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• Disaster

  October 10, 2008 @ 9:15 am | by Bryan

  I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’ve started to think about how this economic slowdown will directly affect my family and I in the coming months. It is growing menacingly from a theoretical concept into an uncomfortable reality.

  That said, every now and again something happens which gives me a renewed sense of perspective. Yesterday, that perspective came in the form of a headline and a text message from a friend in Australia; both were about Zimbabwe’s inflation figure for July which reached 231 million per cent. The icing on that cake is that official figures are always massaged down and the country still doesn’t have a functioning government. Great.

  One of Zimbabwe’s most famous musicians, Thomas Mapfumo, released a very popular song years ago called Disaster. In the song, he repeats a line that can’t really be translated without losing the depth of its meaning. The closest I can come to a decent translation is: Houston, we have a problem.

  The sad reality is that as painful as a global recession may be in a place like Ireland, it could be disastrous in struggling states. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.

• Stand Up!

  July 15, 2008 @ 11:41 am | by Bryan

  

  Stand Up

  Even though they know not who you are

  Stand Up

  If they think you know nothing at all

  Stand Up

  Where you came from, will show you where you’re going

  Stand Up and we will see what’s up…

  That’s the chorus for the first song on Take Back the Mic, the album released on iTunes today by the group Soulfège. The song is called Damoshi, which means ‘Stand Up’ in Ga, a language spoken in and around Accra, Ghana.

  I’ve never reviewed an album and I may never do it again. But this one is special. Soulfège’s leader, Derrick Ashong, came to prominence after this YouTube video popped up.

  The group’s key members are a trio of Harvard graduates. Ashong was born in Ghana and has been an immigrant since childhood. He has managed to become deeply involved in American politics and yet retain a passion for the continent of Africa and her development and growth. He has even started what’s called the Sweet Mother Tour (SMT), made up of artists, activists, educators, public health workers and others. They do development work in African countries.

  Take Back the Mic is a call to all who are interested, with an emphasis on Africans in the Diaspora. It is about harnessing the collective power and energy of ordinary people to bring about extraordinary change. You cannot help but be reminded of Bob Marley’s Exodus listening to this music.

  The album is a fusion of the best elements of hip-hop with the sounds of West Africa. Thrown in are also the cool, ‘with it’ vibe of urban America and the laid back warmth of Reggae. It makes me want to dance with my wife in our living room, and when that’s done, talk about how we’re going to change the world.

  Here is a glimpse of Derrick: