Issue 20  |  June 2010

‘I’m interested in the ways cloth, especially in African societies, is representative of personality and identity’

Nnenna Okore is an internationally acclaimed artist from Nnsukka, Southern Nigeria and studied there with El Anatsui  – (renowned for his beautiful large-scale drapes from bottle-tops). She gained her masters in Ohio and now lectures in Chicago and distilled her art in USA through the deep impression  the wasteful society made on her. She sculpts with paper, remarking that in Nnsukka it’s re-used in many ways and not simply discarded. She also uses clay, and make both materials behave unusually. A social awareness informs her creativity.  Okore’s contemporary, writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Half of a Yellow Sun) , also from Nnsukka, proudly opened the exhibition.

** This article was orginally published in December 2008**

CAV: The October Gallery exhibition features many more of your recent works that use clay. Is paper – as a material – still as important to you?
Nnenna Okore: The explorations with paper continue to evolve and I’m using different processes. I’m adding colour, dying and waxing it. I’ve also gained more interest in working with clay. Rather than conform to stereotypes of ceramics, I’m stretching it, working  in unique ways – taking the hardness of clay and softening it – making it more fabric-like with a kind of ironic relationship. There are differences between the two materials but they have commonalities – alluring textures, beautiful colours. I have a very strong fascination for undulating forms and I visualise these when working with the material so there is always some kind of draping going on.

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Zena Edwards on her play Security

Zena Edwards brings her many talents to a new one-woman show – Security – at the Battersea Arts Centre until the end of November. The well-travelled writer, spoken word artist and musician – who uses traditional African instruments in her thoughtful performances – has developed a piece that now showcases her acting and storytelling skills.

Catch A Vibe caught up with her recently and spoke about her new show, which tackles the controversial, and sometimes ambiguous, topic of human security in an era of terror threats, youth crime and economic and financial instability.

CAV: What is “Security” about?
Zena Edwards: The show is tackling issues of knife crime, intergenerational conflict and culture clashes. I play 5 characters and it’s a massive step for me as an artist; coming from doing spoken word – standing in front of a microphone – to telling a heartfelt story.

CAV: What was the catalyst for doing a show covering issues related to security, terrorist attacks and what some see as anti-democratic legislation?
Zena Edwards: I started to look at what do we do as human beings to make ourselves feel secure; the only thing we have to be secure with is the notion of change; that things will always change. No matter how much we think “I know how the world functions, I know how I am”. In the show you have a young 16-year old girl who meets this Palestinian man who is exiled from Palestine; and how they meet in the South Bank and change each other’s world.  They have something in common: they have both lost a Brother… one to knife crime and another to war in the Palestine conflict. What it does is show we have human frailties in terms of the circumstances we come from.

CAV: You have previewed the show around the country; what has the reaction been?
Zena Edwards: It’s been a fantastic reaction to the show. That’s why we are keeping on going. We’ve done shows in Wales, Warwick, Manchester and Birmingham and I’ve been getting a lot of support from Apples and Snakes [the poetry organisation], Battersea Arts Centre, Birmingham Rep, The Drum; they have given loads of support, so I must be doing something right.

CAV: What differences have you noticed between Security and a spoken word performance?
Zena Edwards: I am playing the all characters. It’s energetic. It’s me one on stage. I stripped the show down to a chair and a bag – that’s my set … the focus is totally on the characters on stage. It’s a very dynamic piece. I have had to study a lot of movement, changing into characters, dialogue, playing two characters at the same time, doing different voices.

CAV: As a spoken word artist’s what’s it like doing this new type of performance?
Zena Edwards: It’s brilliant. I have learnt an awful lot over the last year; I have done physical theatre workshops, tightening up my story as a writer, exploring playing with voice and characters. So as an artist I have learnt an awful lot of lessons… … that will stay with me for the rest of my artistic life.

Security
written by and with Zena Edwards
directed by Anthony Shrubsall
at the Battersea Arts Centre on November 2008

'I'm playing that role that all black actors want to play' says Jimmy Akingbola

Jimmy Akingbola is the talented British actor who has worked prolifically on stage and screen. His TV credits include working on The Bill, Holby Blue and The Crouches. On stage he has performed at The National Theatre, Theatre Royal Stratford East and The Donmar Warehouse alongside Ian McKellen. He currently stars in the title role of Frantic Assembly’s Othello at the Lyric Hammersmith and has just been nominated for a Screen Nation Award. During a well deserved break he tells Catch A Vibe how it all began.

