The Amazing Career of Passport Number B957848
By Akin Adesokan (For Larry Siems & Aimee Liu) I The wait would have begun on the line at the British Consulate in Lagos, where dreams collapsed from standing too long in the sun. But the story of standing in line at the AmEmbassy on Eleke Crescent (renamed Louis Farrakhan Street, and re-renamed Walter Carrington […]
Crossroads Republic
By Brent Hayes Edwards The Nigerian superstar bandleader Fela Anikulapo-Kuti hosted a covert summit meeting in the summer of 1977. He received an unexpected, extended visit from Lester Bowie, the mercurial trumpeter of the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Their time together went unheralded and undeclared, a private conversation in the midst of what may have […]
Franc-maçonnerie Suite
By Dominique Malaquais 1st Movement : Uncle Tom or DOM-TOM? Il y a plus de gens qui savent lire et écrire de la littérature que de personnes sachant lire et écrire de la musique, qui a plus d’impact que la littérature. Il est plus aisé d’écouter et/ou d’entendre que de lire ou de voir. En général, […]
Rumblin’
By Dominique Malaquais Tell It To The World April 1st 1974.[1] Before a room packed with reporters, President Mobutu Sese Seko’s Press Secretary, Bula Mandungu, makes an announcement: on September 25th, the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship will take place in Zaire. In the heart of Kinshasa, Muhammad Ali and George Foreman will face off in […]
Variations on the Beautiful in the Congolese World of Sounds
By Achille Mbembe Throughout the second half of the twentieth century, Congolese rumba and its offshoots exercised an intimate power over the African imaginary. The sounds, rhythms and ethnic dances of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo-Brazzaville and a large area of Angola birthed the music of which we speak. Mixtures and borrowings from […]