Thursday, June 23, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
Mike Schreiber
takes photographs for ARISE. The New York-based lensman snapped all the backstage action at AMFW Lagos and he also captured Erkyah Badu for issue 11. Last year he released a book of photos, True Hip Hop, and he's launching it in London this week with a show at Shoreditch's Protein Gallery.
J: I don't really want to ask why you did the book, as it pretty obvious why someone would want to do a book of their photos. But why now?
M: I did a show in 2009 with Alex Emmart from Mighty Tanaka gallery in NY and he suggested that I do a book, so I put a proposal together and submitted it to the publisher. They liked it and… boom! A book. Also, I haven't been shooting very much hip hop these days, so I saw the book as kind of a chronicle of that particular body of work.
J: What are your favourite pics in the book? (I know, they're all favourites, which is why they're in the book... but if you had to pick)
M: My favourite is the picture of Biggie's mum, Ms Voletta Wallace. To the general public Biggie is a larger-than-life icon but to her, Biggie is her son. She was a very nice woman. Very strong and very proud of her son. I like that portrait because I think all of those things come through in it.
J: Any juicy tales from when you were photographing them?
M: Actually they're in the book!
J: Any tales about... anyone?
M: Ha ha! Nope!
J: What makes a good photo for you?
M: I like photos – and all art for that matter – that conveys something truthful. Whether it's photos, music, movies, writing…I want to believe that what I'm saying has some kind of truth to it. http://www.mikeschreiber.com/
Words Jane Fitzgerald
no crystal stair...
still isn't supporting a film about her life starring Jennifer Hudson, but she tells CNN that it has nothing to do with the Oscar winning actress.
“I have absolutely nothing against Jennifer, but I have everything against the movie itself,” she told CNN’s Nadia Bilchik.
The film, titled “Winnie,” has sparked controversy not only because an American was cast in the role rather than a South African actor, but also because Mandela sought to impede the film’s production.
“I was not consulted,” she tells CNN. “I am still alive, and I think that it is a total disrespect to come to South Africa, make a movie about my struggle, and call that movie some translation of a romantic life of Winnie Mandela.”
Director Darrell Roodt ("Cry, the Beloved Country") has described the film as "the ultimate women's movie" and "an amazing love story," as he did to the press at Cannes last year.
"I think it is an insult," Mandela told CNN of the film. "I don’t know what would be romantic in our bitter struggle.”
Hudson never met with Mandela, but a rep for the actress told CNN that it wasn’t because Hudson didn’t want to. The singer, most recently cast in the "Three Stooges," would have loved to meet the activist, her rep said, but the producers thought she shouldn't. The film is based on the book "Winnie Mandela: A Life," and a producer said they wanted to uphold the integrity of the book on which the story is based.
The daughter of a history teacher, Nomzamo Winifred Madikizela moved to Johannesburg in 1953 to study pediatric social work. She met Mandela in 1956, became his devoted coworker, and married him in 1958. At the start of her husband's long imprisonment (1962–90), Madikizela-Mandela was banned (severely restricted in travel, association, and speech) and for years underwent almost continual harassment by the South African government and its security forces; she spent 17 months in jail in 1969–70 and lived in internal exile from 1977 to 1985. During these years she did social and educational work and became a heroine of the antiapartheid movement. Her reputation was seriously marred in 1988–89, however, when she was linked with the beating and kidnapping of four black youths, one of whom was murdered by her chief bodyguard.
After Mandela was released from prison in 1990, Madikizela-Mandela initially shared in his political activities and trips abroad. In May 1991 she was sentenced to six years in prison upon her conviction for kidnapping, but the sentence was later reduced to a fine. She made a political comeback in 1993 with her election to the presidency of the African National Congress Women's League, and in 1994 she was elected to Parliament and appointed deputy minister of arts, culture, science, and technology in South Africa's first multiracial government, which was headed by her husband. Madikizela-Mandela continued to provoke controversy with her attacks on the government and her strident appeals to radical young black followers, however, and in 1995 Mandela expelled her from his cabinet. She and Mandela had separated in 1992 and were divorced in 1996.
Madikizela-Mandela was reelected to Parliament in 1999. She resigned in 2003, however, after she was convicted on charges of fraud and theft stemming from her involvement with fraudulently obtained bank loans, many of which benefited economically disadvantaged persons. Madikizela-Mandela was partially vindicated a year later when the conviction for theft was overturned because she had not recognized any personal gain from her actions.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Writin' Bloody...
I went to "art school" (cue: eye roll) and I consider myself "cultured". I'd like to think I have pretty discerning taste. I'm versed in Shakespeare and Becket, read everything from Tony Morrison to Robert Frost. But my favorite writer is Derrick Brown, hands down.
