Free download of the new Raphael Saadiq track
If you love everything funk, soul and downright dirty delicious, you’ll appreciate this little tip off – get the title track from his new album due out later this year right here on...
Everybody loves the soleil
Ok so I’ve been playing truant… again… and you’re cntrl-f5’ing, wondering whereTF I am right? Well thanks faithful representahs, this time round I have a valid alibi. Confession… it was the SUNLIGHT. You see sunshine in Europe is just not the same as sunshine in South Africa – here it’s a timid, elusive creature whose presence should always be celebrated and never taken for granted. And that’s exactly what I came to realise in 2008 when I spent my first full summer here in Belgium (ok bar the one in 93 but I was a youngun then and weather didn’t matter) Sunshine is a commodity, and one that I sadly traded when I got here. But in every trade there is an exchange and the upside of the trade off has been 1. the opportunity to learn what it is to have 4 clear-cut seasons (and rock the winter coats and boots for real) 2. the realisation that I took sunshine for granted So in summary, when the sun called, I answered. This stay in Europe is exactly that, a stay – it has been a mind-opening, earth-shifting experience that has enlightened moi in so many ways and definitely upped my French levels. I’ve been here for 2.5 years now and on Saturday night at a Brazilian friend’s crazy wild party, I got all blushed up and shy due to a bunch of Frenchies digging my francais… I smiled and nodded and had another drink, making sure to offer them one too… knowing it was the lubrication of the tongue that let the French words flow as they did, in both directions, vous voyez. But yeah, I do suddenly feel like the language and I are merging into one sweet mashup. I’ve always believed it takes at least two years to settle into a new city or country, to feel that the streets are yours, the beats are yours and the summer is yours for the taking. The point is, this summer has been sublime and even if my premonition two weeks ago that we were seeing the last of the very brief heatwave is turning out to be supa-accurate, a summer that lasts 6 weeks or not, I’m sucking up every drop of sunshine I can find. In Nice, France next week 😉 Sorry, had to drop that in. SO… for those of you in winter… here are three summer songs for you – the first one is 3 of my favourite bands remixed into one sweet track, the second one is ROCKING EUROPE this summer as the official summer anthem and the third… well who can’t love...
Young Nations’ United States Of Africa on the shelves
‘I love my city I run it like a marathon’ GP (The City is mine)… Jozi hiphop heads will be all over Young Nations’ track dedicated to ‘his city’ Johannesburg – one of 15 hawt tracks on his latest album entitled United States of Africa. Don’t be suprised by Young Nations’ American accent that busts smoothly in and out of his slick beats- he’s a global being with South African roots who’s grown up in a number of different countries including the US, France and Congo… Just listening to his lyrics affirms his allegiance to and excitement about being in South Africa, the country of his birth. And anyway, who cares about accents anyways or where we’re from… it’s all about the beats and lyrics…So, you be the judge – does his album move you, is it moving SA hiphop and hiphop in general forward, is it fresh, is it innovative, do we love it?? Get a sneak peak here and buy it here. ...
Represent Interview: Mo Laudi
Meet Mo Laudi, a star-reaching globetrotting South African dj and MC living in Paris, (the city otherwise known as Paname by locals…just by the way). He’s a part of The Very Best and Radioclit, released and album with in 2006 with British punk rock band called weapons. Follow him on twiiter on @molaudi and check out his MySpace and of course Facebook. Meet MoLaudi Hey Mo, thanks for chatting with us… tell us…where did you grow up? Born in Seshego, zone 3 moved to the Polokwane suburbs when Apartheid ended, went to high school in Pretoria, higher education in Johannesburg Allenby campus, then AAA school of advertising. Who is MoLaudi in 2010? Same dude I’ve always been, just growing, still inquisitive, into various musical cultures, art, I love street culture, working on my album… What inspired you to get into music? My family, my brother used to loooove music, he had a book of lyrics, he would stop and start songs and write the lyrics down and even before that my parent used to have a community choir they would go to practice a few times in the a week in the evening, my mother was the conductor and my father sang bass, they would ask us who wanted to come to the choir competitions with them and we would mostly say yes. What’s your first memory of music? Music has always been around my house before I was born, there is nothing I can specifically call the first memory, I’m sure even when I was born someone was singing. I remember when I was toddler in the township, my mother would be practicing the violin in her bedroom and outside me and my friends were listening, amazed at hearing such a rare sound. What are some of your strongest influences and who inspires you musically in 2010? I’m inspired by everything around me, sounds of Ghettos around the world, ideas I read, visuals, Ronald Dahl, SA house, Mars Volta, 80’s rock, old school hip hop, electro, afro beat, Coupé Décalé , dubstep… What makes great music? No boundries, touching people’s heart, the connection, I’m personally into rhythms, I love a great beat that sound like it captures ancient spirits and at the same time new and fresh to rock any club around the world Whose music should we absolutely not miss out on in 2010? Mine, lol check out the The very Best, Radioclit, looking forward to the new M.I.A, I love Blk Jks, Spoek Mathambo, Gazelle What are the challenges of a South African growing up abroad? Visa issues, The displacement and the loneliness not being able...
Represent Review: Cape Town International Jazz Festival 2010
Between bracing the Cape winds, running between stages and having dinner with Bilal (coughcough), our two fabulous Jozi representer’s Lebogang and Akona (you’re always a Jozi girl for us) still managed to cover the Cape Town International Jazz Festival for us this year… and with such panache… What can we say besides a massive Sharpile. Watch your snailmail for your thank yous 😉 See Lebogang’s gorgeous photostory of the event here and read Akona’s review below: Represent! This year’s 11th annual Cape Town Jazz Festival, which took place last weekend, once again got it’s stamp of approval for being one of the grandest music festivals in the country, I also think this event, previously known as North Sea Jazz Festival, is one of the better organised festivals out there save for the crazy Cape Town wind trying to get it’s time in the spotlight. The line – up was incredible, the most exciting part for me are the number of fusion artists I had never heard of – you see, the Jazz Fest for me is the place I go to be introduced to new music without being caught out as an ignoramus by die-hard fans. T his is where the artists have to bear their souls through their craft, this is where they introduce themselves to the possibility of new fans – me being one of them of course. 42 acts, over two nights, on 5 stages = a whole lot of dancing, singing, crying, with a healthy dose of soul touching music to keep you entertained. On the first night, with a late start to the evening, I was blown away not only by the Cape Town wind at the ‘Bassline’ stage (which was setup outside of the International Convention Centre) but also by the Japanese fusion jazz group – a six man group playing what I’d call dance music, with a very jazzy root. It was impossible not to be mesmerized not only by their energy, but the way in which they got the audience involved, singing hooks, dancing, clapping along and creating a measurable heat out in the open stage (audience by now had to do just about everything not to succumb to the thrashing of the wind). What was most important is how the band didn’t seem bothered nor allowed themselves to be distracted by the wind and sand smacking them about on stage, they never skipped a beat – at one point I saw the saxophonist cough out some dirt only after blowing his instrument to the tunes. The Soil and Pimp Sessions is a vibrant band who transcend any expectations, MC, trumpet,...
Proudly brought to you by:
