Ubuntu magazine issue 1 version 2

ubuntu Issue 1

FELA KUTI the King of Afrobeat

6 songs that will awake the African in you

contents Afrobeat - a musical genre and a political movement page4 ...................

The rise of Afrobeats page 6 ...................

Six songs that will bring out the African in you page 8 ...................

Young Paris - anew generation of electronic rap page 11 ...................

Sneak peak to next issue page 14

editorial

Adriana Calado, editor

“ I am because we are”. This is the core principle of ubuntu, an African philosophy that is based on the power of “we” over “I”. Its translation from Zulu to English reads “human kindness” or virtue.

When I started UBUNTU, I had a very clear idea in mind. I wanted discover and write about the immense source of artistic and creative talent that is the African continent, hoping that will somehow change perceptions about its wealth (in all senses of the word).

Leaving economic and financial issues to a side, Africa and Africans have been target to misconceptions, discrimination and a great deal of ignorance.

Since the beginning of the colonisation process in the 15th century that enslaved millions of black Africans, being white (and western, especially) meant being superior. Europeans took advantage of the power of the gun over the spear and doomed the sub-Saharan region to centuries of exploitation.

Although I am not African (or an expert in Africa), I am hoping you will join me in this discovery of its arts and culture.

Grabbing the concept of Pan- Africanism, which challenges the misconceptions and physical tortures of being oppressed, restoring the Continent to its former glory, UBUNTU is also a challenge to ourselves and our knowledge (or ignorance) of these issues.

In each issue, published at the end of each month, we will explore different areas of African culture, from North to South. In this first issue, we focus on Western African music, from the legendary Fela Kuti to the barefoot Diva Cesária Évora.

Nigeria was a highlighted for a new socially-aware musical trend, started by Kuti, with strong political messages that had him arrested for several times in the 1960s and 1970s.

This inspired many artists of his generation and still is influencing today’s artists to deliver songs with a meaning and purpose.

Afrobeat / a musical genre and a political movement

A

frica’s biggest musical export is Afro-pop, which plays both in night club dancefloors and households. Though irresistibly catchy, Afro-pop lacks the politically-driven motivation of Afrobeat, which led to the arrest of many artists in the 1970s, especially Fela Kuti in Nigeria.

Lagos was the birthplace of Afrobeat and Fela Anikulapo-Kuti was its father. Born to an influential family in the human rights and political sectors, Kuti’s fate was to achieve greatness.

Drawn to music like metal to magnet, he blended elements from West African Highlife (a Ghanaian music genre characterised by jazzy horns and multiple guitars) with Jazz and Soul music, and thus a new genre was born – the Afrobeat, an unmatched style of experimentation.

Afrobeat can be described as a fusion of traditional Nigerian (and Ghanaian) sounds with a touch of jazz, a sprinkle of highlife and a hint of funky groove

accompanied by chanted vocals.

Kuti named his musical experiments 1963, but it was not until the next decade that it would flourish at the peak of his creative geniality. After returning to Nigeria from a trip to Los Angeles in 1969, he formed his celebrated band Africa ’70, which produced an immense amount of groovy tunes and turned Afrobeat into a world sensation. Kuti would entertain his audience with lengthy performances supported by female dancers and political raps.

The political raps and messages became the fundamental trademark of Fela’s Afrobeat. It became much more than purely artistic entertainment; it was more of a social and political mission with a touch of inner rebellion against the ruling institutions. This fight for justice is included in tracks such as “International Thief Thief ”, an attack on multi-nationals, and “Zombie”, a satire to the military thoughtlessly following orders. It is important to highlight that Nigeria was under military rule for most of the 1970s,

after a political coup in 1966. In fact, many African countries were suffering political unfairness and military corruption while in transition from American and European colonial exploitation which lasted for nearly four centuries.

Despite the cool funkiness of the Afrobeat sounds, Kuti’s performances would hardly allow the crowd to dive into the tune, as the most songs were intensely lengthy and demanded intellectual response. As Afrobeat spread across Africa, many bands took on themselves the duty of political activism and social change through music.

