Breaking the Ice on Veeda
What does it take for a woman to break into Ghana’s male-dominated secular music scene? The likes of Mzbel have proven that a little bit of raunchiness can break grounds for a female artist a set the wheels of success in motion. If sex sells and sexiness is appealing, then Vida Darko, or simply Veeda, could very well be the next big thing to hit the Ghanaian music scene. She is gifted with beauty and sex appeal, and blessed with a myriad of talents. She is also a hip life/R&B singer/songwriter, fashion designer, choreographer, fashion model, film producer, script writer, and an actress. » Read more…
Project Fame West Africa opened
Well, the long wait is over! After several rounds of auditions across four Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia, 15 young and talented contestants have been selected into the Project Fame Academy in Lagos, where they will undergo grooming and training for a long lasting career in music.
Project Fame West Africa was officially opened on Sunday September 28 and it already promises to be an exciting competition, although the opening ceremony was fraught with several challenges. It was a night of failed microphones galore; the microphone for the judges wasn’t working half of the time and there was poor coordination between the presenters and the judges. The stage at the Project Fame Academy Theatre in Lagos, looked like a corporate dinner setting and the female presenter, dance prodigy and radio host, Funlola Raimi was too stiff. Dare Art- Alade was quite on point though! Anyway, it is a singing competition and so it should be the singing that counts and not all that I am complaining about. » Read more…
I want a piece of Antonio Margarito
Joshua Clottey made Ghanaians, and indeed Africans, proud when he challenged and defeated American, Zab Judah to become the IBF Welterweight Champion. However, this feat seems not to be enough for Joshua, who desperately wants to ‘unify’ the IBF title with the WBA title; hence Joshua’s call on WBA Champion Antonio Margarito to give him a shot at the WBA title.
According to the champion, he is very excited about becoming a world champion because that had always been his dream. He says that in spite of the challenges of inadequate training facilities in Ghana, his passion and determination to succeed as a boxer made him the champion he is today. » Read more…
George François’s Passion for African folk idiom
Ghanaian concert pianist, George François was born into a musical family and so began piano lessons as early as age 2. His passion to make good music took him to the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England, where he won the Charles James Heywood Prize for Piano; the Charles Hall Scholarship; and the Terence Weill Prize for Chamber Music.
He has participated in numerous international concerts with a contemporary music ensemble, a jazz band and other smaller ensembles. With his keen passion for celebrating and promoting African folk idioms, he is gradually leaving his mark on modern classical music as an exponent of African folk music. He plays arrangements of African folk music that are his own arrangements/compositions. He has deep respect for the works of renowned Ghanaian composer, Prof. J.H Nketiah, and has played several compositions from the professor for audiences across Europe and America. » Read more…
MTV unites Africa with Making the Video
Kwaw Kesse ruled Ghana’s hip-hop scene in the past year and he hopes to extend his reign to the rest of Africa. Well, with the assistance of MTV Base, his dream may soon become a reality as he just got the chance to collaborate with Tanzania’s hip-hop superstar, Professor J.
The MTV ‘Making the Video Challenge’ with Shell team is currently in Accra to shoot a video for the remix to Kwaw Kesse’s ‘Who Be You’ featuring Professor J. The video will be shot by a team of Ghanaian directors under the mentorship of veteran director, Anthony Mandler. Mandler has worked with the likes of Beyonce, Ne-Yo, Omarion, Rihanna, and One Republic. The music video will be premiered on Saturday, September 27, at the Aphrodisiac Nite Club in Ghana and, subsequently, on MTV Base and its affiliate TV stations across Africa. » Read more…
Doing it for West Africa
Without a doubt, Ghanaian-born UK rapper, Sway DaSafo, and Nigerian born UK R&B singer, Lemar, are the best in their respective fields as far is the UK music scene is concerned. So what happens when the two collaborate on a song? - A masterpiece even better than R. Kelly and Jay Z’s ‘Best of Both Worlds’. Ha-ha! That is certainly how I felt when I saw the video for ‘Saturday Night Hustle’. The video is well put together and the music, um, the music is refreshing!
