepresented country. Through Vodou chants, chest-pounding Rara dance tunes and contemporary protest songs, the record conveys the listener to Haiti's spiritual heart, a place that remains a compelling mystery for foreigners and a source of pride for every Haitian. Few albums manage to evoke a time and place with such startling effect as the unlikely collaboration Leave the Bones (out August 6th), between the multi-generational Haitian band Lakou Mizik, and Grammy-winning electronic music artist Joseph Ray. Leave the Bones is a record that sounds like it could come from nowhere else, and while its rhythms undoubtedly possess a universal danceability, their meaning and depth are also unique to Haiti.

New single SUBIRA by Siti and the Band

30 Mai 2021 , Rédigé par www.afrocultureblog.com Publié dans #music, #afroculture, #ENG, #subira, #zanzibar

The new sounds from Zanzibar are as fresh as they could be, be it the sparkling Qanun, the vibrant violin or the powerful and bright voice of Siti Amina, let yourself be taken away into a journey to the magical Island!

Siti & The Band are releasing their new single and music video for the romantic love song “Subira” on the 28th of May 2021. ”Subira” is the first single from their forthcoming second studio album.

Zanzibar’s music history has been determined by female voices –from Siti Binti Saad to Bi Kidude, they have always been a trajectory for female emancipation and empowerment over the past decades.

Translating the traditional music into the modern times, Siti & The Band beautifully crafts the sounds of the new generation. In “Subira” it molds into unique afro-arab grooves, led by powerful vocals, the sparkling sounds of the Qanun and sweet responses by the Violin.

The message calls for our patience – in relationships and in our personal lives. Siti Aminais, the lead singer of the band is a role model for many young African women, determined to be all they can be.

After touring from East to West and from North to South with their first album “Fusing the Roots”, Siti & The Band utilized the pandemic to get back into the studio and record their second album. The stories and experiences from the Felabration Festival in Nigeria, Visa for Music in Morocco, Capital Nights in Sudan, IOMMA in La Reunion, ACCES in Nairobi and many other places are still alive and keep on influencing their musical journey and creative delivery.

Watch their new music video below and experience the island's magic.

Mamadou Diabaté, balafoniste burkinabé

29 Mai 2021 , Rédigé par www.afrocultureblog.com Publié dans #mamadoudiabaté, #carosika, #FR, #musique, #patrimoine culturel, #burkinafaso, #afrique, #artiste

Mamadou Diabate, né en 1973 au Burkina Faso, est le descendant d'une famille de musiciens Sambla. À l'âge de huit ans, il commence sa formation auprès de balafonistes connus de peuples voisins et remportera son premier prix en 1988 dans le groupe de son père. Depuis ses débuts, Mamadou Diabaté a publié 13 CDs avec ses propres compositions et 2 autres avec de la musique authentique des peuples Sambla et Tusia (tous deux en première mondiale). En 2016, il est fait chevalier de l'ordre national du Burkina Faso et reçoit en 2019, le prix du «Meilleur artiste international» du Burkina Faso.

Mamadou commence sa carrière dès son plus jeune âge, à cinq ans lorsqu'il reçoit des leçons de musique de son père, Penegue Diabate. Son père était un joueur de balafon célèbre, bien au-delà des frontières de la culture Sambla. Mamadou Diabaté persévère dans l'apprentissage du balafon durant son adolescence et remporte le premier prix de la Semaine nationale de la culture (SNC) au Burkina Faso dans le groupe de son père. En 1998, il remporte également le premier prix de la Semaine nationale de la culture (SNC) au Burkina Faso mais cette fois-ci, avec son propre groupe Landaya.

En 2000, il s'installe à Vienne, en Autriche, où il vit jusqu'à maintenant, et fonde en 2006 le groupe "Percussion Mania" avec lequel il tourne et joue à l'international.

En 2011, il remporte le World Music Award autrichien avec son groupe "Percussion Mania" et en 2012, le Grand Prix du "Triangle du Balafon" à Sikasso au Mali. Pour son jeu de balafon, il reçoit également le «Prix Alkaly Camara de la virtuosité».

Dans le cadre de sa vie personnelle, Mamadou Diabaté estime qu'il est important de pouvoir contribuer à l'essor de son pays natal le Burkina Faso et il y a construit une école primaire où les enfants pauvres reçoivent un enseignement gratuit.

