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Fela Anikulapo Kuti's work enjoys posthumous revival

Abami Eda Lives on: Starting November 23, musical theater fans visiting New York won't just be angling for tickets to Broadway productions of "Chicago," "Mamma Mia!" and "Rock of Ages." They'll also have the chance to see "Fela!" -- a new musical at the Eugene O'Neill Theater about the influential Nigerian musician Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, and the opportunity to choose Afrobeat over show tunes, ABBA hits and Disney songs.

What's at stake in this Broadway venture, however, is much more than recreational tourist dollars. The show will help find a larger audience for Kuti, who before his death in 1997 pioneered Afrobeat from the sounds of James Brown and West African high-life music, became a political icon in his native Nigeria and earned the admiration of everyone from Paul McCartney to the Brazilian singer Gilberto Gil.

Rikki Stein, Kuti's former co-manager and the executor of his estate, plans to capitalize on this exposure to cement his legacy as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century.

"I have an abiding regret that Fela never achieved the recognition he deserved during his lifetime," Stein says. "We have a long row to hoe in terms of general knowledge and acceptance."

ALBUM REISSUES

In addition to green-lighting "Fela!," Kuti's estate has licensed his catalog to the newly revived Knitting Factory Records. The well-timed deal will result in the reissue of Kuti's complete catalog -- 45 albums -- during the next 12 years.

"The industry always talks about who the next big legacy artist will be," says Ian Wheeler, label manager of Knitting Factory Records. "It should have been Fela years ago. We're really trying to bring a new audience around the world, and particularly in the U.S., to his music."

Up first is the October 27 release "The Best of the Black President," a compilation of Kuti's best-known material. The set is being sold at previews of "Fela!" and at Felabrations, a series of Afrobeat DJ parties organized by Knitting Factory Records and its marketing partner, Giant Step.

"We're a conduit for raising awareness of Afrobeat," says DJ Rich Medina, who founded the Kuti tribute party Jump N' Funk in 2001 and headlined four of 18 Felabrations nationwide. "It's a way of helping the cause."

"The first thing we're doing is galvanizing the core base of Fela fans," Giant Step founder/CEO Maurice Bernstein says, "then using the messaging to make him relevant in a universal way. You can live in Detroit and understand what (the famous Kuti saying) 'Music is the weapon' means, just like you would Bob Marley's 'One Love' or Marvin Gaye's 'What's Going On?'"

The first batch of reissues arrive February 2: "The '69 Los Angeles Sessions," "Live With Ginger Baker," "London Scene"/"Shakara," "Rodoforofo Fight," "Open & Close"/"Afrodisiac" and "Gentleman"/"Confusion." It's not only the first time Kuti's early London recordings with Koola Loobitos will be reissued but also the debut of his catalog on vinyl, which Knitting FactoryVampire Weekend. hopes will attract a new generation of music collectors who listen to African-influenced bands like

"Every day there are traces of new people discovering Fela's music," Wheeler says. "But there has never been a swell of activity around him like this."

Though MCA reissued Kuti's catalog in 2001, Bernstein, who also helped market that series, says its potential wasn't fully realized. "MCA was a major label, and no matter how much they said they loved Fela and how important he was, he was definitely lost in the shuffle," he says.

Stein is all too familiar with labels' conflicted admiration for Kuti. In the mid-'80s, he says he met with every major about the prospect of a deal. "They all received me respectfully and saw Fela as akin to Miles Davis or any of the jazz greats," Stein recalls. "But they'd ask: 'Rikki, which three minutes of this 18-minute song do you want me to put on the radio?' "

"I'd ask Fela to write me a small tune," Stein adds. "He used to say, 'I'm writing African classical music. Don't mess with Tchaikovsky.'"

A deal nearly came to fruition in 1993, when then-Motown Records president Jheryl Busby offered Kuti a five-album deal under his new Africa-oriented label, with a $1.3 million advance for each album and another $1 million for full ownership of Kuti's catalog, Stein says. But after talking to his spirit advisers, Kuti refused to sign until April 1995. Busby left Motown the week of the scheduled signing, and Andre Harrell's first action as Motown's new president was to ax the African label.

BODY/MIND EXPERIENCE

In Knitting Factory Records and the producers of "Fela!," Stein has found partners who are more attuned to the cause of expanding Kuti's legacy.

