uk

I've had the pleasure to meet Deyon King, an amazing and talented creative wearing so many different hats. From taking on the role of a cosmetic chemist, creating her own line of handmade natural makeup "Fruitsoflove" to styling and designing clothes using Ankara fabric, as well as accessories such as earring, bows and handbags, the list is endless. [She can also sing]......

Deyon would say of herself: "I've always been quite a creative type of person. People would come to me with broken bits of watches and earringS that are falling apart and ask what I could you do with it. I've always had a creative nack, gifted by God I would call it".

See pics below and Etsy site link to purchase fruitsoflove items:

But that's not all. Deyon has a beautiful way of passing on knowledge. For instance, she is amazing at styling hair. I needed a hairstyle and within seconds by looking at my face, traits and outfit, she could picture exactly what would suit and the lipstick I would sport out. However, the ones appointed to do my haire were her daughters.

Deyon herself would say that her earliest memories of doing hair was between the ages of 8 to 12 where she would take on the task of doing her cousins' hairs, hairstyles, her mum's friends children and even my mum's friends themselves. She learnt herself from her mum and aunties who would be standing in the family living room with a girlfriend seating on a chair in the middle and they'll get busy styling their friend's hair. "In Caribbean culture, it is quite traditional and natural for the eldest to take care of the youngest hair and a way of making some money by doing hair braiding. I would have a doll that I would practise my braiding skills and cornrows on and be corrected by my auntie. I learnt by watching"

It is therefore not in the least surprising that her daughters, Syrenity and Sakura, have taken it on too.

"Now my kids have got this love for doing hair. They do the same thing with their dollies, try to braid the hair and single plats. They are amazing at single plating and I teach them different techniques as time allows".

You can see them below and the result of course of hair and make up.

We trust that Deyon King, her daughters and her brand will keep on unlocking their creativity. Long life to fruitsoflovve!!!

C'est donc, bel et bien, reparti pour cette année, Chantal Loial, l'ambassadrice des danses créoles, chevallier de la légion d'honneur pour sa contribution à la promotion des danses créôles, retrouvera les organisateurs et participants du Festival Batuke au Rich Mix le dimanche 26 et lundi 26 août à Londres pour nombres d'ateliers.

Voir le reportage de France Télévisions ci-dessous sur le festival Batuke 2017:

Continuez à lire ci-dessous pour plus d'infos:

Au programme : un weekend de stages de danse avec des artistes internationaux, show, soirée (dimanche) et Carnaval (lundi ) ! 

Ce voyage culturel et convivial autour des danses afro-lusophones et créoles suit une première collaboration avec la structure Vivement Londres à Marseille qui avait réunie plus d'une vingtaine de personnes de Marseille et Paris pour le festival Batuke 2017.

Voir photos ci-dessous

Continuez à lire pour plus d'infos et pour réserver vos places pour le carnaval

Vous aimeriez nous rejoindre.

Formule tout compris (arrivée samedi 25/08 et départ mardi 28/08) : aller-retour ; logement chambre 2 personnes à partager pour 3 nuits

Le Carnaval : BATUKE! 2018 se tiendra au Rich Mix, autour d'une journée intense d'ateliers, shows et soiree (dimanche) et une journée de défilé carnaval (lundi).

Vous pouvez aussi participer à la parade du Carnaval de Notting Hill Gate et du festival Batuke en option FULL PASS.

Comme d'habitude, on aura un temps de personnalisation de nos T-shirts et de maquillage avant de rejoindre le char, sound system et la parade.

Réservez vite à : communication@difekako.fr et rejoignez l'event FB pour Paris ou contactez-nous à promo@afroculture.co.uk pour plus d'infos et les tarifs en vigueur.

Pour plus d'infos sur BatukeFestival, voir le lien ci-dessous. 

After a full on career in music, on the UK hip hop scene, touring, owning his own record label at age 18 and producing mixtapes, Mic Assassin decided, in 2007, to start a new career in videowork.

He launched his own video production company and channelled his creativity in producing visual content in the place of creating music. Slightly desillusioned with the music industry at that time which was part of his life since age 9, this new discipline allowed him to meet new people from different industries and walks of life. It also was a lucrative industry which gave Mic Assassin a break from relentlessly working underground selling 1000s of CDs, over the years, hand to hand. 

