Yes, yes, we have started a study of West Africa. Today in class I gave you a brief presentation about West Africa. Your homework is as follows:
1) Research a West African artist/musician/director and present some bit of information on the blog. Use this as an opportunity to begin your "research" process for your project that is due on November 17 (or 19th).
2) Answer page 445 1-3 on loose-leaf paper
3) Turn in a paragraph about what you will research for your project
4) Begin your work. You will have class time next week, but remember I expect EXCELLENCE and have high expectations for HOW you work in class...(no knuckleheads)
Have a good weekend!
13 comments:
Jorge Che Guevara
Comrades, :P
The artist/musician that I have researched is Youssou N'Dour which, for me, has a quite interesting career.
Bieng of a poetic backround, Youssou abandoned his natural fate to become a singer and began his career in the Star Band when he was 12 years old.
Youssou can be considered as one of the most celebrated African artists in history dominating and being influenced by various genres such as Samba, Hip-hop, Salsa, Jazz, etc... Besides, he has collaborated with many internationally known artists such as Sting and Bruce Springsteen.
The bases of his music are strongly binded with Senegalese culture and a manifold of features can be widely detected in his music.
Alpha Blondy was born in Dimbokoro, Ivory Coast, on 1 January, 1953, with the name of Seydou Koné.
His music is greatly influenced by Jamaican reggae, and his lyrics are mostly about politics, struggle, corruption, peace, and love. He sings in Dioula, French, English,and sometimes in Arabic and Hebrew.
Blondy has now become one of West Africa's most successful artists.
Magic System
Magic system is a musical group from Ivory Coast which consists of 4 men. In 1996 the group was formed, and their first album "Papitou" came out. After this album, they weren't very successful. They became known all over Africa when their song "Premier Gaou" came out in 1999. Soon later, Magic system was known in France and their song "Premier Gaou" remained on the French charts for almost a year.
Magic system is one of the most successful African groups. They have collaborated with many musicians from all over Africa and from France.
This is a link to their song "premier Gaou" if you are interested. They are really good =D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJMpeYwifEU
The artist that I chose is Youssou N'Dour because he is senegalese and he now sings everywhere in the world.
Youssou wowed his first audience at twelve, and went on to conquer much of the world with sabar and tama drumming, Latin dance music, rock and r&b.
His father was against his musical career. Though he ketp working and in 1979, "Dakar's Little Prince" formed the Super Etoiles, and became the most popular singer of Senegal's mbalax pop.
He then started being more and more famous everyday and finally became an international singer known all around the world. He sang with the biggests, attented tv shows, and now is the honor of Senegal.
MC Solaar (Claude M'Barali) is a Senegalese born rapper who raps in french and is popular throughout the francophone world. He was born in Dakar but six months after his birth, he moved to Paris. Like many rappers who originate in Africa, MC Solaar raps about slavery and the history of his people. He first got influenced in hip hop when he travelled to Egypt at age twelve, and became with the rapping style of Afrika Babaataa. MC Solaar has recorded 7 studio albums and 1 live album
DJ Kok
I researched Doudou N'Diaye Rose.
He's probably west Africa's most famous drummer at the time. He travels all over the world and presents his exquistite work.
he is specialized in playing the Sabar drum and started preforming in the 1930, but made his living as a plumber. Hes'had some calloborations with the Roling Stones and Miles Davis.
he developed about 500 new rythms.
He was born in 1928 making him about 80 years old now and still plays, what i can confidently say, 'violently' the Sabar.
I think he now has about 8 wives and over 20 children, and still lives in senegal. He is worldwidely known as the Sabar master. He often playes with his sons, who are willing to follow in his footsteps into writing history in music. hurah for the King of Drummers!
music video on Youtube.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pdug2pcxEk&feature=related
JACOB LAWRENCE
Jacob Lawrence was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He studied at the Art Workshop, Harlem, under Charles Alston and Henry Bannan. He also, studied at the Harlem Art Center and American Artists School from l937-39.
Like many other artists of social protest in the thirties and forties, Lawrence began his career in a settlement house art class and was supported by the Depression-born W.P.A. in his early years. According to author David Driskell, “Jacob Lawrence has looked at history with the discerning eye of a sensitive critic. He has recorded a visual record which touches upon our national and ancestral interests.
It is obviously noticeable that his paintings contain some of the visual symbols associated with man’s protest against the intolerable conditions that often beset him, but they also present to us a segment of reality which ties our lives to history that is reflected in the immediate drama of everyday living. This is the reason why his style in art cannot be crammed into the usual bag of modern “isms”. Thus, he distinguishes himself as an artist who is highly sensitive to the conditions of life that face all mankind.”
"One cannot fully understand his or her past, nor control his/her future, without knowing something about his/her past. A large number of my students are not aware of outstanding contributions to American Art made by African-Americans. The following lessons are designed to expose them to artistic and cultural expressions among artists, to expand their knowledge, and to help develop positive self-esteem."
