Afropop’s Roadshow series continues with a focus on new music and interviews from Sierra Leone. Electric Bubu music from Janka Nabay, hip hop from Bajah and The Dry Eye Crew, the latest from Sierra Leone’s Refugee All-Stars, and introducing the … Read more »
I do, during the writing process, feel free. But it’s everything after that makes you feel that the freedom was an illusion. When the system steps in, and the label, and the people that work with you and that are observing every step of what you do. They have to think about, “Where does this fit? Does this work as a follow-up song to the enormous success of his last song? What about American radio, specifically? Will display on top 40? Or will this play on alternative radio? Or is this too weird for any of them?” So you have those things, those questions, though severe observations that will come to your door after having written songs. You just don’t know what to do about that. That’s when you realize that the freedom is a bit of an illusion really. Read more »
It didn’t take long for Somali-born rapper and pop maestro K’naan to let his sold-out audience at the Highline Ballroom in New York City on November 16 know that success has not made him a happy man. Ever since his … Read more »
When I interviewed K’Naan about his third CD, two weeks before its release, I told him I thought it could be big–an album of consequence, a milestone. I also told him that such an endorsement from someone with tastes as … Read more »