Since, Mic Assassin is ready to take up music again. He wants it to be fun as he realised that music in his life is better than not doing it and he wants to keep consistent with it. Music has changed though; he is fully aware of it and committed to finding that new sound that best expresses who he is as an artist, a creative and a lyricist. Mic Assassin is also putting an ensemble of musicians together to tour, more shows are coming in November and December, as well as releasing online creative work.

To all of you reading, Mic Assassin's final word to you is "I hope you are pushing your dreams and true to yourselves, living to the best of yourselves"

As his own lyrics declare " You came from a long line, strong line of kings..."

Never forget where you come from, sky is the limit peeps!!!

After a brilliant performance at "Radiate Windrush Festival" last month in Crystal Palace, Teshay Makeda and Aleighcia Scott  will be performing at Queens II Be on Saturday 28th July 2018 at the Hide Away in Streatham.

They will be backed by the legendary Ciyo Brown & a full live band for a night full of Reggae and Soul Vibes.

To book your ticket and more info about Teshay Makeda, read on:

Radiate Windrush Festival - June 2018

I was delighted to see Teshay Makeda, a talented root soul reggae artist, based in South London, perform at "Radiate Windrush Festival" in Crystal Palace Park on Saturday 23rd June 2018.

See pics below

I met Teshay Makeda in February 2018 while she performed and supported the #iamnot4sale Campaign at the Underground Solo in Camden London to continue raising awareness against modern slavery. It was the first time I was hearing her and I was stunned by her poweful vocals.

See below for info for Teshay's performance and info on #iamnot4sale campaign.

Continue reading below for more info on Teshay Makeda:

Teshay  Makeda has been a singer as far as she remembers. Born from Rastafarian parents, she remembers performing from the age of 7 years old. Teshay began singing at showcases with The Twelve Tribes of Israel (TTI) and joined the school choir, performing at prestigious venues such as The Purcell Rooms and the Royal Albert and Royal Festival Halls as a soloist. At the age of ten, Teshay joined Vocal Zones (VZ) Productions where she received vocal training which greatly enhanced her natural ability to perform to an audience, strengthening her confidence, her stage presence and her overall vocal talent. As part of VZ, Teshay performed at prominent venues such as The Albany, and the Old Vic. In 2005, Teshay was crowned Vocal Zones Under 16 Star, at the Fairfield Halls where she gave a flawless rendition of Minnie Ripperton’s ‘Lovin’ You’.

Between 2005 and 2009, Teshay became the lead singer of a collective of young singers and musicians from the TTI London house. The TTI Youth Band would regularly perform covers songs with messages of strength and positivity, keeping the Rastafari faith relevant to the youth.The group performed with Ras Zacharri, Oli Greety and also opened for Misha B and Everton Blender. They even supported the legendary ‘Queen of Reggae’ Marcia Griffiths at award winning live music venue, Hootananny in Brixton.

In 2011, Teshay started a solo career and also continued to collaborate creatively with band members such as Jemina. They both co-wrote a song called ‘No Longer (Down)’ which was featured on top South London Producer Dice’s mixtape ‘Souled Out’, giving Teshay the opportunity to work with artist such as Rae and Bonkaz, where she featured on both of their projects. She was also featured on ‘No Days Off Volume II’ hosted by Dice where she wrote and completed her first song called ‘Notes Ima Get there too’.

Realising her innate passion for this creative experience, Teshay started writing for herself, as a means of therapy and to channel messages she received from the Most High. Going deeper into her faith she visited her family in Ethiopia in 2013 which provided the divine inspiration for many songs that she has since gone on to write.

Nowadays, Teshay's notoriety has tremendously grown and the opportunities are multiplying.

In 2017,Teshay released a Demo/EP on the underground UK Reggae/Conscious Scene which led her to perform at Lambeth Country Show alongside Christopher Ellis, the late Michael Prophet, Queen Omega, and Bugle. In the same year, Teshay also opened for Grammy nominated Freddie McGregor at the prestigious Boisdale restaurant / live music venue in Canary Wharf and then went on to perform tracks from her EP at the infamous Rototom Sunsplash Festival in Benicàssim in Spain that summer, sharing the same stage as reggae heavyweights such as Chronixx and Alpha Blondy. In the same year, she also performed at the One Love Festival in the UK alongside the legendary world famous Saxon Sound System.

