In my inbox the other day arrived a Coupe Decale mixtape from San Francisco's Chief Boima . It was awesome, like nothing I've heard before, not just straight African stuff but a house party style mash up with Bashment, Juke & Hip Hop. So fresh. I started trying to write a post but realized I know bugger all about Coupe Decale so I gave up and asked the man himself to fill us in. Hi Chief Boima. How's it going?  read more »

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Watch and get entertained  read more »

Mikey Dread was a key player in the unlikely marriage between punk and reggae that enlivened British pop music in the late 1970s. When the Clash invited him to London to work with them in 1979, he was already an award-winning broadcaster in Jamaica and a well-known dreadlocked reggae performer. But his production work on the Clashs hit single Bankrobber and his presence on the bands albums Black Market Clash and Sandinista!  read more »

In the past years, mixtapes (technically: mix-cd's and sometimes even non-mixed cd's) have come to be instrumental in breaking new hip hop tracks, especially in the USA. Huge quantities are pressed up and sold in an informal network of distributors and vendors. The big mixtape deejays names include DJ Clue, Kay Slay, Whookid, Green Lantern. Now the latter used to be Eminem's dj and still works with Jay-Z, who he joined as a tour dj on his African tour last year.

Wouldn't it be nice then if Green Lantern included some African hip hop tracks in his mixes? Well it gets better... film director Femi Agbayewa (Real-Livin Films) in association with Green Lantern's Team Invasion and Africanhiphop.com presents:  read more »

All of you who want a day out in London, how about this? As you know I have been far and wide to see Bassekou Kouyate, and have been plugging the Amazones on my radio show, all we want is some Malian weather and it will be a fantastic day... see you there!

Press release
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If you're around Brussels tomorrow (19 April), make sure you check out an evening of African hip hop documentaries at the Thtre Molire. Titled 'African Hip Hop in the movies, la soire', it brings together five documentaries on hip hop in Africa, most of them in French. The titles: - Doto/Silence!  read more »

the controlled virtuosity of Swapans (Tabla) playing always implied that if he cared, nothing could stop him.  read more »

Playlist for Spin The Globe - 14 November 2008 Music of Kenya, Miriam Makeba remembered, and more as heard on KAOS-fm hour 1 Jabali Afrika - Tandi feat. Cosmas Sindani - Rootsganza Kenge Kenge - Otenga - Introducing Kenge Kenge Suzzana Owiyo - Mama Africa - Mama Africa Athman bin Khamis - Coconut Pickers Song - Kenya & Tanzania: Witchcraft & Ritual Music Hardstone - Uhiki (Pinyes Remix) - African Groove Kakai Kilongo & les Kilimambogo Brothers - Wanawake Wachawi - Best of Kakai Volume Two Kalamashaka - Ni Wakati - Rough Guide to African Rap Mamadi Kaba - Ballingaka NGai - Africa Jole Nyota Ndogo - Chereko - Rough Guide to Kenya Ayub Ogada - Wa Winjigo Ero - En Mana Kuoyo Sila & Afrofunk Experience - Malaika - Live Extra Golden - Obama - Here Ma Nono hour 2 Chocquibtown - Somos Pacifico - Rough Guide to Colombian Street Party Rafael Manriquez - Deja la vida volar / Let life fly - Que viva el canto! Songs of Chile Mayra Andrade - Tunuka - Navega Miriam Makeba - Click Song - Reflections Miriam Makeba - Pata Pata 2000 - New World Party Angelique Kidjo - Malaika - Keep On Moving Lucky Dube - Different Colours - Restospective Sergio Mendes - Odo-Ya w/Carlinhos Brown - Encanto Ablaye Cissoko + Volker Goetze - Lountang - Sira Cordero - Ruleta Rusa - De Donde Eres Figli Di Madre Ignota - Nema Problema Tourist - Fez Club Oana Catalina Chitu - Aprinde o Tigara - Bucharest Tango Youssoupha Sidibe - Pekheme Yalla - Xelkom Trying out a new audio/podcast host this week, since boomp3 seems to be belly-up with no links working. Let me know if you like it or not... or if you have recommendations for a better (free!) audio hosting service. I'll work to transfer recent links to a working service over the weekend. Thanks!  read more »

As promised, here is African Divas Vol. 2 , originally posted last year as African Serenades Vol. 47b at Matsuli Music . I apologize for the brevity of this post. Perhaps in the future when I have more time I will update it to include background information about these wonderful singers: 1. Abidjan Adja - Antoinette Konan (Cte d'Ivoire) 2. Barika Barika - Djeneba Seck (Mali) 3. Meta Meta - Martha Ashegari (Ethiopia) 4. Ami - Bebe Manga (Cameroun) 5. Ekwe - Onyeka Onwenu (Nigeria) 6. Medim Me Yom - Tity Edima (Cameroun) 7. La Paille et la Poutre - Nimon Toki Lala (Togo) 8. Mundeke - Afrigo Band featuring Rachael Magoola (Uganda) 9. Takko Wade - Kin Lam (Senegal) 10.  read more »