It has also influenced international-

Fela performing at the Shrine. He would often times put on traditional paitings on his face during his lengthy shows

ly relevant musicians and producers, such as Brian Eno and David Byrne, who worked on Talking Head’s 1980 album Remain in Light – an album that inaugurated the influence of Afrobeat sounds in Western music.

American rock band Vampire Weekend and American musician Paul Simon.

From Ray Ayres to Randy Weston, Afrobeat remained alive even after its creator’s death in 1999. Femi Kuti, the son of the King of Afrobeat, continued his legacy and still does, ensuring the continuity his father’s most precious heritage.

The rise of Afrobeats might sound familiar.

Maybe because of our previous article, or maybe because the genre has had such a huge success in Europe over the last years that…well, how could you not know it?

However similar to Afrobeat, the young and flourishing Afrobeats has nothing that can be compared to Kuti’s groovy creation. The simple addition of a letter takes us to a completely different dimension and a much younger generation, as if a new chapter in the world of pop has begun.

Much like Kuti’s Afrobeat, this new genre was coined by a pioneer artist who melted influences to create something new. DJ Abrantee is the men responsible for the very first

track of this new genre, which combines western rap influences with Ghanaian and Nigerian pop music.

Afrobeat is an umbrella term, which means it includes hiplife, highlife, Nigerbeats and juju music and has a much younger feel to it.

Abrantee says he played Afrobeat tracks for years before bringing it to the world of mainstream. When Nigerian artist D’Banj reached global success with his hit Oliver Twist, Afrobeats’ settling in the western panorama became official – it was here to stay.

The target audience is vast, and anyone is likely to feel seduced by these new beats that have already reached UK dancefloors. However, under-18s looking for an alternative

Afrobeats vibe to British pop. “It’s striking how young they are,” Abrantee admitted. “When I do these Afrobeats events there’s thousands of people, and they’re all youngsters, really.”

However, Abrantee recognises that the youngest are in norm the first ones to adhere to new trends.

The music genre is attracting UK and American artists too, with new collaborations coming soon. Alexandra Burke and Tinchy Stryder are a few names on the list. American superstar Kanye West signed D’Banj after he partnered up with Snoop Dogg . As that happened, Akon had already signed 2Face Idiba, singer of iconic track African Queen, P-Square and Wiz Kid.

D’Banj, the man behind the massive dancefloor Afrobeats hit Oliver Twist that took UK charts by storm

Six songs that will bring

F

rom the legendary King of Afrobeat Fela Kuti to the Ivory Coast Zouglou masters Magic System, Sub-Saharan African music gives any listener a fuzzy, warm feeling of belonging.

When the Portuguese started a race for colonisation in the 15th century, together with Spain, they brought a dark age upon the continent. Black slaves were taken to Europe and America, forever changing

the course of the future generations. To an African descendent whose roots might be buried beneath a layer of Westernised acculturation, these origins may be intensified when listening to music.

This list compiles a few of the most widely known songs of the Sub-Saharan Africa, which take any afro-descendent on a journey back home.

1. Sweet Mother by Prince Nico Mbarga

T

his song is said to be played at every Nigerian party, being one of the most popular tracks in the continent. “No matter what language you speak, it touches people in Africa. It’s a classic,” said Skepta, an English rapper of Nigerian heritage.

Prince Nico Mbarga, who is both Nigerian and Cameroonian, and his band Rocafil Jazz released the song in the 1970s and it has been a success ever since. “Sweet Mother” is a highlife song

(note that highlife is a music genre originated in Ghana that later spread to western Nigeria) celebrating motherhood. Its lines “You fit get another wife, you fit get another husband/But you fit get another mother? No, at all” clearly send a message to the listener – mothers are to be cherished.

It sold over 13 million copies and is often called Africa’s anthem, having been voted as Africans’ favourite song in 2004 by BBC readers and listeners.