She is now working on several other projects one called Cycle of Life which was one of the song she sang on Saturday at Radiate Windrush Festival.

To see Teshay perform live, you can catch her at 'Troy Bar' in London, where she hosts an exclusive Reggae Open Mic night every Thursday backed by a live band. She will also be performing in Scotland on 21st July 2018. For more info, see links below

You can  also follow Teshay Makeda's work on Instagram and Twitter.

Winnie Mandela : leader of a nation

Thursday 21st June 2018, on the Summer Solstice day, ushering us into a new season, over 100 leading women and men from across the corporate sector, government and civil society, congregated at the Regent Street Cinema in the West End to pay tribute to Winnie Mandela, who passed on 2^nd April 2018 at the age of 81 years old. The aim of the event organised by Blaksox and Kush Films, hosted by Patricia Lamour (MBE), representing GEEDA (Gender Education & Enterprise Development for Africa), was to educate and empower a generation of young women’s leadership focussed audience for change and to redefine the role of African Women, by extension of Black Women in Society.

See trailer of the movie below:

For pics and more info on the event, continue reading

An after-film discussion followed the screening of the movie with a panel composed of Micheline Ravololonarisoa, independent gender consultant and activist, Advocate Sabelo Sibanda, serving in the Office of the Presidency of the Pan-Afrikanist Congress of Azania (who joined the discussion via video link), Hayley Sarah Jane Mills, (OMD EMEA) a South African National and a strategy manager for EMEA of the global media network OMD and Pascale Lamche, « Winnie »’s film director.

“She was the barometer for the political temperature in the country and brushed patriarchal and conservative conventions aside, within her own culture, by keeping a finger on the pulse of the youth and by leading from the front.”

Pascale Lamche explained that the aim of the documentary was to show how Winnie Mandela was politically neutralised by those who wanted to control the entire transition process of the ANC coming to power once Nelson Mandela was released after 27 years of incarceration on 11th February 1990. In this historical account and perspective of the life of Winnie Mandela, we see how she remained a voice of resistance, never to be silenced, despite the forces unleashed to ban the ANC revolutionary movement, in spite of being demonised by the apartheid regime which used counter revolutionary tactics such as « Operation Romulus » to discredit her and oust her from the political scene. Winnie remained undeterred as a warrior Queen for her people.

For more info on the event, continue reading below:

Panelist Hayley Sarah Jane Mills would portray Winnie Mandela as the soul of the nation and the heroine of South African women who had to be the breadwinners of their households, as drugs and alcohol diabolically flooded South African shanti towns, one of the the many tactics used by the Apartheid regime to wipe out and disempower black men to contribute positively to the economy and development of their communities.

Although Winnie set the tone for the conduct of Black South African women, old and young and was a role model to them, Hayley didn’t consider Nelson Mandela in the same way. Chris Hani, who was in charge of the military section of the ANC, was her choice for president ; she considered Nelson Mandela to be the Apartheid regime’s choice or « The White man’s choice » as she would state. When Chris Hani was brutally assassinated on 10th April 1983, the hopes for important grassroot reforms to be on the top of priorities at the table of the negotiations with the ex apartheid regime were greatly compromised. Nelson Mandela, now isolated from Winnie, whom he eventually divorced prior to running for presidency, was considered to have agreed to too many compromises. The consequences are still visible today as reforms that would empower Blacks are still lacking such as land restoration and access to free education. Chukuma, an attendee, would rightly point out that as we speak 78% of the land is still in the hands of a small minority of white settlers.

For more info on the event, continue reading below

The event was a resounding success ; it touched and inspired all attending.

« I am inspired and empowered to be for my nation and my generation what Winnie Mandela was to hers… a powerful, purposeful and progressive black woman. My life will never be the same » Karen Allen, attendee

Today, the life and struggle of Winnie Mandela, mirror those of powerful ancestral African Warrior Queens, who led nations and stood firm against colonialism, defiant in the face of injustice. It is our LEGACY !! as African, Black women and as a Black nation.

Mama Winnie, as we call her, is a tribute to African women’s inner strength, their efficiency, bravery and resilience. Winnie Mandela teaches us that it is possible to be political and a woman. GEEDA invites young women to construct their own narrative and map their vision of the future and their contribution to society as leaders. Young women must redefine their reality for a better and a fairer world !!!!