CAV: When did you first develop an interest in acting?
Jimmy Akingbola: It was about when I was 15 at secondary school. I’ve always liked acting and making people laugh. When I was in secondary school my drama teacher used to take me out of maths and ask me to help in drama. I had a passion for it… It was really good to gain that experience and that respect. The school knew that Jimmy was a good little actor! I got an A in drama. So I went to Epping Forest College. I went out of my borough to meet different people and give myself a chance.The first week the assignment was to do a monologue, fact or fiction. I dropped a stand- up monologue thing and at the end of it, it cements that I’m going to be an actor.

CAV: You have worked extensively in TV and Theatre, what would you say the secret of your success is?
Jimmy Akingbola: Luck and hard, hard work. I do feel like, without sounding big-headed, that I have some sort of natural talent otherwise I wouldn’t be doing it but I do feel like I work hard. When I was at drama school at first I was at the bottom end of the class. I thought I was working hard but I was just 18 and had a “you guys owe me” attitude and thought I didn’t have to work. But I sort of grew up after the first 6 months. I turned the screw on myself and worked a bit harder and then I noticed the benefits and the responses from the tutors… so I maintained that work ethic.

CAV: Have you found it difficult as a black actor?
Jimmy Akingbola: It has got better, but I think it could get even better. I think what it is… there are more black actors that are starting to come out and there are a few more plays being done but [it’s not that many]… so if you only have a small selection of work going out there…you’re in a position where you are competing against so many good actors. I’m lucky, I’m working. But sometimes if there’s a part that’s specifically for a black actor, there’s a pool of actors dying to get it and we all have our heartbreaks.

CAV: And have you always wanted to play Othello?
Jimmy Akingbola: No, funnily enough. I wanted to play the other moor in Titus Andronicus, Aaron. That play is brilliant. Basically there’s blood, blood, blood, in the beginning and all arms getting chopped of and family getting killed, it’s sort of Reservoir Dogs meets Pulp Fiction. The moor character in there is not noble at all… he’s just a badman! He has an affair with a white woman and she has a baby and he gets caught and they’re expecting him to quiver and he’s like “what?! I don’t care!” I read that speech and understood it and though it was amazing! Since then, that speech and that play have been among my favourites. But then when I got Othello I was like, “actually it’s the big O, I gotta step to it!” (Laughs)

CAV: Frantic Assembly’s version of Othello is quite different, what was it about it that you liked?
Jimmy Akingbola: I like the script. When I first looked at the script and it was nice to see that they had set the play [in North England]. Then I read it and it worked so well. And also because there have been many good versions [of Othello] this year. And as an actor I’m all about taking risks – If I fall flat, I fall flat….I believe in this story and if I am going to do Othello, this is more my Othello – It just grabbed me.

CAV: Did you ever feel any pressure playing one of the most famous black roles in theatre history?
Jimmy Akingbola: (Pause) A little bit. But I just used it. As far as I know I was the first black actor to play Jimmy Porter (in John Osborne’s’ Look Back in Anger) and everyone was like “Wow you’re doing that?!Richard Burton played him…Kenneth Branagh played him!” I felt more pressure in that job. So when it comes to Othello, I’m just celebrating… I’m playing that role that all black actors want to play.

CAV: Finally, how did you feel about your Screen Nation nomination?
Jimmy Akingbola: I was surprised; it came out of the blue. I had done other stuff and it never got any recognition so I was just surprised and shocked. So it was a bit of a delayed response of “Oh yeah I have been nominated – okay.” And I think because my head was busy with this [Othello]. But then someone broke it down and said “Jimmy, it’s great to be nominated for anything and you should cherish those moments”. So even if I don’t win I’ve been nominated and I’m up there with a lot of good talent and I am being recognised.

Chef Anthony Cumberbatch in conversation

Anthony Cumberbatch is Caribbean Chef of the Year 2007-2008 and former chef at The Ivy, Quaglinos and Caribbean Scene. He is now branching out with Bamboo Grove, a new venture described as “nouvelle Caribbean cuisine”. Catch A Vibe caught up with chef Anthony to discuss how he plans to re-invent traditional West Indian cooking.

CAV: When did you first develop an interest in cooking?
Anthony Cumberbatch: Well, from an early age, probably around 7 or 8 years of age. I was brought up in Barbados and can attribute a lot of my initial interest in cooking from the meals my grandmother made me; the use of fresh produce and the techniques used to achieve great flavours and textures.

