Poetess, soul-singer,” and highly respected performance artist Camille Yarbrough recently recorded and released Ancestor House, her new EP, marking her first commercial release in nearly 30 years. Recorded live at the famed Joe’s Pub (in New York City) and at the Sonic Arts Center (of City College/CUNY), the project is Yarbrough’s follow up to her critically acclaimed album The Iron Pot Cooker (which debuted in 1975 on Vanguard Records). As with the first, the new album has received high praise. Most fans of the new work have compared it favorably to the style and feelings of Nina Simone (who, before her passing, recorded and performed some of Yarbrough’s songs), Gil Scott-Heron, Al Green, and Olu Dara. One admirer called it the “masterful end product of a true griot at work.

This is brother Kamma from Grahamstown greeting everybody who is active in hip hop. We as the family in Grahamstown or Rhini and the surrounding areas would like to contribute to AG by giving people an introduction to Rhini’s Hip Hop scene.  Read more for our story.

In general, the conception of a coloured man is based on numerous and inadequate generalizations. So, what does it mean to live as a coloured in South Africa? It means an exposure to a social bigotry that is underpinned by ignorance and insecurities. This is clearly seen by a set of invisible, sometimes visible, coloured commandments. For a long while these coloured commandments dictated the development of social structures and interaction between a people having no tangible identity and self-worth. Sadly, the ignorance, insecurity, lack of an identity and self-worth still persist in South Africa today. Living with discrimination in your heart.

A nascent tourist industry is developing around the sites where slaves once were sold. The tour operators claim that when theses sites are shown to tourists they are supposed to serve as a reminder of our brutal oppressive history. Yet the truth is that these institutions, by themselves, are not of much value. Especially when all the countries that participated and gained economic advantage from the slave trade barely acknowledge their roles.

Culture plays an essential role in any society. It ensures the survival of any cluster of people by providing significance and greater understanding of their role within that society. When culture is the means by which humans adapt in an ever-changing world the question that needs to be asked is this; what meaningful role can culture play in a global society.

From Africa to the World, Yaya Diallo Unleashes His Music
By MuzikMan, MusicDish.com Yaya Diallo is a master drummer. A native of Mali, West Africa, he is the personification of a country celebrated for its rich musical culture and diversity. Motivated by his personal experiences in traditional village life, Yaya expresses his profound knowledge of West African healing arts in his instrumental album Nangapè, a recording that focuses on West African drumming, balafon and flute music. I particularly enjoyed the flute segments, which provided an alluring and rich atmosphere for the entire session.

2003 has been a great year for hip-hop duo H20. After topping local radio charts and MTV Europe’s World Chart Express with their jazz-influenced hit, ‘It’s Wonderful?, they finally have a place among the top of the game. And now they bring you even more hotness in their debut album for Outrageous Records ‘Amanzi ‘Mtoti’, which means pure water in Zulu.

I was expecting a cold and empty Tammariskia Town Hall on Friday night the 10th of October. But found it to be quite the opposite, as it was already densely populated with heads, of which most were high school kids. I exchange N$ 10 for a ticket and a “tsapie” which served as my right to enter.

The scene on the Eastern Cape is once again in the spotlight, this time around for the B-boy crew Execution Style, one of the regional finalists of this years Battle of the Year.  You can download their newspaper article right here. (186KB Jpeg version)

J-Bux, that emcee from the windy city Port Elizabeth recently got down in black n white.  Expect to hear more from this emcee in the coming months as he get’s set to release his debut EP.  You can download the newspaper clipping here. (221kb) Jpeg format.

Jeru the Damaja’s tour commences in support of his upcoming single release “War” and forthcoming full length CD “Divine Design” on Ashenafi Records. Jeru the Damaja (born Jeru Davis) aka D. Original Dirty Rotten Scoundrel hails from Brooklyn, NY where he was born and raised. Jeru spent his early years in East New York, Brooklyn being introduced to hip hop music in the local parks “before it was popular” as he says. After completion of high school Jeru knew exactly what he wanted to do, be an MC. Influenced at the time by soon to be legends like Big Daddy Kane, Rakim, KRS One and Kool G Rap Jeru set out on his quest while he worked part time jobs in Manhattan.

My article aims at letting all dem massive and crew about the status quo of hip-hop in Lesotho (the little mountain kingdom totally encircled by S.A.)

This is a dazzling testiment to the human spirit. If you thought that one human beatboxer was amazing for a show imagine up to 20 human beatboxers mixed with live video! The beatboxers in the show include Taylor Mcferrin, MC Squared, Abra, Shockwave, Kid Lucky, JoJo Beat, Shodekeh and Jase Mason. READ THIS STORY TO SEE WHO’S WHO IN THE WORLD OF BEATBOXING.

When they audition young women for rap videos these days, do the brothers use the paper bag test? The comb test? I wonder how they determine who is either too black or not black enough to be considered “beautiful.” What am I talking about, you ask? The latest trend in “hippopular” culture: The whiteout of black women in positions of visibility. It has actually become offensive. Usually, I’m pretty good at flipping the channel whenever I see the redundant video “club” scene.

This is my experience of last weeks event called Verbal Tribez which featured local artist sharing the stage with Swedish hip hop group Looptroop, Spot Runnaz, Rantoboko, Timbuktu, Chords and U.K rapper Blak Twang. Well at this moment I’m feeling like a scanner scanning the event and now I need a outlet to put out the material. I just scanned and this website is the perfect means for me to expose my brain.