Grundschule in Burkina Faso

Sababu ist eine private, kostenlose und staatlich anerkannte Grundschule in Bobo Dioulasso (Burkina Faso) für Kinder aus bedürftigen Familien. Gegründet in 2009 vom Musiker Mamadou Diabaté - Me...

https://www.sababu.info/

Pour en découvrir plus sur l'histoire du Balafon et de la culture Sambla, ainsi que sur le parcours de Mamadou Diabaté, cliquez sur l'interview ci-dessous réalisée au Jazz Café, à Londres, lors de son dernier passage.

Author and Self-Love Advocate Tene Edwards

29 Mai 2021 , Rédigé par www.afrocultureblog.com Publié dans #poetry, #author, #afroculture, #teneedwards, #carosika, #2021, #ENG, #queenonamission, #uk

For 27-Year-Old Tene Edwards, it all started on Instagram. “I was broken, my heart was aching, and I completely lost myself. I always used to be the girl who smiled regardless of what was happening in my life but after that heartbreak, I just didn’t know how to smile anymore. I remember when I was on my way home from seeing the guy who was really hurting me and my face must have looked so distressed because a stranger said to me “smile. You are beautiful you know. You should smile.” I think this played on my mind during my train journey home and I knew from that moment that I needed to find a way to pick myself up and I can’t remember how long after, but sometime after I began to journal and I found healing in my writing as I faced my emotions.

Tene then decided to share her words with the world and created an account on Instagram called quotepotion which helped her discover that there were many other people experiencing the same emotions as she was. “I built my organic following online using my phone by engaging with people who followed and commented on the inspirational posts of accounts that had larger audiences than mine, this drew them to checking out my page and some following. I did this for hours on end to begin with and found that people were really able to resonate with my words. I then started to search via hashtags that were relevant to my writings and engaged with people there. I also asked the larger accounts to repost my words, some did this for free while other accounts charged”.

“I self-published Walk With Wings to begin with as I wanted to give my readers something that they could hold and make their own. I also saw this as an opportunity to monetise my passion of writing and was very keen to do this after reading a ton of self-help books that consistently screamed “do what you love, and you will never work a day in your life”. I wrote the content out on Word and searched for an illustrator, editor and book designer to help me with the layout of the inside of the book on the copyright pages of other books that I liked. I then uploaded the documents onto CreateSpace (now KDP).

Tene contacted The Good Quote to ask if they could share some of her words on their account and before you know it, she was having a meeting with them in Joe & The Juice about Walk With Wings and the rest is history. Walk With Wings has reached the hands of thousands and thousands of people worldwide and Tene’s words have been shared by household names and celebrities including, Kandi Burruss, Wesley Snipes, Dascha Polanco and Khloe Kardashian.

“Social media is a powerful place; I practically built my brand on there. Anybody can. I think a lot of people are underutilising it, including myself to be honest when we should really be making the most out of it, being a free platform to advertise. I don’t think advertising can get any easier and cheaper than this.”

Click below to watch one of Tene Edwards latest interview by Gin and Gist:

Home | Tene Edwards

https://www.teneedwards.com

Our cultural mediator, Caro Sika, showcasing Walk with Wings by Tene Edwards:

Paulette Simpson, one of the most influential Jamaican executive in the UK

21 Mai 2021 , Rédigé par www.afrocultureblog.com Publié dans #paulettesimpson, #blacklegacy, #moneymob, #paulmuhammad, #ENG, #uk, #jamaica

Photo source: web

Paulette Simpson is an extremely influental Jamaican lady who wears many hats. She is well known as the Executive Director of the Voice Newspaper (subsidiary of the JN Group), a Black-owned newspaper that has served the Black British community for over 35 years but not only. Paulette Simpson is also the Deputy Chief Executive Officer - Corporate of Affairs of JN Bank Limited in the United Kingdom, Britain's first Caribbean-owned bank and the Deputy Chair of both the Windrush Advisory Panel and the Windrush Commemoration Committee.

Born in England, her grandmother thought best for her granddaughter, Paulette, to be raised in Jamaica and so she returned there as a child. Paulette Simpson attended primary school in both Mizpah and Christiana, before moving on to Manchester High School. As an undergraduate, she returned to the UK and studied at the University of Stirling in Scotland, where she earned a Bachelor of Art Degree in Business Studies (Finance and Marketing). She also later completed a MBA at the University of Westminster. Professionally, she began working at PriceWaterhouse, for a few years, in various positions. She was then recruited by the National Commercial Bank to establish and manage its London office. When the ownership changed in 2002, she was immediately snatched by, what was then, the Jamaica National Building Society. Since, she has worked as Executive, Corporate Affairs and Public Policy at JN representative office in the UK and provides strategic management support for The Voice Newspaper.