CAV: How would you describe your culinary skills?
Anthony Cumberbatch: Funky, creative and free-flowing. I like to bring an element of creativity to each dish; presentation is key with my style. I work from the centre of the plate outwards, almost like a drawing – adding and taking away and playing around to get the look I want. Aesthetically, Caribbean food is quite flat, but its strength lies in the flavour. This where I come in and create a plate of food that is beautiful to look at as well as beautiful in taste.

CAV: Is “nouvelle Caribbean cuisine” a fad or can you see it taking off?
Anthony Cumberbatch: Yes, I can see it taking off. Many places I know of are upgrading and staying innovative and making improvements all the time which is fundamental. Any competition will be good for Bamboo Grove as it’ll keep us progressive.

CAV: What ingredients make excellent jerk chicken?
Anthony Cumberbatch: Pimento, thyme, garlic, onion and scotch bonnet peppers and a dash of vinegar. I also like to add bay leaves and an oxo cube to get that rich brown colour.

CAV: Trapped in a locked kitchen with only three food items; what would they be?
Anthony Cumberbatch: Hmmm (ponders thoughtfully). Can I have four? Onion, mango, lobster and garlic.

CAV: What obstacles have you overcome working in the restaurant industry?
Anthony Cumberbatch: Not being accepted was the main obstacle. People not wanting to give me recognition or jobs simply because of my race, as crazy as it is, it exists in catering, believe me! You have to be 100% committed to what you’re doing as well as being pretty tough from the onset, otherwise people will take you for a ride and eventually it’ll be harder for you to progress. Many chefs from my background have no drive; without that you’ll never succeed.

CAV: What would you cook for your favourite celebrity chef and why?
Anthony Cumberbatch: I’d cook lobster for Gordon Ramsay. Lobster is versatile, easy to present, I love the colour and texture; it’s beautiful.

CAV: Lastly, what attributes does one need to break the mould?
Anthony Cumberbatch: Focus and ambition are tops with pride in what you do.

'My first job as a griot is to tell about our culture' says African musician N'faly Kouyate

N’faly Kouyate is the dynamic group leader of his band Dunkayan (The Voice of the World) and has been a core member of the Afro Celts Sound System. Talking to him from his home in Belgium, it is clear that this is a man who not only takes his music seriously for its own sake, but who is doing much more than that.

Born into a famous griot family in Guinea, he is deeply rooted in Mandingue culture and traditions. His father was a famous griot and devout traditionalist and it is N’faly’s mission through his music, to continue his father’s legacy, to bring the Mandingue culture to audiences across the world. As he says, ‘my first job as a griot is to tell about our culture and our history.  I am a guardian, it is important that I continue the work of my ancestors. I am a walking library, a place where our history and culture is written for our people’. This culture and history is at the very core of his music, ‘I draw 70% of my inspiration directly from the griot tradition.’

Not only the lyrics, but the choice of instruments is used for this purpose. N’faly himself plays the kora and the balafon, ‘these are my griot family instruments’, but he incorporates other traditional instruments into his arrangements as well. N’faly mixes these and others with western instruments in a very particular way, ‘the guitar we play with the mandingue style, and we use the violin on some tracks like Kora ballade. There we use the violin and cello also, but we mix the musical language.’ N’faly is also passionate about other mixes, ‘in my house there are many, many people, white people and black people. I would like to show that this old thinking about white people and black people in Africa is finished now.’ In N’faly’s case these are not empty words, he walks the talk. His band is made up of members from Guinea, France and Belgium. Together they have played many concerts across Europe, where they have been well received, ‘I like European audiences, when you play for them the first time they take 15 or 20 minutes first to discover the instruments; they try to listen to the music, try to understand and then … then they cannot stop dancing!’

True to his mission N’faly takes the message of Africa with him into every show, ‘I like to take some time to talk to the audience and tell them about the instruments the history and our people.” But his dream is to do an extensive tour of Africa. “We have been to Zanzibar and to South Africa, to Durban and Zululand. We played in many villages there. It was fantastic!’ With his kind of energy and obvious commitment, this may well be a dream that comes true, but in the meantime more tours of the UK are in the pipeline for Dunkayan, as is a new album which he hopes to bring out in 2010. Whether he will fit all of this into his schedule is another matter. N’faly and his wife also run a non-profit music school in Belgium, Cadence Mandingue, where classes in many traditional African instruments, as well as African dance and song are given.