To follow GEEDA’s work, an international consultancy hub of gender and women empowerment experts and advocates, part of the Aspire Education Group Ltd, visit www.aspireeducationgroup.com @GEEDA_blog

Blaksox is an Asset Based Community Development movement committed to social action that is self-determining. They benchmark those organisations that have survived and more importantly thrived, as very few of them are African/Black organisations based in the UK and Europe. For  more info, visit www.blaksox.com .

Kush Films is the UK's leading Marketing/PR and Exhibition specialist of Black Films and is pleased to be celebrating 20 years of the UK's longest running and most renowned urban film club the Kush Film Boutique - Join fellow film-fan professionals monthly at the Regent Street Cinema for the best in black film Entertainment. For more info, visit www.kushfilms.com 

 See links below:

Ne Kunda Nlaba, Congolese filmmaker, talks to me about his journey producing films during a coffee break in Brixton Lounge

While his passion for art has been evolving from young, it is in 2007 that Ne Kunda Nlaba chooses to focus on cinematography. According to him, filmmaking is the fusion of all the arts such as music, dance, photography, acting and others. Yet, his experience in Kinshasa, Congo, was that " creativity was there but resources were scarce". Creative Africans were confronted with the fact that although rich in ideas, investors did not support them financially. Ne Kunda observes that there is a work of valorization of the African cinema which is necessary in order for African investors to understand the value of producing films as an art and industry which could, in turn, encourage its development. According to him, the old paradigm needs to change. Since cinema has existed in Africa, the sources of funding almost came exclusively from Europe and filmmakers solely relied on foreign grants to carry out a project. This culture must change and we must apply different economic models to attract local investments..

Therefore, it is a year after his arrival in London that Ne Kunda Nlaba would have the opportunity to achieve his first short film. See below for the complete filmography of Ne Kunda Nlaba:

1. "The next" (2009), short film
2. "The Steel Pan" (2010) documentary
3. "Living without living" (2011) Documentary of 16 min
4. " Honey Bondowe" (2012), his first long-fiction film
5. "Abeti Masikini: The Battle of a woman" (2015) Documentary film
6. "Kimpa Vita: the Mother of the African revolution" (2016) documentary film

A committed artist, Ne Kunda Nlaba is often inspired by his own experiences and environment;  as for example the documentary Living without living, which speaks of Congolese refugees waiting for regularization of their stay in England; or Kimpa Vita, the mother of the Kongo resistance to the western invasion and colonialism, yet occulted by history. He would say "Through this documentary, I wanted to trace the life of the mother of the African revolution" Kimpa Vita" her fight for freedom, against slavery and the massacre and deportations of the people of the Kongo, as well as the restoration of the Kongo kingdom …" Ne Kunda Nlaba is a filmmaker who wants to use art for change.

For more info on the project Afro Beat, please continue to read below:

Ne Kunda Nlaba's new project "Afro Beat" is a long-fiction film in pre-production in which he is the producer, director and screenwriter. With Afro Beat, Ne Kunda wanted to work on a project representative of the African diasporas in England. Afrobeat is a musical genre that is increasingly gaining fame and notoriety and which is in phase with a younger public. Through Afro Beat, Ne Kunda brings a message tackling racism, discrimination, the difficulties that the minority communities may face in order to find a job at the height of their qualifications or ambitions, which often lead them to pursue other professional activities to make a living. And such is the plot of the film. Mala, a law graduate is destined for a career as a lawyer but chooses dance and choreography after failed attempts to find a job in Law firms. By borrowing money to Cahsman to start his business, he will confront  impossible situations orchestrated by the latter in order to compel him to sell drugs for him. His only way out: win a great competition of Afrobeat to reimburse Cashman.

Ne Kunda Nlaba invites us to take part and contribute to this project through crowdfunding. Afrobeat is a movie of positive representation of the Afro Community and which puts to contribution a young talented cast. The objective of the campaign of Crowdfunding is to raise £30,000, which represents less than a quarter of the budget of the film amounting to £100,000.

For more info, see the link below:

Just back from Angelique Kidjo's Live performance at the Royal Albert Hall. Angelique Kidjo is a firecracker and so are her musicians. She has such a mesmerising energy and stage presence, it's breathtaking!!!! She is  an amazing and powerful singer, entertainer and she has some unique sharp dance moves ..... my friend and colleague Noel McKoy and I looked at each other and smiled when Angelique Kidjo hit the stage with some MJ moves like the King himself!!!

