Kwabena Kwabena - Game Changer for African Music

Kwabena, Kwabena will be making his first appearance in America in New York City, on Saturday, March 20, 2010 at the Park Central Ballroom courtesy of Boogie Down Nima Productions.

If there is a face to African indigenous soul music movement, it is probably Kwabena Kwabena. The respect he receives from other artists has been driven by his uncompromising success as well as from the unselfishness he has shown in support of other up-and-coming singers and musicians. A tirelessly touring artist, Kwabena, Kwabena vocals can be heard on countless albums by other artists such as Daddy Lumba, Okyeame Kwame , Tinny , Kontihene , Castro, and Obrafour. That peer love appears to only be exceeded by the near fanatical following he has among a surprisingly large fan base, both old and young, making him a sort of Highlife soul royalty. Kwabena, Kwabena has dominated African radio and he is quickly changing the game and the sound of African Highlife music.

I've always wanted to attend a Kojo Antwi concert. Every time he had one of those 24th night shows in Accra, I was in Kumasi with my family for Christmas. So when I saw the poster for his 2009 festive season concerts, I wished he'd be in Kumasi as well. My brother pointed out to me that he'll be live at Golden Tulip Kumasi City Hotel on the 26th of December. I was not going to miss out. Yes, I wasn't going to attend the concert with my girlfriend like I always planned but I was going to be there to sing along to all of Kojo Antwi's songs. Kojo Antwi is arguably the biggest Ghanaian musician ever. He's the music maestro, Mr. Music Man. He's awesome, his rasta is evermore and his music is timeless.

On Saturday the 26th of September 2009, the attention of the music industry turns to urban contemporary vocalist Obiora Obiwon as he releases long awaited sophomore LP The Rebirth in a live concert. For several months smash first single off the album, Obi Mu O has steadily increased the anticipation being a major favourite on the radio and on the streets.

The Rebirth Album Launch Concert assembles celebrities, friends and fans at the Genesis Deluxe Cinemas (Lagos) same day of release in two different sessions of approximately 90 minutes each. The V.I.P Concert starts with red carpet reception at 3pm to kick off 4pm while the Regular Concert is billed for 6pm.

The month of May featured a big concert tour, the Cultural Caravan, in Ghana organized by the Cultural Affairs Services of the French Embassy in partnership with Vodafone. The Cultural Caravan was an initiative designed to challenge artists to develop entertainment by creating new ideas and material which will help the local industry grow.

The Culture Caravan is a musical in a contemporary context, with a DJ, a band, traditional musicians, dancers, artists and actors taking you through local fables, daily drama, current news and issues in a format that bears some resemblance to Concert Parties. Artistes on the bill included Reggie Rockstone, Kwaw Kese, King Ayisoba, Wanlov the Kubolor, DJ Black, Master Drummer Okyerema Yaw Kontor and his all female drummers and theatre starlet Abena Takyi amongst others.

I saw Asa (pronounced Asha) in person and in concert for the first time last week in San Francisco (Yoshis). I was quite excited to go see her perform, and wish I could have gone with one of my sisters, who's a big fan and actually turned me on to her music. I had a couple of her songs on my iPod but didn't really take notice till my sister told me how much she liked 'Fire on the mountain'. Ever since then, I've been a big of Asa's music. When I start to listening to her stuff, I listen repeatedly. You can listen to some of her music on Museke.com. Seeing her perform live for over an hour was just pure bliss.

She came on stage with just two people, a backup singer and a guitarist. She had her own guitar which didn't seem to take away from her beautiful singing. People were wondering why she only came with two people. Immigration issues? Maybe she wasn't on an actual tour? Credit crunch? She said it was her first time in US, she arrived on the 19th to claim her place in the Obama family. Apparently, "they are cousins". No one knows. That's a song she performed too. :-)

The Africans By the Bay concert came off at DA CENTER at 8945 GOLF LINKS RD in
OAKLAND, CA on 5th December. The concert featured Tanzanian superstar, ALI KIBA and Kenyan duo, LONGOMBAS. It also featured West Africa's upcoming artist /dancer DODOYE and South Africa's DANANAI & HAKI. It was organized by DJ Slim. The event ended around 5am after sterling performances by Awilo Longomba's nephews - Christian and Lovy Longomba, as well as Alikiba.

Museke.com interviews Alikiba
Museke.com interviews Longombas

Here are some pictures from the event.

Mokobe is the only Rapper who has reunited in one unique Afro Hip Hop album many African Music Stars . From Salif Keita to Youssou NDour, Oumou Sangare, Sekouba Bambino, Amadou et Mariam, Tiken Jah Fakoly, Seun Kuti to the Latest hit "African Tonik" with Maure Kante !

After winning BEST AFRO CARRIBEAN ALBUM 2008 , Mokobe is now going on his AMERICAN TOUR !!!! He will be performing in several locations:

- November 26th in ATL, USA
- November 28 th in DC, USA

A week ago, I went to see the Grammy winning Soweto Gospel Choir perform at Stanford's Memorial Church. This is not just any choir, this is a Grammy Award winner born and bred in probably the most melodious corner of the world, Southern Africa. I was very excited to see them that I got lyrics to their songs which were not on Museke.com (yet) just so I could sing along and show them how much of a fan I am. Eventually, they didn't perform any of my top 3 SGC favorites but they gave a marvelous account of themselves. If you hear that they are coming to a venue near you, you should go see them too.

The Soweto Gospel Choir is in the midst of their "African Spirit" tour which comprises of 48 dates from early October at New York's Carnegie Hall till December 23 with a concert in the Disney Hall in Los Angeles. "African Spirit" is the name of their latest CD. "African Spirit" won the 2008 Grammy Award for best traditional world music, following their success in the same category in 2007 with their CD "Blessed."

K'Naan Warsame is one of my favorite rappers. His lyrics are deep, on point, conscious, and real. He combines spoken word artistry with African rhythms and his life experiences. He has gone through a lot and he sums it up in one line - "If I rhymed about home and got descriptive, I'll make 50 Cent look like Limp Bizkit".

Yesterday, I attended my first K'Naan concert. I am not done seeing K'Naan perform because the energy he and his band bring on stage and to the crowd is something music fans want again and again. My friends and I got to the club (where he was going to be performing) around 11 but he didn't show up on stage until 12 midnight. The DJ played some good tunes to keep the crowd dancing but personally I would have rather sat somewhere and listened to some K'Naan tunes in anticipation of his performance. Hearing lines like "I'm so sick my rhyme book throws a fit/ I need a vaccination just so I can spit my own shit" (from African way) have to be better than trying to have a good time while waiting for K'Naan to show up.

I saw Oliver Mtukudzi perform over the weekend in San Francisco (Yoshi's). I missed a chance to see him perform once and after my friends who attended that concert praised him, I decided not to miss the Tuku man if he came to perform somewhere near me. The jury is out on Tuku, he's great in concert. The man was full of energy, he was great on his guitar and his Black Spirits band backed him up really well.

Oliver Mtukudzi is the best-selling artiste in Zimbabwe and probably its most famous musician. Tuku, as he is affectionately called, was the first African musician to feature on the cover of the TIME AFRICA magazine in April 2003. The central article was entitled 'The People’s Voice?' and talked about how Zimbabwean musicians sing about change amidst all the problems in the country.