Talking to this quiet spoken, but sincere and inspirational man, one is left with no doubt that the message of this tireless son of Africa will touch many people’s lives.

Itw with playwright Mojisola Adebayo

Mojisola Adebayo jokes that although her name means ‘wakes up to wealth’, it has not come true yet. However, with her play Muhammad Ali & Me currently enjoying success at the Oval House Theatre, and a rich body of work behind her – as a writer, performer and director – she certainly lives up to her name in an artistic sense.

Muhammad Ali & Me, which is about a young girl who forms a fantastical relationship with the great fighter, is her most autobiographical work yet. The protagonist, like the writer, is Nigerian-Danish, grows up in the 70s and studies theatre at university. However, Adebayo points out that although the play is “truthful, in the biggest sense of the word, it is not all fact.” The drama deals with hard-hitting issues such as racism, physical and sexual abuse, all of which Adebayo admits; “I have had to deal with in some way, but the details are different.” “Performing the play has been cathartic, although I didn’t set out for it to be. When I first performed the scene where she goes to the police station and asks the officer to write her story down, I was sobbing.”

Writing stories as a way of reclaiming the past is a theme in Adebayo’s work. Her current play is as much about the biography of Muhammad Ali as her own autobiography, and her previous play Moj of the Antarctic drew on the life of the African-American woman Ellen Craft, who escaped slavery by disguising herself as a white man. Yet it is not only well-known historical figures like Gandhi and Mandela that inspire her, she says; “I’m also interested in the heroism of our mothers, people you don’t recognise.” In fact her biggest hero is an Indian woman she met while helping to found a slum-dwellers theatre company there.

As well as India, Adebayo has worked in many countries including Brazil, Israel, Palestine, South Africa and the Antarctic. She specialises in Theatre for Social Change and, despite having been part of numerous television and radio productions, feels that “theatre has a wonderful capacity for interactivity and for bringing people together.”

Indeed, her works are always interactive and innovative, marked in particular by the way in which they incorporate music, dance, song and images. The first person who influenced her view on what a play could be was Ntozake Shange, who wrote For Coloured girls who have considered Suicide in 1974. Adebayo enthuses; “It was really poetic and written for movement – that’s what I’m interested in.”

The next piece Mojisola is working on focuses once more on biography and the North Pole; it is a tale of betrayal inspired by the life of Matthew Henson, an African American who was, disputably, the first man to reach the North Pole.

Michael X – A Life in Black and White

Who was Michael X, born Michael de Freitas, and later known as Michael Abdul Malik? Was he simply a man with a big-time hustle, trying to make his way in Britain in the ‘50s and ‘60s? Or was he Britain’s Black Power leader who experienced a Damascene conversion after the visit of Malcolm X to London? Or was he just a regular guy, born in Trinidad to a black mother and a white father, with magnetic charm who parlayed his way to the forefront of ‘60s counterculture?

John L. Williams, the author of Michael X – A Life in Black and White, suggests that Michael X was all and none of the above. His life was in many ways a product of its times – arriving in West London in 1957, there were few opportunities for black men and so Michael, like so many, starting running scams – from dealing drugs to property rackets to pimping. Notting Hill, or Notting Dale as it was known back then, was unrecognizable from its present incarnation. Streets were filled with rubble and terraces of slum housing were rented out at extortionate rates by landlords who knew how difficult it was for black men to find places to live (“Room to Rent. No Coloureds. No Irish. No Dogs” was the sign all too familiar to new arrivals from the Caribbean). Prostitution was the cornerstone of the economy in the area, and the white women were pimped out by the new West Indian arrivals who quickly found their way into the hearts (and pockets) of these young women. Colin MacInnes, a friend and mentor to Michael X, would provide the definitive picture of the area in his “London Trilogy” of novels: City of Spades, Absolute Beginners and Mr Love and Justice.

But as time went by, Notting Hill underwent a major transformation. The first arrivals were the journalists and liberals who found in West London plenty of horror stories to write about and worthy causes to dedicate themselves to. These were followed by the beatniks and downward slummers – ghetto tourists who were attracted by the cheap rents and the whiff of danger that surrounded the area. Michael would befriend the likes of Glaswegian junk author Alexander Trocchi, a close friend of William Burroughs; he would become a regular contributor to the International Times, the underground magazine of the day, and later contributed to Oz magazine too. He became involved in the London Free School in Powis Terrace which provided playgroups for the children of working mothers and also gave free English lessons to immigrants from across the world. Around that time bands like Pink Floyd played their first concerts in the area, and a clutch of clubs, shebeens, gambling dens, hippie stores and the like were opening up. It was also the time of the first ever Carnival in which Michael had a hand in setting up.