Paulette Simpson is considered to be a major player in improving the lives of Jamaicans in the UK and Jamaica, bridging and maintaining Jamaica's connection with its Diaspora. She is very active in the community and assists various charities with their work.

She was recognised twice as one of Britain’s most influential people of African and African-Caribbean heritage in the annual UK Powerlist published by Powerful Media in 2018 and 2019.

Paulette Simpson is also deputy chair of the Windrush Advisory Panel and the Windrush Commemoration Committee in the United Kingdom. As such, she has been honoured for services to the Caribbean community in the UK by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and was conferred with the highest ranking order of Commander of the British Empire.

Click below to watch Paulette Simpson's interview conducted by Paul Muhammad, founder of the MoneyMob movement on the topic of "Supporting Black Businesses" in our Ujamaa series.

Fuse ODG, a Pan-African Artist and Philanthropist

19 Mai 2021 , Rédigé par www.afrocultureblog.com Publié dans #fuseodg, #music, #artist, #ghana, #carosika, #ENG, #uk

Photo Source: Web

Fuse ODG, born Nana Richard Abiona on 2nd December 1988, is a Ghanian Afrobeats rapper, singer and songwriter born in Tooting, London. He is a two-time winner of the Best African Act at the MOBO Awards and came to international fame with his 2012 single 'Antenna'. Working with the likes of Wyclef Jean, Sean Paul and Ed Sheeran, FUSE ODG brought Afrobeats to the general public.

Fuse ODG was raised in Ghana and returned to South London to complete his secondary school. In 2011, a trip back to his homeland started off his musical career. He released a string of Afrobeats singles that melded old African highlife rhythms with western rap and R&B melodies and came to fame with his song 'Antenna' in 2012. His chosen stage name "Fuse" comes from his fusion of musical styles, as he is known for his unusual combination of genres such as Afro-pop, hip-hop, R&B, funk and rock, whilst "ODG" stands for 'Off Da Ground'.

At 30 years old, FUSE ODG released his second album, New Africa Nation, which encompassed a more ambitious project: building schools to enable children in rural areas in Ghana and Jamaica to access quality education. Besides, his movement TINA 'This is New Africa' (which is also the name of his first album) is all about changing how Africa is perceived internationally. His take is:

"If you are from Africa, your mission should be loving yourself and developing a love for where you are from."

Watch Antenna, FUSE ODG single, that shot him to fame.

Understandably, FUSE ODG has been instrumental in promoting 'the Year of Return', a 2019 initiative of the Ghanaian government, along with the U.S. based Adinkra Group, that is intended to encourage African diasporans to come to Africa (specifically Ghana) to settle and invest in the continent. In support of the year of Return Campaign, he launched Nana Dolls in December 2018, a black doll line for young African girls on the continent. In his announcement, the singer stated that the doll line was an important addition to the cultural representation of the true African girl. He went on to address the problem Africa is facing as Black dolls in Africa only represent 1% of the market. 99% of the toys being sold in Africa are white dolls which condition children to believe that being white is better. His contributions were recognised the same year at The African Diaspora Awards, which celebrates the accomplishments of exemplary individuals from the African Diaspora who excel in various spheres of life, as well as individuals in society working towards the advancement of Africans in the Diaspora and Africa as a whole.

FUSE ODG has now embarked on the new mission of building a high school in Akosombo, Ghana and refurbishing a secondary school in Jamaica with Reggae artist Chronixx, fitness entrepreneur Chakabars and artist Donisha (who also happens to be Bob Marley's granddaughter). Students will be equipped with various vocational skills to find work, upon graduation, in industries such as construction, or health and beauty for instance.

For more info, watch one of his latest interview below:

Our cultural mediator, Caro Sika, got a selfie snapshot with FUSE ODG at the latest Black Magic Awards.

Takine Camara, la reine du Bazin

9 Mai 2021 , Rédigé par www.afrocultureblog.com Publié dans #beautécharismatik, #takinecamara, #fashion, #mode, #carosika, #FR, #mali

Photo source: Web

Takine Camara est une entrepreneure malienne talentueuse et ambitieuse. Elle est créatrice et fondatrice de la marque de mode 'Beauté Charismatik'.