Angelique Kidjo's interpretation of Talking Heads- Remain in Light is a complete success. It has so much more rhythm and I love the horns of the album. I particularly loved Angelique Kidjo's performance of "The Great Curve" and her emphasis on our need to take care of Mother Earth and women, the givers of life. It was electric, got us all out of our seats dancing. In fact, Angelique Kidjo was totally in control and we would sway from "seat down" to "get off of your seats", "seat down", "get up"....She was so luminous and energetic ..so much so that she invited her audience to join her on stage. Did I go? Oh yes, I did and there we were about 40 of us on stage jamming with the musicians and the Diva herself. These moments of sheer joy are just unforgettable. It was Angelique Kidjo's aim that we all leave the concert boosted and uplifted and she totally succeeded in doing so.

Her legendary interpretation of  Mama Africa for which the public became the backup vocals was top notch.

continue to read below about the after show and Angelique Kidjo's foundation Batonga

Now Angelique Kidjo to me is a legend; my father is from Benin too and when I see her, she is nothing short of an auntie in my eyes. In my days growing up, we had many Afro Americans that stood out as talented people but we didn’t have many proud Africans. Angelique Kidjo always stood tall. I totally respect the fact that most of her repertoire is in Fon and Yoruba, as well as including European languages such as French, English and Portuguese. In her video clip, African symbols and imagery are ever present and underlie whatever she does. She presents Africa as her major source of inspiration and then fusion its rhythm with other genres of music. 

Angelique Kidjo is a key ambassador for Africa. An African woman showing us  how to carry ourselves with dignity and love for our motherland. I desperately wanted to interview her to relay her advice to our young artists on the continent who are aspiring to an artistic career and I was really privileged to attend her aftershow and private talk about the work of her foundation.

First of all, I had the opportunity to meet her musicians backstage, amazing drummers, saxophonists and trumpetists. They got talking with Noel McKoy, who was part of the James Taylor Quartet in the 90s and is a well-known British Soul singer who toured in France and all over the world.

Continue to read below for more on the work of Angelique Kidjo's foundation Batonga

Angelique Kidjo’s contribution to this world is more than music, although she often concedes that « music is my weapon for peace ». She is also a voice to the voiceless. Her Grammy nominated award Eve in 2015 is an album dedicated to the women of Africa, to their resilience and their beauty featuring 100 African women who sing in their native African languages.

Therefore, after such a powerful performance, Angelique Kidjo naturally chooses to center her talk on the work of her foundation Batonga. On stage, she urges us to do good. Backstage, she speaks of the young African girls she tirelessly supports and empowers in different parts of Africa such as Mali, Benin, Sierra Leone and more...Her foundation tag line is "transforming Africa one girl at a time"

See link below for more info. on the Batonga Foundation. Continue to read below for more info on Angelique Kidjo's work as a goodwill ambassador

Angelique Kidjo will recall how she started her work in 2007. Despite all the opposition she faced, she was determined to succeed. Acknowledging the scale of the challenge, she would respond "if it's easy why bother".

She decided to give a scholarship to girls to access secondary education and worked with grassroot organisations to tackle the causes of early drop outs. Angelique Kidjo sees secondary education as the greatest weapon to ensure that these young girls do not fall prey to child marriage, early pregnancies nor being subjected to female genital mutiliation. She empowers these girls to be "game changers in the community, the country and globally" and she also wants men and boys to be part of changing mindsets in Africa to ensure girls are not objectified. As a goodwill ambassador for Unicef, she would only support the song project "Say no to children's marriages" if both men and women artists were involved and singing in all the local languages of Benin so that the message of the song could reach grassroot people.

Angelique Kidjo is determined to see these young women know dignity and be empowered to choose their fate so that in turn they can support men in the making to play their role in society, investing in their family, their community and raise the GDP of the country and of Africa globally.

As Angelique Kidjo reinvents 'Remain in LIght", she definitely brings us hope, shines bright and inspires us to be a light too in whatever we set out to do for Africa.