Through his ability to associate with the white world of hipsters, beatniks and acid freaks, Michael became well-known amongst the UK public, later befriending John Lennon. But Michael also held strong ties with the black community, even if he later was ostracized. When Malcolm X first came to speak in London, Michael went along and introduced himself, handing Malcolm a piece of paper with his address written on it. That same night, Malcolm X turned up on his doorstep and they chatted long into the night. Despite what the cynics say, Michael was no doubt impressed by what he heard and he would accompany Malcolm throughout his stay in the UK. It was then that Michael de Freitas became Michael X.

Over the next few years, Michael would attempt to set up a Black Power movement in the UK, firstly with a political organization called RAAS, and later through a project called the Black House, a community centre and hostel on the Holloway Road. But ultimately, Michael was no black revolutionary and his powerful ideas were never matched in actions.

Nevertheless, it didn’t stop Michael becoming a target of the gutter press. In 1967 he gave a speech in Reading after the US Panther Stokely Carmichael pulled out at the last minute. Michael’s incendiary rhetoric, went down well with the audience. But unfortunately, his words were being recorded word-for-word by journalists, and these were later printed in the national press. Lines like “If you ever see a white laying hands on a white woman, kill him immediately” did not go down well with the general public, and Michael was soon summoned to trial for inciting racial hatred (ironically, through a new law that was supposed to protect blacks, not prosecute them). Following a circus-like court case in which Michael and a throng of supporters made fun of the justice system, the judge delivered a guilty verdict and Michael was sentenced to 12 months.

It was a sentence that marked the beginning of the decline and fall of Michael de Freitas which is beautifully told by John L. Williams in his biography, showing a lot more tenderness towards his subject than others, most notably VS Naipaul and the biographers David Humphry and David Tindall in False Messiah: The Story of Michael X.

The era of Michael X, awash in leftist leanings and LSD-laced optimism, was also the springboard for other voices who have since become guardians of black culture in Britain – the like of Darcus Howe and Horace Ové, both of whom knew Michael well, and also actor Stefan Kalipha. Michael X’s place in this history, however, remains something of a bizarre footnote.

“People like Michael (had) made a change,” remarked Ové, interviewed for Days In The Life: Voices from the English Underground 1961-1971. “What people don’t realize, now he’s been branded a gangster, is that in those days it was a hard hustle to survive. There was no Black Power, there wasn’t anything. And eventually when Malcolm X and the whole Black Power movement started to build and people here got conscious of it, this influenced Michael, And Michael started the  whole Black Power movement here… Everyone related to each other. Black Power wasn’t a separate thing on its own. Black people were relating to whites, and demonstrations came together and all that sort of thing.”

Unfortunately, unlike Ové who went into filmmaking, Michael couldn’t knock the hustle. But he was a complex character, and not just the gangster that the newspapers liked to depict. His life, as Williams’ new biography shows all too clearly, was irredeemably shaped by the course of events both in his life and outside. By the end, he was a very different man from the young man that arrived in England in the early ‘50s.

As Mutabaruka once said, “It’s no good to stay in a white man country too long”. During his years in England, it seems like Michael X finally outstayed his welcome. But then he wouldn’t be welcomed with open arms in native Trinidad either, the place that provides the setting for the tragic last chapter of his life. Michael X’s story is the perfect tale of the outsider, almost the same but not quite.

Review: In the Red and Brown Water, a play by Tarell Alvin McCraney

Set in San Pere, Louisiana, In the Red and Brown Water tells the story of Oya (Uniara) a young black woman who has a talent and love for running. When selected by the local athletics scout, she has to make the choice between following her dream and looking after her sick mother, Mama Moja (Andoh). Choosing the latter of the two, she is forced to stay in the projects. Thus enters Shango (Walters) who has a tongue as smooth as silk and knows how to use it. Also vying for her attention is Ogun (Prince), the hard working mechanic, who simply wants to love Oya and settle down. As the pair attempt to begin family life, Oya soon makes a shocking discovery; one that will have debilitating effects on not just her but also those around her.