I fell in love with a man who read me his poetry... and still today, it is hard to discern whether I first loved him, or the poetry of Derrick Brown. I'm not often a fan of things, I have seldom been the weirdo in the front row screaming and crying at the presence of some rock-star.
But this guy writes words that make you say "hallelujah" (and I'm not particularly religious). He makes you want to forgive yourself for whatever you're not and get on with finding your own brilliance.
He inspired me to start this blog and when I began my regular "You Should Know..." posts about artists that I wanted to share with others, he was my very first subject. (This is my: hanging out by the stage door after the concert- in a mini skirt-equivalent).
DB- you can autograph my cleavage -any time.
Buy his books and check out all the other amazing artists that write like rock-n-roll at http://writebloody.com/store/.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
You Should Know: J* Davey
J* Davey is a multi-genre duo from Los Angeles, CA whose sound can be described as a combination of alternative hip hop, alternative rock, soul,electronica, fusion, jazz, punk, funk, new wave and R&B futurists. The group was formed by female vocalist Briana Cartwright (who performs under the name Jack Davey) and male producer Brook D'Leau when they were introduced by a mutual friend in high school.
Growing up, Jack Davey was exposed to classic jazz and hints of late seventies jazz fusion before being introduced to the sound of the eighties with R&B and new hip-hop sounds. By the time she relocated to Los Angeles at the age of 8, she landed a spot in an all-girl singing group that signed to MCA Records. The group never released any material.
J*DaVeY "Slooow" from JackBrookSOCKETUMi on Vimeo.
Brook D'Leau came up surrounded by new wave and pop-rock sounds by the way of Prince, Radiohead, Talking Heads and The Police. And at an early age Brook began to create interestingly melodic instrumental tracks in his father's home studio after school and on the weekends for fun.
Today the duo is being heralded as a cross between , Erykah Badu,Prince, Sa-Ra and Radiohead. J Davey's songs have been played on various radio stations in cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and Atlanta, as well as overseas by way of Gilles Peterson, Benji B, and Berry King. Questlove of The Roots, Steven Spacek, and Prince have seen the duo perform in sold-out venues such as the House of Blues in Anaheim, CA and the Temple Bar in Santa Monica, CA. Prince invited them to open for him at his 3121 Club and they are also featured on the new the Bloody Beetroots album Romborama with Make Me Blank.
In the meantime, the group have independently released their first effort, "The Beauty in Distortion" as a double disc along with "The Land of the Lost", a full length pop-culture/American-media satire-filled limited edition project that was born from a mixtape collaboration with Fader Magazine.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
You Should Know: Mayer Hawthorne
Mayer Hawthorne grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, just outside of Detroit, and vividly remembers, as a child, driving with his father and tuning the car radio in to the rich soul and jazz history the region provided. “Most of the best music ever made came out of Detroit,” claims the singer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, who counts Isaac Hayes, Leroy Hutson, Mike Terry, and Barry White among his influences, but draws the most inspiration from the music of Smokey Robinson, Curtis Mayfield, and the legendary songwriting and production trio of Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland, and
Eddie Holland Jr.
The “retro” tag is added to almost any contemporary work that sounds like it was originally recorded between 1966 and 1974, and Hawthorne, among the newest contributors to the genre, is aware of how trends come and go. After being introduced to Stones Throw label head
Peanut Butter Wolf by mutual friend Noelle Scaggs of the Rebirth, even his current boss was skeptical. “He showed me two songs and I didn’t understand what I was listening to,” Wolf recalls. “I asked him if they were old songs that he did re-edits of – I couldn’t believe they were new songs and that he played all the instruments.”
And after meeting in person, it was even harder for Wolf to believe that Hawthorne was also the lead vocalist. Few expect such heartfelt sentiment to come from a 29-year-old white kid from Ann Arbor, but he has caught the ear of his family at Stones Throw, as well as BBC Radio 1 host Gilles Peterson and producer/DJ Mark Ronson. Expectations are high for the admitted vinyl junkie who never planned on taking his crooning public. Hawthorne’s hanging-by-a-string falsetto and breakbeat production on his first recorded effort, the tender
“Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out,” are simultaneously Smokey and J Dilla – equal parts “The Tracks of My Tears” and “Fall in Love.” “It’s soul,” he explains, “But it’s new.”
Hawthorne has produced and played instruments for much of his life, but never intended to become a singer. He isn’t formally trained, and never sang in the church choir or in any of the bands he was in before founding The County (formerly the County Commissioners). But here he is, new school soul sensation, who has taken the Motown assembly-line production model and eliminated nearly every element but himself and a few hired hands. “I think Mayer is the only artist in the history of the label that I’ve signed after hearing only two songs,” says Peanut Butter Wolf. “Sometimes, you just know it’s the right thing to do.”
-- Bio by Ronnie Reese.
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