Maybe I am about to exaggerate a little but I can’t stop thinking that the video aptly tells the story of how Africans and blacks in general have to get their hustle on just to survive in the west. I am sure many of our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora can relate with that. Whichever way you look at it, Sway and Lamar are doing Africa proud and this one goes to West Africa!
A Voyeur Africa: The Return of Big Brother
The most intrusive reality TV series in the world, Big Brother makes a glorious return to Africa. As the world said goodbye to the Olympic Games on Sunday August 24, Africa said hello to season 3 of Big Brother Africa (BBA3). For the next 96 days, viewers across Africa will intrude into the lives of 12 housemates selected from 12 African countries on DSTV.
For a reward of 100,000 US dollars, these 12 housemates will plot and scheme as well as let themselves loose under the watchful eyes of millions of viewers. Everyone’s favourite ‘shower hour’ will certainly have people up early and staying glued to their TV sets. The often steamy session of BBA has gradually created a voyeur continent out of Africa and in fact many people criticised Big Brother Nigeria for not showing housemates taking their shower. Nigerian legislators even tried to ban BBA in Nigeria this year but to no avail. By the way, doesn’t Nigeria have bigger and real problems to solve? » Read more…
Adina Wins Stars of the Future
After 8 weeks of amazing singing and keen competition, the Stars of the Future grand finale was reduced to a 4-way, 2-round bout between 2 guys and 2 girls namely Anita Gyan, Adina Ndamse, Daniel Netty, and Ike Ologo. But at the close of this game of numbers, the slinky and charming Adina was the contestant that accumulated the most amount votes from the public and the judges to win the coveted recording contract and brand new car.
In the first round, Adina knocked out the competition with her delightful rendition of Rhianna’s ‘Umbrella’. However, Anita’s version of Alicia Key’s ‘No One’, and Daniel’s rendition of ‘Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes’, were not too far behind. Ike seemed to have found the pan-African in him as he did the first of his two African themed songs–Freddie Meiway’s ‘Nana’. » Read more…
A-Plus’ Letter to the West
A-Plus is a Ghanaian artist best described as controversial and politically incorrect. He first made a name for himself singing about events leading to and after Ghana’s 2000 general elections. His witty and fairly accurate narration of political issues made his song an immediate hit. He followed up in the same way on the 2004 general elections and continued in a slightly different direction in 2007 when this time he specifically talked about Ghana’s Parliament in his somewhat poignant, ‘Letter to Parliament’. Letter to Parliament won him a nomination for Best Hip-life Song at the 2008 edition of the Ghana Music Awards.
In between his releases, A-Plus has also tried his hand ay stand-up comedy with relative success. He has carved a niche for himself as a politically incorrect artist but in his latest single, ‘A Letter to the West’; he makes a complete u-turn to spit conscious and politically correct lyrics about Africa’s bane of poor leadership. He talks about wars and poverty in Africa resulting from stinking political leadership. » Read more…
Call to Fame
The Star Academy phenomenon has been a worldwide hit with competitions in England, Spain, Italy, Russia and many other countries. The show that discovered some of the world’s biggest talents such as UK’s R&B sensation Lemar, made a remarkable impact on Africa when Africa hosted the pan-African version, Project Fame. 
Held in Johannesburg, South Africa from June to August 2004, the show had 16 African contestants - 9 of which were South African. The contestants were groomed for stardom, with the weakest being eliminated on a weekly basis; the top three received record deals and the winner got a lot more prizes. » Read more…
MTV Africa Music Awards, Finally!
Yes, finally African artists can look beyond a mere tokenism for their hard work as MTV Networks plans to launch an African version of its signature annual music awards. We no longer have to scramble for a single award at the MTV European Music Awards (EMA). » Read more…
African Events Calendar
Upcoming Events
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February 22, 2009
Race Across The World (RAW Africa) : Sossusvlei, Namibia
South Africa
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February 21, 2009
Auditions: Miss Africa Denmark 2009
West Europe
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February 1, 2009
Annual Boston African Film Festival:Boston, Massachusetts
USA - North East
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January 31, 2009
Liberian Entertainment Awards: Charlotte, NC
USA - South East
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