As Boubacar Kafando, a virtuose of the N'goni and the Kora, singer, songwriter, composer and the leader of the great Zaama Nooma band, is finishing off the balance for the concert "Focus Africa" starting in a hour time, I am introduced to Joel Kabore, one of the five main musicians of the band. Joel plays Djembe and Tama and is also from Burkina Faso as is Boubacar. His friendship and musical relationship with Boubacar goes back a long way, over 20 years. The actual band came together in 2010. Joel Kabore tells me that the meaning of the band's name is "united we are stronger" in the Mossi Language, which is the dominant language of Burkina Faso, which counts approximately 70 languages and makes it a multicultural country, as many African nations. Boubacar Kafando and the band's love for people and unity really translate in their love for music; and the expression of their music is to call people to leave in harmony and love each other. They equally address the need for social justice and inequalities or injustice they see around them. It naturally makes perfect sense that the latest album of Boubacar Kafando, released in 2016, is called "faut pas se diviser", we must not be divided.

For more info about Zaama Nooma, Afrobeat band, check the link below:

https://www.boubacarkafando.com/bio-eng

Continue to read below for info on their charitable work

Their musical project is, however, far beyond the music industry alone. Zaama Nooma is also the name of the charitable organisation Boubacar Kafando founded in 2007 with the aim to pass on the musical heritage of Burkina Faso and sub-Saharan Africa to the youth. It accomplishes its goal through different actions such as musical workshops (Djembe, Kora), concerts, educational activities such as the repair and manufacture of instruments and research and preservation of endangered instruments. A cultural centre "le centre culturel Zounoogo" also opened its doors in 2009 in the town of Saponé, Burkina Faso.

For more info, https://www.boubacarkafando.com/association-zaama-nooma

Later on, speaking to Boubacar Kafando, it is evident that his passion and commitment for music is integral, touring throughout the world and raising funds for the work of his charity and he is actively working at promoting the band so that they can comfortably make a living from the art and their craft. That is one of the reason Boubacar Kafando loves performing in London which he considers to be a multicultural city, very open to African Culture and music.

For my part, I have loved seeing Boubacar Kafando and the Zaama Nooma band perform. I loved the energy, the fusion of rock and the traditional rhythmic of the Kora and other traditional instruments.

For Boubacar Kafando's and the Zaama Nooma's Band next concerts, find all the dates on https://www.boubacarkafando.com/

Kemi and Kiisha, aged 8 and 6 years olds, are just so cool! It's Saturday 2nd June and the girls' brand Kishem (a blend of both of their names) holds a stall at Camden market. On the table, there are numerous gorgeous items so very girly: badges, keyrings, lucky dip sachets, cookies, colouring books.... Kemi is pointing at the illustration of their lead character dressed Wakanda style. I ask her if she watched Black Panther and naturally this 8 year old Tycoon has. Moreover, she has her  own tag line for it "Wakanda rock". I proceed looking at all the items and I am totally in love with them and Kishem's concept.

There is no doubt in my mind that being a little girl again, I would simply love rocking "Kishem style". In fact, all of us ladies present, secretly love all of the characters of Kishem's world and would happily get colouring the pages of the story book there and then. Kishem's oldest sister's favorite is Afia because this character loves science. Unsurprisingly, Kishem's sister loves science herself. And that is the point, that's what we call Positive Representation. These characters in Kishem's storybooks are neither princesses, nor ballerinas. They are powerful, talented, creative, entrepreneurial girls.

- Zhen is a photographer and you get to see her editing in her studio

- Mya is good at cooking

- Kishem loves karate and sports

- Eve is a great swimmer

- Ruby makes jewellery

- Amor loves technology

..... and so on and so forth!!!

These two little girls totally achieved what they set out to do one day of Summer 2016.

"We got the idea to create the Kishem colouring book after asking our mum and dad why there weren't colouring books with all types of children who look like us or our friends in school. Our Dad said "girls problems are meant for solving" (he says that all the time), so we decided to make our own" .... "We wanted the book to have different types of children who are all talented and unique. It was also important to make it more than just a colouring book so after creating and naming each character, we added short stories about them and what they enjoy doing. We think all children have something special about them and we hope this book helps them to realise that they are really cool and that they can do anything".

Two years down the line, Kishem has been able to show their books in UK schools, shipped their books to America, had requests from Africa. I have no doubt Kishem will continue to go from strength to strength. Their multicultural characters offer representation for every girl and ethnic group they represent in our schools nowadays, especially in the UK.