"Fela!" re-creates the Shrine, the Lagos, Nigeria, nightclub where Kuti played multiple nights each week with his band, Africa 70. A collective of singers, dancers and musicians performs Kuti songs including "Shakara," "Zombie" and "Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense" behind lead actor Sahr Ngaujah, who won an Obie Award for his spot-on portrayal of Kuti in the show's Off Broadway run last year. The effect is less stuffy theater and more raucous concert -- just as its creators intended.

"The Broadway experience can be like sitting with blinders on," "Fela!" director/choreographer Bill T. Jones says. "This is a show you enjoy as much with your body as with your mind. It's free and communal."

"There was a constant struggle between keeping Fela's music pure and deconstructing it for the audience," says the show's musical director, Aaron Johnson, who translated Kuti's Yoruba and pidgin lyrics and is also the conductor/trombonist of the acclaimed Afrobeat band Antibalas. "I've been very pleasantly surprised with the response so far."

Nor have the most controversial aspects of Kuti's life been smoothed over, from his simultaneous "wedding" to 27 women to his clashes with the Nigerian government that led to a brutal 1977 attack on his Kalakuta compound. "It's all out there," Stein says. "Fela has not been sanitized."

That hasn't done anything to quell the show's positive word-of-mouth, the result in no small part to the fact that tastemaker musicians like the Roots' Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson have sung its praises. Jay-Z called it "fantastic" after attending a show, fueling reports that the rapper will become involved with it in an official capacity.

"There's going to be an enormous incentive for people to investigate Fela when they know that Jay-Z, Will Smith and Alicia Keys are all rabid fans," Stein says. "It's a sign that the underground is moving overground."

Further proof that a Kuti revival of sorts is under way: A screenplay for a biopic is in the works, to be directed by the U.K. filmmaker Steve McQueen ("Hunger").

"I believe that with the show, the film and the reissues, a lot is going to change," Stein says. "We'll see a much wider audience for Fela. There were a million people at his funeral shouting, 'Fela will live forever.' Of course, they were right."

(Editing by SheriLinden at Reuters)

NEW YORK (Billboard)

Top Designer Women Shoes 2009 Collection

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Joshua Allen Harris...

Joshua Allen Harris creates inflatable street art by creating structures made from plastic bags. He positions the bags to look like trash on top of subway grates but once the air travels upwards it inflates the bags into animated sculptures!





A completely original yet simple idea from fairly unknown artist Joshua Allen Harris has taken the world by storm. He started off with a bear, and developed to gorillas, giraffes, centaurs and the loch ness monster.



Video From New York Magazine.

Style File: Rihanna

Rihanna's latest single has already created a buzz on the radio and on the internet. Some critics say that her lyrics are very provocative and could encourage influenceable people to commit suicide.

Check out what other critics had to say

Entertainment Weekly:

After a few listens, I think those risks absolutely pay off. Rihanna is in fine vocal form throughout, and Ne-Yo’s songwriting is economical and evocative per usual. I have a feeling “Russian Roulette” is a single we’re all going to be hearing a lot of in the coming months.

LA Times:

It’s hard to imagine it blasting out of car windows or even controlling a club, but it’s all attention-grabbing stuff, standing in stark — emphasis on stark — contrast to much of the current pop landscape.

Even though I didn't think it was possible Rihanna has edged up her look even more. Even when she hadn't even released her single you could spot her outfits daily on the internet. And let's admit it, she looks absolutely stunning and her outfits truely inspire every fashionista as Rihanna isn't afraid to push fashion boundaries.



























Also check out
Style File: Rihanna
Fashion Icon of the Year

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The Women Designer Shoes Sale 2009

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Another Hot Single From Nigerian Megastar “9ice”

Barely two weeks after dropping the first single off his up coming album “Tradition” 9ice hits us with the energy. “Energy” the latest single from 9ice has had people anticipating its release since its teaser was posted online.

In this feel good song, 9ice shows us he can be versatile by fine tuning his style and playing with different languages without drawing too far from what makes him 9ice. He doesn’t disappoint with fluidity in his lyrics, playing with words, and still reminding us about his happiness.


Energy produced by Cheepo, who is currently one of the hottest producers on market will have you dancing and bobbing your head to the tune while still reminding you that 9ice is infact a true modern connoisseur of our Tradition.

Gbamu Gbamu and now Energy leave us without a doubt that Tradition will be very well worth the listen and constant rotation.

