2-Face and Mary J.Blige in the Studio: Are the Streets of New York Ready for this! May 7, 2010

 2Face aka "U r my African queen" was in the studio with Mary J.B and she was feeling the African vibe from Africa's show guy. We are certainly happy the son of the soil is making moves. However, we would remain mute until we hear what this collaboration sounds like. 2Face keep doing your thing and as you said "What God has blessed, no one can put asunder." You had better bring that fire with this colabo.

Lapiro’s Case To Be Tabled At UN April 27, 2010

By Daniel Gwarbarah

The case of ace musician, Pierre Roger Lambo Sandjo aka Lapiro de Mbanga, serving a three-year prison term at the New Bell Prison in Douala, will soon be tabled to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

Rapid Action Network, a human rights pressure group, announced the initiative in a release dated April 21.The group recalls that Lapiro de Mbanga was detained on April 9, 2008 and sentenced to a three-year jail term in September of the same year for allegedly taking part in anti-government riots.

It observes that the Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) is continuously protesting the imprisonment of the songwriter and singer "whose final appeal has still not been heard despite having served more than two years in jail…" "WiPC believes that Lapiro de Mbanga, an outspoken critic of the regime both as a musician and an opposition party member, is being punished for his critical views, in violation of his right to freedom of expression," the release states.

Calling on the authorities to release Lapiro, WiPC reiterated that the musician's appeal is pending before the Supreme Court in Yaounde following numerous delays. It states that in March, the Independent Commission against Corruption and Discrimination, COMICODI, reportedly wrote to President Paul Biya asking for a pardon for Lapiro, anchoring their plea on the numerous irregularities in his trial.

Lapiro is, however, quoted as having rejected such pleas for a presidential pardon, preferring to wait for his appeal to be heard by the Supreme Court. "A group of US lawyers working with Freedom are now preparing to submit Lapiro de Mbanga's case to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention," the Rapid Action Network release declares.

Why African art is having a renaissance April 9, 2010

 African art has long been about more than just tribal masks and traditional carvings, and now contemporary African artists are being recognized globally.

The Johannesburg Art Fair recently showcased the works of 400 African contemporary artists, attracting more than 10,000 visitors. Organizer Ross Douglas told CNN there had been an explosion of interest in African art in recent years.

"Africa has always had a strong tribal art and a strong craft component, and that will always stay, he said.

"But that doesn't mean there can't be a contemporary market existing alongside that, and if you look in South Africa at the contemporary market in the last four or five years, it's absolutely exploded.

Echo Lens Focus: Jean Pierre Bekolo’s “Quartier Mozart” and “les saignantes” January 3, 2010

http://quartiermozart.blogspot.com/

One of the most delightfully unexpected African films in decades, Quartier Mozart
was awarded the Prix Afrique en Creation at the 1992 Cannes Film
Festival and has enchanted film festival audiences from New York to New
Dehli. Told over a 48-hour period in a working class neighborhood in
Yaounde, Jean-Pierre Bekolo’s film is the story of the
not-very-sentimental education of a young schoolgirl known as Queen of
the ‘Hood. Maman Thekla, the local sorceress, helps her enter the body
of a young man, My Guy, so she can discover for herself the real
“sexual politics” of the quarter. Meanwhile, Maman Thekla herself
assumes the shape of Panka, a familiar comic figure in Cameroonian
folklore who can cause a man’s penis to disappear with a simple
handshake.

L’artiste musicien Papillon célèbre ses 20 ans de carrière June 11, 2009

C’est en 1984 que le futur « Maréchal » commence à côtoyer le monde
musical, découvert par Guy Lobé, alors au sommet de sa gloire. Depuis,
cet artiste dont le vrai nom est Din Din Ferdinand a produit 12 albums
solo et a participé à la réalisation de beaucoup d’autres. Il est
présent dans cinq albums produits et composés avec son orchestre le «
Pizza Dance international», avec lequel il promeut sa tendance fétiche,
le « Sakissa ». Des titres à la sauce makossa comme « Femme sans
ambition », « Cacao café », « Laver sans délaver », « A qui le tour »,
qui ont fini de donner une dimension nationale voire internationale à
cet artiste fantasque et populaire.

Pete Edochie, Kanayo-O-Kanayo To Act In Cameroon June 10, 2009

By Talla Aghaa Kitts,

This
revelation was made during a press chat with the producer of
the movie, Joseph Isaac Walkie Njia, Chief Executive Officer of Joe
Walkie Foundation.  The renowned Nigerian film stars are expected to
use their popularity to add flare to the new film, to be shot in
Kumba. 

Charlotte Mbango Dies In Paris Hospital June 5, 2009

By Solomon Amabo and Solomon Tembang

Inhabitants of Douala in particular and Cameroonians the world over were taken aback with the announcement of the death of Cameroon's Makossa singer, Charlotte Mbango.
She is said to have died on 2 June in a hospital in Paris, France where she was hospitalized after allegedly having been diagnosed of cancer. Her funeral program is still to be announced.
Charlotte Mbango started music in Church Choirs as early as 9-year-old as a soprano. At 13, she became a lead singer in high school and consequently founded her own Gospel and Negro Spirituals band, followed by school shows before leaving for Europe in 1979 for her studies.

Charlotte Mbango N’est Plus June 3, 2009

Dans les bars, boîtes de nuit et autres milieux publics des villes camerounaises, Konkaï Makossa figurait en bonne place dans ces collections d’anciens succès qui ont fleuri avec la piraterie à grande échelle des compact discs. Charlotte Mbango, l’artiste, pouvait déjà considérer cela comme une mort.

Charlotte Mbango est morte hier à Paris June 3, 2009

L’artiste musicienne, auteur de la chanson à succès « Konkai Makossa », est décédée hier à Paris, des suites de maladie. Elle avait 49 ans. Charlotte Mbango, la mère de « Konkai Makossa » ne chantera plus. Le jeu d’enfant est fini. « Chouchou » s’est tue. L’artiste musicienne est décédée des suites d’une maladie, au CHU Kremlin-Bicêtre hier matin autour de 8h50, heure de Douala, après son transfert d’un hôpital en Irlande du Nord, où elle résidait depuis plus de dix ans.

Henri Dikongue Performing May 24th May 22, 2009

Soul Makossa singer and Cameroon's legendary artist, Henry Dikongue will be performing May 24th at Restaurant Le Village (Afrikiko) in Silver Spring MD.

11436 Cherry Hill Rd Beltsville, MD 20705 (301) 595-7345