2. Sunshine Day by Osibisa

“

Sunshine Day” became a dancefloor hit not long after its release in 1975.

Osibisa were probably the first African heritage band to achieve global success. The Afro-pop band was founded in London in the late 1960s by four expatriate Africans and three Caribbe-

an musicians, who spent most of the 1970s on international tours, playing to Japanese, Australian, Indian and African crowds.

Osibisa’s flair inspired many emerging African artists of their time and over the last 40 years.

g out the African in you

3. International Thief Thief by Fela Kuti

I

t is hard to choose only one of Fela Kuti’s songs to be in this list.

The King of Afrobeat, as he was often recognised, created a whole new music genre and along with that, a new generation of artists was born.

Kuti was born in Nigeria, and was not any less than a rather controversial personality. Kuti’s musical geniality spoke louder than his retrograde views about women, who he believed should stay at home (he married dozens of them). The Nigerian singer wrote politically-motivated songs, in a time where the country was under military rule, which led to his arrest for sever-

al times. International Thief Thief (I.T.T.) was written by him and its meaning is not hard to guess. Sahr Ngaujau, who played Kuti in the musical Fela!, once explained in a TV show that even though it is about theft, it is on a larger scale – it is an attack to multi-national corporations. Hence, it might not be surprising that the song title’s abbreviation corresponds to the same name of a multi-national manufacturing company.

I.T.T. is certainly less groovy than some of Kuti’s previous jams, but it is still Fela Kuti. Irreverent and a scream for morality.

4. Sodade by Cesária Évora

T

he Cape Verdean popular singer wrote this song describing a feeling of longing for a homeland.

In this case, the land is Cape Verde, a Portuguese-speaking Island in the West of Africa, where she is from.

The word “sodade” means exactly that – longing for. Évora was often called the “Barefoot Diva”, as she would perform without shoes on stage, or the “Queen of Morna”, a Cape Verdean traditional type of dance.

When she released her first album in 1998 titled La Diva Aux Pieds Nus (Barefoot Diva), which was recorded in France, she immediately gained international recognition. Her 1992 album Miss Perfumado, wich included the track “Sodade”, sold over 300,000 copies worldwide and gave her a Grammy Award.

In 2013 the Belgian musician Stromae honoured her memory in a song called “Ave Cesaria”, dedicated to her.

5. Sika ye mogya by Pat Thomas

P

at Thomas (a.k.a. Nana Kwabena Amoh Mensah) was once coined the Golden Voice of Africa. Since a very young age, the Ghanaian singer acknowledged his passion and intention to pursue music and gave up on education– which turned out to be an arguably rather wise decision.

His inspiration came from listening to artists such as Miriam Makeba, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole and Ray Charles.

In Sika Ye Mogya, Thomas tells the listener how we all need money to live and without it you cannot survive. However a serious issue, because of daily struggles with money, he sings of it in a cool, unperturbed way, because life should not be taken so seriously.

Thomas has toured around the globe and his album Sika Ye Mogya has won an award for album of the year in 1997.

6. Premier gaou by Magic System

T

he Ivorian group Magic System is always a breath of fresh air, no matter who you are or where you are from. The band’s animated, easy-to-dance-to style takes even the stiffest pair of shoulders on an involuntary rhythmic choreography.

1er Gaou literally means “first fool” and is an autobiographical track of the lead singer Salif Traoré, whose girlfriend broke up with when he was just an inspiring musician and

poor. After reaching fame, she tried to get back to the singer, who refused her.

The song became a massive indie hit in France, where it sold over 300,000 copies and achieved a Gold Status.

It was first released in 1999 in their native language Abidjan and became a hit in Côte d’Ivoire. However, it was its remixed version in 2002 that the band’s breakthrough to international fame began.

Young Paris / a new generation of electronic rap

M

ilandou Badila, a.k.a. Young Paris, is a Congolese Artistic Director, Music Producer and Song Writer born in Paris and raised in New York whose unmatched style combines rap with electronic dance music featuring traditional Congolese rhythms.