Links to the song
http://iLike.com/s/AH5ZA
http://www.reverbnation.com/tunepak/1949031

From: 9ice Facebook Fan Group.

ANTM Contestants: Where are they now?

America's Next Top Model s at its 13th Cycle already! America's Next Top Model, brain-child of the now legendary top model Tyra Banks, premiered in 2003 and is aired in 170 countries!

Every cycle Tyra and the judges choose the winner who becomes America's Next Top Model. Being on TV present a lot of opportunities, even for the girls who don't win. What contestants have been the most successful the last years and are they all still modelling?

Teyona Anderson - ANTM Cycle 12

The latest winner appeared on the cover — well, one side of the magazine — of Seventeen. She was recently profiled in Sophisticate's Black Hairstyles and Care Guide and remains signed with Elite.

Fo Porter - ANTM Cycle 12

Fo says that being on the show was "very hard" and that she was emotionally frustrated. She is working on getting her GED, and she just scored a deal to shoot for Abercrombie & Fitch with Bruce Weber.

Keenyah Hill - ANTM Cycle 4

Keenyah lives in New York, where she has appeared in Complex, Cosmopolitan, and Vibe.

Katarzyna Dolinska - ANTM Cycle 10

Katarzyna is working as a model in Paris.

Felicia Provost - ANTM Cycle 8

Felicia is modeling; she even spoofed Top Model in this Time Out Chicago photo shoot.

Aminat Ayinde - ANTM Cycle 12

Aminat has scored a few campaigns, including this one for Zulu Rose clothing.

April Wilkner - ANTM Cycle 2

April has modeled for clients including Skinny Bitch Swimwear, but she's also pursuing a career in television hosting.

Brittany Brower - ANTM Cycle 4

Now based in Los Angeles, Brittany has modeled for Maxim, Next Level apparel, and Cerebral Itch clothing.

Fatima Siad - ANTM Cycle 10

Fatima has appeared in Ebony, WWD, Elle, and in advertisements for Arbonne cosmetics

Bre Scullark - ANTM Cycle 5

Bre has modeled for publications including Hype Hair, Vibe, and Essence. She Twitters frequently.

Yaya DaCosta - ANTM Cycle 3

Yaya has acted in films and plays; of her role in The First Breeze of Summer, the New York Times called it a "lovely New York debut." She also plays a role in the new season of Ugly Betty as Wilhemina's daughter.

Toccara Jones - ANTM Cycle 3

Toccara had a 14-page spread — photographed by Steven Meisel, no less — for the all-black issue of Italian Vogue. She also models for Ashley Stewart, as shown here.

Jaslene Gonzalez - ANTM Cycle 8

The cha-cha diva was named one of Latina's Latinas of the year, and she has modeled for clients including Garnier Nutrisse.

Nicole Linkletter - ANTM Cylce 5

The season five winner has scored a few magazine covers as well as a campaign for Vigoss jeans.

Lisa Jackson - ANTM Cycle 9

Lisa has received steady work from Carmen Marc Valvo, as seen in this photo.

Eva Marcille - ANTM Cycle 3

Eva Marcille is an American actress, TV host and fashion model. She was the winner of the third cycle of America's Next Top Model, and was the first African American contestant to win the program. She began portraying Tyra Hamilton on the Daytime Emmy-winning soap opera The Young and the Restless in June 2008. She previously went by the name Eva Pigford

Danielle "Dani" Evans - ANTM Cycle 6

She has been featured in MetroStyle, ELLE, Elle Girl, Jewel Magazine, In Touch Weekly, Essence Magazine, Seventeen Magazine, The New York Post, PowerPlay Magazine, Ashro catalog, Sephora, Akademiks, CoverGirl eyewear, the Tory Burch line for Saks Fifth Avenue and Cover magazine.

Whitney Thompson - ANTM Cycle 10

Whitney appeared on the June 2008 issue of In Touch Weekly, an ad with Metrostyle, the cover of Jacksonville Magazine (August 2005 & 2008), Seventeen Magazine (July 2008), Silhouette Catalog, Fashion Bug, Smile Stylist, Supermodels Unlimited (September/October 2008), Yahoo Style[8] and Diana Warner Jewelry She has also been featured on Tyra Banks' magaline, tyrabanks.com

Check out BellaSugar for more on the other contestants!

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