Alors que sa passion pour la mode remonte à sa tendre enfance, Takine Camara la matérialise adulte par le lancement de sa marque 'Beauté Charismatik'. Afin de faire écho à ses origines maliennes et pour se distinguer de la tendance de la mode africaine associée, très et trop souvent, au wax, elle décide de se spécialiser dans la confection de tenues en bazin, une étoffe synonyme de luxe et de richesse portée, notamment en Afrique de l'Ouest, lors des festivités. Le bazin devient donc la signature de marque de Beauté Charismatik, qui confectionne des tenues à la fois modernes et traditionnelles.

Depuis, sa marque fait l'unanimité en Afrique de l'Ouest et dans la diaspora et s'associe au luxe et au prestige. De par ce fait, Takine Camara est conviée à participer à de nombreux évènements de renom tels Miss Mali ou Miss Afrique de l'Ouest où les prétendantes aux titres défilent portant des créations de Beauté Charismatik. Takine Camara a également eu l'opportunité de collaborer avec la marque WATI B pour la Nuit du Mali en habillant son directeur artistique, ainsi que l'artiste Cheick Tidiane Seck. Plus récemment, ce sera l'artiste Mokobe, qui parrainera le premier Fashion Show de Takine Camara au Sénégal ou la grande Diva Internationale Oumou Sangaré qui sera habillée par Beauté Charismatik pour son premier concert à Dubaï.

Bref, 'the sky is the limit' pour cette créatrice et entrepreneure africaine qui n'hésite pas à voyager, à s'inspirer de cultures et expressions artistiques aux quatre coins du monde et à y travailler.

Découvrez-là ci-dessous dans un de ses interviews en compagnie du présentateur et entrepreneur Mohamadou Deme sur KWABO TV.

La créatrice Takine Camara s'entretient avec l'entrepreneur et présentateur Mohamadou Deme.

Nous sommes bien évidemment fan de la marque. C'est pourquoi notre médiatrice culturelle, Caro Sika, a eu l'honneur de porter deux robes de la collection Reine d'Afrique de Beauté Charismatik,
lors de la dernière édition d'Africa Fashion Week à Londres.

Serge Aimé Coulibaly, un artiste burkinabé engagé

3 Mai 2021 , Rédigé par www.afrocultureblog.com Publié dans #serge aimé coulibaly, #artiste, #danse, #carosika, #FR, #burkinafaso

Photo Credit: Lydia Nesvadba

Serge Aimé Coulibaly est né à Bobo Dioulasso le 12 mars 1972. Depuis 2002, il travaille en Europe et dans le monde entier par le biais de la compagnie de danse Faso Danse Théâtre, dont il est le fondateur et directeur artistique . Il fondera également ANKATA, un laboratoire de recherche, création et production des arts de la scène situé à Bobo Dioulasso.

Serge Aimé Coulibaly fait ses débuts au sein de la compagnie Feeren au Burkina Faso, sous la direction d'Amadou Bourou, en tant que comédien, danseur et musicien. Cette première expérience lui permettra de partir en tournée en Afrique et en Europe. En 1998, il est choisi pour chorégraphier le spectacle d’ouverture de la Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, et en 1999 celle de l'ouverture du Festival panafricain du cinéma et de la télévision de Ouagadougou (FESPACO).

Depuis la création de sa compagnie Faso Danse en 2002, Serge Aimé travaille sur des thèmes complexes et tente de donner une véritable impulsion positive aux jeunes générations Son africanité est la source de son inspiration et avec son art, il veut créer une danse contemporaine puissante qui part du sentiment mais qui porte aussi réflexion et espoir. La puissance de son expressivité rend son travail universel et compréhensible sur tous les continents. Les pièces en date, produites sur différentes scènes européennes et africaines (festivals), en commençant par la plus récente sont Kirina (2018), Kalakuta Republik (2016), Nuit Blanche à Ouagadougou (2014), Fadjiri (2013), Khokuma 7° Sud (2011), Babemba (2008), Solitude d'un Homme Intègre (2007), A Benguer (2006), Minimini (2002).

Cliquez ci-dessous pour l'interview complet de Serge Aimé Coulibaly sur son parcours et son engagement politique lors de la 100ème représentation de sa pièce Kalakuta Republik, au Barbican Center, à Londres.

Serge Aimé Coulibaly s'entretient avec notre médiatrice culturelle Caro Sika lors de son passage à Londres.