Tuesday, November 16, 2004  

The Eastlands MCs are straight outta one of the fiercest slums of Nairobi, Kenya. Their voices are finally being heard on a new compilation CD, Kilio Cha Haki, which means "a cry for justice."
More about Kilio Cha Haki
African Hip-Hop.com
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Watched the documentary Diamonds & Rust last night, about a diamond-mining ship off the coast of Namibia that features a multiculti crew. White South Africans ran the ship, with black South Africans and Namibians, as well as Cubans, doing all the grunt work. The dudes in charge lived up to every friggin' Afrikaner stereotype there is, acting like patronizing a-holes to anyone of color---even saying that their black shipmates are a "different species."

Natch, not all white South Africans are this way by any means, and in the 10 days I spent there last spring I met plenty of good-hearted pasty peeps. But I also came across a few major Afrikaner dickheads who were still pissed that apartheid ended (though whites still own 90 percent of the country's riches). Check my April 17 entry for the tale.
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Peter Margasak, the longtime music critic for the Chicago Reader (and one of the more obsessive and knowledgeable dudes I know regarding world music, jazz, and experimental sounds) has started an MP3 blog: Worldly Disorientation. One of his first posts (Nov. 11) is by the South African bassist Johnny Dyani. So, so great.

Posted by CP | Link |

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