Passion for performance has been going through Young Paris’ veins from his very first breath, having been raised by a family of African performing and visual artists. His father founded the National Ballet of Congo and his mother was a dancer in New York.

He performs alongside five out of nine of his siblings, touring their traditional drum & dance ballet Diata Diata around Congo.

Young Paris’ original flair led him to play in the 2nd edition of Kanpe Kanaval last year, an annual event with

a carnavalesque touch hosted by the Kanpe Foundation in Haiti. It was this occasion that sparked attention to his work. Since then, he has been featured in TEDx, played in Montreal music festival and worked with award winning artists from different corners of the world, including Arcade Fire’s Win Butler as well as Jim Haynes.

Young Paris’ original flair led him to play in the 2nd edition of Kanpe Kanaval last year, an annual event with a carnavalesque touch hosted by the Kanpe Foundation in Haiti. It was this occasion that sparked attention to his work. Since then, he has been featured in TEDx, played in Montreal music festival and worked with award winning artists from different corners of the world, including Arcade Fire’s Win Butler as well as Jim Haynes.

Young Paris told UBUNTU about his influences and career ambitions. have a read: Why is your music special and when Have you ever been criticised by alwas your Eureka moment - when you tering traditional rhythms to a more decided to blend two different genres modern beat? into one unique sound?

People have their opinions but I’ve never had a critique that made me I’d say my music is special because it question my music. represents myself, family and our inFor the most part everyone has been tentions to what and how we can con- super supportive and enlightened in tribute to the world. this idea to mix. I feel when it’s done Genre blending was actually my broth- properly and with integrity, there’s a er’s idea because I started my young certain amount of respect shown and rap career as any traditional NY MC that’s what I get out of it. and he told me “the people want to dance, man!”. I figured since I love From all the songs you have written electronic music and I have an African and produced, which one is your fabase, it just made sense. vourite or has a more special meaning to you?

Still from Káké videoclip

At this point, my song Kaké plays the biggest effect on what my sound is.

It is bass heavy, with and African electro groove that feels ritual-like. The lyrics are one of my favourites as well and I’m more than happy with the outcome and response from the public.

I enjoy the performance the most.

There’s nothing like sharing a live translation of what I’ve created in my mind for weeks - sometimes months.

The reaction of the audience dancing and enjoying the sound and lyrics is priceless.

What stage of your work do you enjoy the most and why?

If you could only chose one artist or group to work with throughout your

career, who would you choose?

A producer named Rancido - he’s not very famous but his beats are incredible. For lyrics, talent, and flow I’d say Most Def.

how are you planning to get there?

My ultimate future goal is to invest much of my energy and time in this genome project where Africans in America can take a blood sample and get results of their origins. I feel this What is the message or purpose of would have a great impact on their your work? What is the music talking lives if at a young age they have a about and what are you thinking of stronger idea of what country in Afriwhen writing it? can their ancestry came from. Italians know they are Italian so they go to ItMy goal (in short) is to create or even aly as do the Irish, the French and the recreate a lifestyle primarily for black list goes on. and young Africans. I’m educated in Africans in America barely go to Afmany forms of artistry and creativity, rica because they don’t know where to whereas I think I have the tools to up- go. I’d like to have an effect on that. lift people through art, imagery, video, In what projects are you working on lyricism, and design. at the moment?

I represent the beauty, historic, and Currently, I’m finishing up my latest contemporary uplifting of Africans album to be out this spring and I’ll be (primarily). on tour throughout Canada, Europe, US and maybe bits of Africa this sumWhat is your ultimate career goal? mer / fall.

What do you want to achieve and

Sneak Peak...

