African Hip Hop Festival in London
There’s the first ever African Hip Hop Festival AFROLUTION happening in London and we wish we could be there… init? All the best boys – Bigs up to all of ya. Afrolution 8 October 2007 7pm Cargo: 83 Rivington Street, Shoreditch, London EC2A 3AY Tel: 0207 739 3440 Liverpool Street or Old Street tube, buses 35 or 55 10 pounds… We’re proud to bring some of the hottest African Hip Hop artists on the scene to London. ‘The Afrolution African Hip Hop Festival’, is Europe’s first ever African Hip Hop festival. Our aim is to create a ‘home away from home’ for Hip Hop heads in the London diaspora. London is still one of the biggest destination for immigrants from Africa, and there is a very vibrant scene, but as yet no event specifically highlighting the power of African Hip Hop has ever been staged here. Some of the guys have tracks on Afrolution Vol 1 – check out the site to listen to their tunes and then get your asses down to the show and support the movement! So who’s on board? Migrant Souls – Arguably Africa’s most established and respected MC, Metaphysics from Zimbabwe is an accomplished Hip Hop lyricist, media personality and performer. He’s worked with some of the biggest names in the world (Busta Rhymes, Mariah Carey, Slum Village etc), is currently based in Germany and is the MC for the multi platinum selling German artist Xavier Naidoo. Nu-Reggae legend Laygwan Sharkie is the second member of the group and is also a vocalist with the highly successful German artist Patrice. Together their explosive Hip Hop show aims to set the venue on fire. Check out some of their tracks on our site. Wawesh – Robert Wawero Kiboy hails from the notorious Pumuwani Estate in Kenya. He raps in his native Swahili dialect and was responsible for the infectious 2005 single, ‘Mjanja’. This will be his first performance in the UK and will be highly anticipated by the London based Kenyan community. Kimba / Real Elements – Kimba Andersen is the co-founder of Real Elements. This versatile Hip Hop outfit from Malawi are at the cutting edge of African Hip Hop culture, bringing colour and much-needed conscious lyrics to the fore. Divided Kingdom Republic (DKR) – newcomers, Zimbabwean rappers Munyaradzi Nota and Kudzi Mambara are currently based in London and are poised to release a brand new album that looks set to catapult them to the forefront of global African Hip Hop. Galaxy High – Babou Nian is one of Gambia’s most accomplished MCs and has opened for luminaries like Redman, The Roots, Jeru the...
Lerato and Andre get their BEYONCE photo
You have to love two of our favourite South African entertainment journalists ever Andre and Lerato. They are good friends of Represent and we absolutely love their determination and spirit. They were convinced BEYONCE aka Bouncy would be here with Jay-Z and they were determined to see her. Well, they found her and got their pic. You go guys, Represent loves you. ONG>Here are their stories: Andre: “Attending a Jay-Z press conference is mega exciting, but something inside me said there’s more! And boy, was my instinct right! We followed Jay-Z out of the venue and saw his car driving up the road within the actual premises. The only place he would go is the Polo Lounge which is well-known for its celebs hanging there during intervals. So when we were told we weren’t allowed inside the usually public lounge, we knew he was inside. His entire crew had already left, so who was keeping him company? Was it Rihanna? Was Beyonce chilling out there while the press conference was going on? So after waiting almost an hour, a gorgeous Beyonce Knowles walked out with her man, Jay-Z. We were SPEECHLESS. Although security were trying to get rid of us, Beyonce was completely chilled and an utter darling. She could see we were desperate fans and took the time to pose with us while Jay-Z refused and got into the car. So while the media were all hyped about Jay-Z, we got an exclusive first glimpse of Beyonce- even better! No sign of Rihanna though. Looks like Bouncy isn’t letting her man out of her sight! You go girl!” Lerato: “This picture proves that Andre and I are the biggest and most successful chasers of all time in South Africa, and while the rest of the nation was wondering if Beyonce is indeed in the country with Jay-Z, we found out where he was staying, how long he’d be there for and what his posse was doing at the moment that he was giving a press interview. Turns out they were chilling at their hotel waiting for Jay-Z, head to the airport to catch a private plane out to Cape Town. Well, we asked him if we could have a picture taken with him, he said “No” and we thought we’d stalk him just so he understands that we know his every move and, most importantly, not afraid of his security team. An hour in the sun later, Jay, B and their two bodyguards checked out of the hotel. We became Beyonce crazy, told her how much we loved and her begged to take a picture with her. Her...
