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The Revolution Will Be Televised
Do you remember the poem/song by the slim light-skinned, curly-haired brother named Gil Scott-Heron called The Revolution Will Not Be Televised? Who can forget the lines of that poem: You will not be...
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South Africa Has A Black ‘Idol’
Khaya Mthethwa , the winner of South Africa’s “Idol” JOHANNESBURG — When Khaya Mthethwa breathed out the last notes of Nicki Minaj’s “Super Bass,” a song he had heard for the first time that same...
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Dearest Fela
Fela Kuti, performing in 1980 I would if I could hike the rungs of the tallest ladder. Heaven bound. There, leaning against the pearly gates, saxophone strapped ‘round his neck, joint smoldering...
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The Way You Make Me Feel: My Ode To Highlife
He came close, like danger. And nearly stole my heart, nearly snatched it out of its pulsating cavity. But he didn’t use his hands. He used the lazy groans of a steel guitar, psychedelic whines of...
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Simphiwe Dana Declares A State of Emergency
Simphiwe Dana is famed for her unique blend of traditional Xhosa music, jazz and blues I first came across Simphiwe Dana’s music in 2011. I was living in New York at the time, Harlem to be exact. In an...
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She Sings To Know She’s Alive
“I sing to know that I’m alive” starts with a calypso-inspired rhythm, Nina’s piano playing trails in. Then her unrefined, jarring voice “I sing just to know that I’m alive, I play just to feel that...
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Sounds of Kinshasa
Sounds of Kinshasa: music, dance and culture are a lifeline in Congo The Congolese have long been neglected by those in power, doing what they can to get by in one of the world’s least developed...
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Miss Jill Scott, Black History Month
Three-time GRAMMY award-winning singer-songwriter Jill Scott Miss Jill Scott. I love you. Not because you have a beautiful face and a wonderful body and a delicious voice, but because of what and who...
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The Music Never Ends In Mali
Oumou Sangare is a grand woman. The tips of her fingers are colored in black and red dye. She wears those boubou gowns with the wide necklines that fall over and down her shoulders. I met the...
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The History of Hip Hop in Senegal
Rappers on the stage before adoring fans at the 2012 Rap DJOLOF Awards in Dakar In the history of music in Senegal, the meteoric rise of rap music is probably one of the most interesting phenomena to...
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