UBUNTU’s second issue will look at the contribution of African artists to the world of Creative Arts. Read our interview with Fine Arts promising talent Tunji Adeniyi-Jones

Describe yourself from an artist’s perspective - who

al and enriching process, and I am constantly learning

is Tunji and what inspires him to create new art-

more as my work progresses. My relationship with the

work?

mask, as a concept, is constantly evolving and changing. Recently I’ve started exploring the potential of the

My life and cultural background serve as my prima-

mask as an individual autonomous object rather than a

ry source of inspiration. Although my background is

supplement to my performance.

Nigerian, I was born and raised here in London. So I consider myself to be British. This mixed cultural

You talk about cultural expectation. So do you think

placement has made for some interesting experiences

that having an African background, people expect

throughout my life. There’s a fascinating space between

you to present work that portrays your ethnicity?

these two cultures, and indeed between all cultures worldwide. I’m trying to explore and highlight this

It’s important to question the reality of racial and cul-

space through my work and practice.

tural expectation in art. Some people do firmly believe that for artists of ethnic backgrounds to succeed, they

What is the message you want to put across with

need to make work that is only relevant to their ethnic-

your work?

ity. It’s a necessary conversation to have as it challenges our contemporary notions of ethnological understand-

Initially, through my work, I would share my own

ing and cultural assimilation.

personal story. But I’ve since learned that my experi-

I do believe that ethnic individuality bears great signif-

ences aren’t necessarily unique, and that I’m entering a

icance, and cultural difference is an unassailable trait

more global field of artists exploring their identity and

that should be proudly worn, not suppressed.

ethnicity through their practices.

My work is now more outwardly narrative driven and

Is racism an issue to you?

less introverted, in the sense that the story I’m telling is now less about self-discovery and more about discov-

This is always a difficult question for me. I grew up in a

ery on a broader scale.

really diverse part of North London, so for the first 10 or 11 years of my life I was unaware that the colour of

What do the masks symbolise and what do you bring

my skin bore any significance. When I went to second-

of new to the world of arts?

ary school I became a clear minority, and it was then that I saw my race start to define me. Racism is cer-

The mask is a tool that I have used to immerse myself

tainly something that I’ve encountered more than I’ve

in my Nigerian background. For most of my life I’ve

taken time to acknowledge, especially when I was in

felt estranged from Nigeria. I used the mask to express

school. I don’t address it in my work, but it is an issue

where I saw myself situated within this culture that I

I feel very strongly about. I feel that letting it consume

was unfamiliar with. This was in turn a very education-

my thoughts and motives would be detrimental to my

progress as an artist. But that’s just my personal bear-

an exhibition, a book, etc.) that addresses racial

ing. I am wholly supportive of those taking a more

issues is more likely to have a greater impact if made

active stance on the issue.

by a white person?

You are UK born, but with black skin. Do people

I’d say it’s more a question of how well the work, be it

have certain assumptions regarding your back-

film or otherwise, is made. Sometimes people are quick

ground?

to jump to conclusions about inequalities regarding the reception of artwork, forgetting the importance of

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I consider being faced

quality to begin with. Regardless of your race, if your

with this form of assumption as an opportunity to ed-

work doesn’t reach a certain standard, you can’t expect

ucate and enlighten. It’s definitely something I address

it to be met with high critical acclaim. There are, of

in my work. For example, I try to express beauty in as

course, prejudices held by those judging and receiving

much of what I do as possible. Beauty is something that

the works, but this pans out further than just racial

I feel has fallen out of people’s estimations when they

issues – gender and class are equally if not more so in

think/talk about Nigeria, and indeed on a greater scale,

the equation.

Africa. One often needs to be reminded that Africa is a beautiful and prosperous continent, as it is so often

After graduating, where would you like to see your

associated with negativity and ugliness. Through my

career going?

‘Paradise Lost’ photo collage I was trying to correct these negative associations and draw peoples focus to

I’ve been offered a place to study a painting/printmak-

the stunning landscapes and scenery.

ing MFA at the Yale School of Art this September. This is a venture that I’m really looking forward to, and it’s

Do you think that a piece of art work (let it be a film,

very much an exciting new start.

UBUNTU

速 2015