Newtown DIWALI Festival 2006
Regular Representers will remember the call for entry for the Newtown Diwali festival… The festival is on Saturday the 7 October 2006 and looks to be even bigger and better than last year. So save your appetite, put the family in the car and go downtown to beautiful Newtown and make the most of the myriad of cultures and specifically, the Hindu culture in Johannesburg. HAPPY 120th BIRT… HDAY TO JOHANNESBURG and HAPPY DIWALI to everyone from Represent. Newtown Diwali Festival Billed as the Festival of Lights, this year’s event will also serve as the official launch pad for the milestone 120th Birthday Celebrations for the City of Johannesburg. Festival Director, Nisha Moodley: “The Newtown Diwali Festival 2006 is a multi-cultural event and an excuse for us, Johannesburger’s to show-off our diversity. As such, this year, there’s a whole lot more on offer from food and retail stores to an Esoteric Fair and free Children’s Art Workshops at Museum Africa. Free Indian Dance Workshops will also be available at Moving into dance across the road from the square. There is more information about this on the web at www.newtowndiwalifestival.co.za. Then, there’s the entertainment and we haven’t spared our budget to bring some of the top names in the South African entertainment industry,” said Moodley. Heading up the entertainment line-up is last year’s Kora Award winner, celebrated jazz muso Kýnlý, who has been captivating local and international audiences with his unique brand of up-tempo Afro Jazz and Afro-Beat numbers. He will be collaborating with Johannesburg born brothers, Shri Shiva Padiachi and Shri Rajan Padiachi, both accomplished musicians and teachers, as well as being the sons of the late Vella Padiachi of Ranjeni Orchestra fame. They will also be joined by Shri Rajan Padiachi’s son Mahesh Padiachi a pleasing artiste of great promise. The amazing talents of Indian classical maestro, Patrick Ngcobo has also been secured for the Newtown Diwali Festival 2006. Trained in India, South African-born Ngcobo is the first South African of African descent to sing Indian classical music professionally. Ngcobo has put together a more contemporary music selection for his performance at the Newtown Diwali Festival, which will also include “Hamba Malume”, a dizzying fusion of Kwaito and Indian Classical music, which is currently racing up the music charts. One of South Africa’s most loved soap stars, Jack Devnarian, more popularly known as Rajesh Kumar of Isidingo fame, said about the event, “Last year’s programme was just brimming over with highlights that thrilled and entertained thousands of Jo’burgers who took the festivities into the heart of the city. Our event on Saturday 7th October is set to be...
New African Film Fest in Scotland
So we hope you got your entries in ‘coz African film is taking over Scotland in late October! Africa in Motion NEW AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL TO CELEBRATE THE DIVERSE TALENTS OF THE VERY BEST IN AFRICAN FILMMAKING FROM ACROSS THE CONTINENT ! Africa in Motion (AiM) African Film Festival Friday 20th-Sunday 29th October 2006 Filmhouse… Cinema, Edinburgh Feature films, documentaries, shorts and a ‘Lost Classics’ series – Screenings of 25 films from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Egypt, Chad, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, and other African countries Despite the depth and breadth of filmmaking on the African continent, African cinema remains one of the most underrepresented cinemas worldwide. Opportunities to see African films in Britain are very rare, yet some of the most evocative and imaginatively original films have been created on the African continent since the 1950s. Now AiM will offer audiences in Scotland the chance to view some of the best and most hard-to-find of African films. The extensive programme includes some of the most significant African classics, unearths a number of “lost classics”, as well as showcases contemporary groundbreaking films. “Africa in Motion is, quite simply, one of the best programmes of films ever to be shown in Scotland” – film critic Mark Cousins, Sept 06. African Classics will form a central focus of Africa in Motion 2006, including a number of ‘lost classics’. The Lost Classics programme will feature films from the early work of pioneering African filmmakers – for some of these films there is only one print still in existence and original English subtitles have been created especially for the screenings at AiM. Many of the films featuring at AiM have never been seen in Scotland, or indeed the UK before, and the festival will be unprecedented in its scope and diversity. Directors whose work will be featured include veteran Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembene, widely regarded as the “father of African cinema”; Egyptian filmmaker Youssef Chahine, who received a lifetime achievement award at Cannes in 1997; Senegalese filmmaker Safe Faye, the first sub-Saharan African women to direct a feature-length film, Kaddu Beykat in 1975 (which will be screened at AiM); and Malian director Souleymane Cissý, who won the Prix du Jury at Cannes in 1987 for his stunning film Yeelen, AiM’s opening film. Drawing on the prevalence of Africa and African issues highlighted in the last year, following events such as the G8 Summit at Gleneagles, AiM gives Scottish audiences unprecedented access to artistic representations of the complexities and diversities of African life through the eyes of Africa’s best directors. Film screenings are accompanied by a range of free complementary events including panel discussions,...
Next season Fashion goes weird on us
Fashionista’s prepare yourselves for some bad news – two of the most gross trends of the 80’s are back on the scene and of course we tell you about it first. Watch this space as we share other great fashion tips with you. So we hope by now you have your leggings and are the first to wear them in your group – wear under a gorgeous dress shirt or a short mini – it’s the perfect coverup for girls w… ho don’t like to expose their legs but like to wear short skirts. And we assume that you wore your military style jacket through winter and felt super sexy….(which we told you about last winter!). Well now we have Two fashion heads ups that will blow your hairback – not in a good style but more in a bouffant poofie style – we don’t encourage you to follow either of them but we thought we’d spread the love… They are currently being worn in the UK in their AUTUMN – so let’s see how long they take to hit here. 1. LEOPARD PRINT – Yes – usually associated with overweight tarty housewives who live on the other side of the boerewors curtain. LEOPARD PRINT has removed itself from the list of all things gross and OTT and is slipping onto the shoes, handbags and accessories of women in New York and London. Now don’t go overboard and wear LEOPARD PRINT from head to toe, take it easy rather and just ACCESSORISE with it. (Thanks Glynne for the tip!) 2. ANKLE BOOTS – Hold that gag back – yes Ankle boots are back. They’re not just Ankle boots though, they are ankle boots that FOLDOVER and GATHER around the ankle – which does give them a little street cred. Now ladies, listen carefully, these shoes should NOT be worn by any women who have large legs or fat ankles. Unless of course you like looking like your legs have been amputated and sewed back on minus a couple of centimetres. These boots need the right pants to match as well – SKINNY PANTS or ANKLE pants that tuck into them – not bell bottoms. By the way if you didn’t know yet, camo style and wide pants are totally out. Put them away till 2020 when they come back into fashion. This photo from EBAY is a delightful combination of both styles. UGLY HEY! But rather click here for gorgeous leopard print shoes on the UK ebay site and here for stunning ankle foldover boots. Enjoy!...
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