For more info about Kishem or to invite them for a talk at your local school, check their website below....

I wish all the very best to these two precious stars on their Kishem's Journey and have been delighted to meet them. They are greatly inspiring!

At age 23, when Angelique Kidjo left Benin for France, she was once again able to listen to all the rock bands she had discovered on the radio in the pre-communist regime. such as The Beatles and the Rolling Stones.  In Paris, of all the music she loved, one record was particularly unique to her: Remain in Light by Talking Heads in 1980.

"I remember vividly every time the music came in, I said, 'There's something African to it,'"

Interestingly at the time, some of her peers at the jazz school she attended, would try to talk her out of it, not sparing condescending comments such as "This is not African. It's too sophisticated for you.' to which she would respond "OK, whatever you say.'" 'It might be rock & roll, but there's something African to it.'

Ok, maybe in the 80s, we didn't have such easy access to the web but anybody would know today that Angelique Kidjo was totally spot on.

In 1980, in his interview to the Rolling Stone, David Byrne, the lead singer and guitarist of Talking Heads explained "We wanted to develop an understanding of the African musical concept of interlocking, interdependent parts and rhythms that combine to make a coherent whole,". Drawing on the influence of Nigerian musician Fela Kuti, the group experimented with African polyrhythms, funk and electronics recording instrumental tracks as a series of looping grooves.

Almost 40 years later, Angelique Kidjo has now recorded her own interpretation of Remain in Light, which she has been performing Live at various concerts over the past year.  The album, due out on the day of her performance at the Royal Festival Hall, South Bank Centre on Friday 8th June  2018 on Kravenworks Records, is a perfect counterpart to Talking Heads' record. With explosive percussion, bubbling horns, tribal harmonies and a multilingual approach. David Byrne, himself, has enthusiastically endorsed the project, skilfully directed  by Jeff Bhasker.

"Music has always been my way to teach people on how connected we are and to try to find a common ground to build the bridge where we can walk together in respect of one another". And this album - Remain in Light is a pure demonstration of it and possibly the pinnacle of the artist's fusion and creativity, continually building bridges with others, musically and in her political activism.  Angelique Kidjo is eternally African and yet in unison with the rest of the world. It is inspiring.

Angelique Kidjo's version of Remain in Light has a greater emphasis on rhythm and horns than the original, as well as instrumentation by members of her band, Fela Kuti drummer Tony Allen, bassist Pino Palladino, Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig, former Paul Simon's bassist Abe Laboriel, Sr., Blood Orange and others. Kidjo's powerful vocals, along with new vocals in African languages such as Fon respond to Byrne's lyrics. On "Crosseyed and Painless," she addresses the negative perception of Africa in the media; the mistreatment of Mother Earth on "The Great Curve," the after effects of slavery on "Listening Wind" and people's basic right to live on "Once in a Lifetime." 

"The classic Talking Head Album came out right in the era of Reagan. It was a moment of anxiety and fear existed at that time, war on drugs, abuse of power, so for me it’s just to reply to it because we’ve gone full circle and we are there again. I want music to tell us it’s about time we fight, we have the power". True to herself, Angelique Kidjo always reminds us that « music is my weapon for peace ».

She would conclude her interview at Ace Theatre earlier on this month by saying "As an artist, how do I be the voice of the voiceless, how do I generate a platform for everyone to come together. I want people to come to the concert and have fun and listen, and to come out of the concert to feel energised to do things, I am passing you the light.. Be fully the human being that you are!"

And all in all, this remains Angelique Kidjo's message, especially to Africans. She wants them to write their own narrative and tell their own story, one that speaks of the beauty and the legacy of Africa, the mother of humanity.

To get your ticket now:

https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/126278-angelique-kidjo-sings-talking-heads-2018

Next Tour Dates

June 8 - London @ Royal Festival Hall

June 9 - Cardiff @ Wales Millenium Centre

July 11 – Arles, Fr @ Theatre Antique

July 26 – Vic-Fezensac, Fr @ Tempo Latino

July 28 – Katonah, NY @ Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts

August 6 – Highland Park, IL @ Ravinia

August 7 – Vienna, VA @ Wolf Trap

August 9 – Denver, CO @ Denver Botanic Gardens