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‘’It’s not just about having an African backdrop’’ – Baloji interviewed
We met Baloji, the brilliant and innovative Congolese-born Belgian rapper and video producer, a few hours before his concert at this year’s Roskilde Festival. We asked Baloji about his recent performances in Kinshasa, about recording with Konono, the distinct visual side of his work and how to escape the ‘African artist’ label. Read his fascinating ...
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‘’We are all ambassadors whether we like it or not’’ – an interview with Blitz
We met Samuel Bazuwule aka Blitz the Ambassador after his astonishing concert at this year’s Roskilde Festival where he and his Embassy Ensemble had taken the audience on a joyride aboard ‘Ambassador Airways’. The conscious Brooklyn based, Ghanaian hip-hop artist and visual artist spoke to us about operating from a deficit as an African musician, ...
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Creative Obstructions – Analogik’s Ethiopian Challenge
Labelling of bands has many advantages. However, in some cases the labelling simply seems impossible and maybe also superfluous. One of these cases is the Danish music collective Analogik and their eclectic blend of jazz, Balkan, funk, Django guitar, tango, hiphop, electronica etc. On their new album New Seeland they add yet another genre to ...
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The Ambassadors – Addis Rumble meets Amadou & Mariam
The backstage trailer is shaking when we meet Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia before their concert at Roskilde Festival. American heavy metal veterans Machine Head are playing a noisy set about 50 meters away from the trailer. But the Malian couple keeps their cool. They have become regulars at Roskilde, one of Europe’s largest ...