The musician/artist i researched is Baaba Maal. He is, after Youssou N'Dour, the most famous Senegalese musician. Being born to a fisherhaman, the expectation was the expectation was that he would have the same career. He was, however, influenced by a close friend, a family griot, and studied music at the University of Dakar, and then went on to study in Paris with his blind guitarist and family griot (Mansour Seck) He sings in Pulaar (the Senegalese side of my family speaks Pulaar). He plays with a band called Daande Lenol, and the genre is Yela, and worldbeat. I chose Baaba Maal because he is one of my mothers favorite artists, and i was exposed to his music even before i was born. He even has an album called Taara :p
Kai3xe!!! I love Cakes!!
I chose 2 Face Idibia because he has made some really good songs. His song african queen is probably his most known song and he has this other really good one but i cant remmeber its name, i know arnaud knows what is it called, but its really good, crap what it called?? Anyways 2face's real name is Innocent Ujah Idibia and he si from Nigeria, OHOHOH i jsut found the song and it is called Stylee it's not bad, not as good as i remember though. Well, 2face went to school shortly to study buissnes administration but he did not finish, ironically, his music flourished at university-like parties and organisations.
His albums are:
face 2 face
grass 2 grace
mine 2 yours
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funny pattern huh
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His awards:
Solo
World Music Award 2008 - Best African Artist (Won)
MTV Europe Awards 2005 - Best African Act
MOBO Awards 2005 - Best African Act (Nominated)
MOBO Awards 2007 - Best African Act (Won)
Channel O Music Video Awards 2005 - Best Male Video and Best African Video (both for "African Queen")[4]
KORA Awards 2005 - Revelation of the Year
Hip Hop World Awards 2006 - Special Recognition Award
2006 Channel O Music Video Awards - Best African Pop (“Ole“) [5]
2006 Channel O Music Video Awards - Best African West (“Ole“) [6]
Nigeria Entertainment Awards 2006 - Special Recognition Award. Nigeria Breakthrough Artist of the Year
Nigerian Music Awards 2008 - Album of the Year and R&B Song of the Year (Won)
Yeah he is very famous and he is really talented in my opinion, i would say he si one o f the most talented artists in the world, not just in africa.
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anyways thats alot on 2 Face, have a nice nigh eeryone, get ready for bio tommorow and have fun!!
GF out! (:p arnaud [lv out])
Fodé Baro is one of the greatest artists including Guinea is full, well known in Europe and Africa for the depth of his lyrics and the quality of their albums. . Born into a line-Fulani in Mandingo, Fodé Baro was the exception to the rule that only the griots could play music. he was the son of Ibrahim Khalil Barro and Samatin Toure and he was born in Guinea ,more precisely in Kissidougou in the region of Kankan.
he was rejected by his parents for refusing to obey their religious views and left his studies to pursue a career in music.
It is said that his lyrics and style gratly rsembles that if his personal idol,Dimba Aboubacar Camara . the genre that he belongs to is usually categorized as african pop.
The African artists i chose to research are a Nigerian group called P Square . Paul and Peter Okoye are two brothers who sing and dance. there music is a mixture of Rnb, Hip-Hop with an African touch to it. Since their debut album "Last Nite" they have made two more and their popularity and sales have skyrocketed in nigeria and all of africa.
Their interested in music started when they were in highschool, the formed a group called SMOOTH CRIMINALS and mainly danced and mimed Micheal Jackson and Bobby Brown songs.This group lasted for five years. Later with two other friends they formed an Acapella group called MMPP but this group disintegrated Leaving the Two P who later became P square.
The first west african artist that came to my head, when doing this project was Akon. Akon is a senegalese musician. He is known worldwide for his famous songs with various artists. He has worked with one of the most famous white rappers. His song "smack that" featuring eminem was one of his most popular songs. The type of music he makes is between rap and r&b
I chose the musical artist Wasis Diop. He was born in Dakar in 1950 to the son of a Senegalese high official and a member of the Lebou tribe. Because of his great status, he left Senegal in the 1970s to study engineering, but then turned to music. He was first in a band caled the West African Cosmos with a fellow Senegalese musician, Umban Ukset, but then left the Cosmos in 1979 to start a solo career. It wasn't until the early '90s that he got his big break, recording his first solo album, the soundtrack to the film Hyenes, which his brother had directed. Then, with one album already done, he churned out more: No Sant in 1995, Toxu in 1998, and the compilation Everything Is Never Quite Enough in 2004. His music is always innovative, blending traditional Senegales folk music with modern pop, jazz, and even some rock. I had the privelege to go to one of his concerts with his band at the French Cultural Center and it was absolutely great. He has a guitarist, drummer, bassist, pianist, and even an accordionist. Most of his music is written in French, but his instrumentation transcends language. Among English-speaking audiences, he's probably best known for African Dream, a single off No Sant which narrowly missed the Top 40 list in the UK, and Everything is Never Quite Enough, which featured on the soundtrack to the 1999 film The Thomas Crown Affair.
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