The highlight of the piece is the script itself. Tarell Alvin McCraney is an accomplished and talented playwright who uses the device of having the characters say the stage directions aloud. He is also greatly influenced by Shakespeare and writes in verse. When asked why he says “Cause verse has a rhythm to it; it holds a meaning in itself. The thing that Shakespeare does well is that there is a rhythm to things”. Shakespeare’s influence is evident as the play’s dialogue is overflowing with modern imagery which is engaging and entertaining. The play is also multi-layered and can be read on different levels: which may require a second or third viewing. But this device, “[Is] not because I want audiences to keep on coming back” he jokes.

The cast in the play are fantastic, particularly rising star Ony Uhiara who gives an excellent performance as Oya; a role that she desired from the very beginning, “Tarell’s an amazing writer and it’s a beautiful story. I wanted to do it – badly!” she smiles. However, getting to grips with his unique style of writing did take some time, “It took a bit of getting used to. [I’ve done] plays where you have to talk to the audience directly, but the difference in talking to them and then saying you’re going to do something, then do it, took a while to get used to.”

Uhiara is supported by former So Solid Crew member Ashley Walters, who is well on his way to making a name for himself as a talented British actor. He plays the part of Shango well, although he also found the role challenging to begin with, “It’s different for me to a lot of the stuff I have done before, it’s been a challenge”, the laid-back actor exclaims. When asks how, he states that “the play is in water so you’re fighting against that, then obviously the American accent as well and basically just being in the round with no props…just an empty space that you have to fill”.

Here lies the only drawback of the production – the entire play is staged in 6 inches of water. At times this can be a distraction as the company of 10 are constantly moving around. However there are symbolic reasons to this unusual staging as described by the assistant director Patrice Etienne, “The water has many, many different meanings. The initial thought was for Oya’s state of mind. She can’t hold on to anything and you can’t actually hold on to water like you can with sand” the Hackney-born director explains. “Her mother slips through her fingers and dies, she can’t hold on to Shango and she can’t have a baby.”

However while the water can cause a disruption, it does not detract from the beauty of the play and more importantly the beauty of the writing. When Patrice was asked why he got on board the production he exclaims “I thought he was an amazing writer….He’s like Shakespeare, Shakespeare of the 21st century and I just thought he was amazing. He is just so poetic and magically. He’s a genius.” With two more of Tarell’s plays being staged in London this autumn one can’t help but agree with him.

In the Red and Brown Water
by Tarell Alvin McCraney
with Ony Uhiara, Javone Prince, Adjoa Andoh, Ashley Walters
The play ran at The Young Vic in October/November 2008

Nneka: “I’m no longer at ease with the situation”

Fresh from winning a well-deserved MOBO Award for best African Artist, Nneka is performing at ULU on 4 November.  To celebrate this well-deserved accolade, we dug into our Vault to bring up this interview, done back in November ‘07.

[Win tickets to Nneka's gig on Wed 4 Nov]

Victim Of Truth is not an obvious title for a first album. But then, nothing in Nneka is obvious. Her light skin and curly hair betray a mixed heritage but her accent takes you right back to Nigeria where she grew up. Her small frame is equally deceptive and leaves you unprepared for a strong, powerful voice with which she talks about universal love, God and Africa. Nneka spits conscious lyrics over hip-hop, soul and dancehall beats as naturally as Beyonce shakes her booty. The comparisons with other, more high profile conscious sistas such as Lauryn Hill abound. Nneka couldn’t care less: ‘People need to put you in boxes to understand what you are. They put me in a box, with Erykah Badu, Neneh Cherry or whatever. But it’s all good, let them do it.’

This devil may care attitude is what makes Nneka so refreshing. She comes undone at gigs – at the ICA in September 07, SOAS in November 07 – her hair wrapped up in a wool hat. She strums her guitar, misses a few notes and explains that she has just started to learn. As perfectionist as she is, she makes no excuses for who she is.

One thing Nneka won’t be called, though, is ‘entertainer’. She is ‘a vessel of content’, her voice being merely an instrument to spread her message. ‘I’m not here to entertain’ she says to an eager crowd of students during a charity gig at the SOAS in November 2008. ‘I’m here to speak my mind because I am no longer at ease with the situation’. Though she has been living in Germany for the past 5 years, Nneka’s heart is in Nigeria, a country ravaged by oil wars. She went back to Nigeria to film the video for her single Africans, a reggae-influenced tune where she urges us to wake up to the situation.

In other tracks on her album, Nneka denounces corruption, materialism, hypocrisy. Her quest for the truth starts from within. The album, she says, is about her. ‘Many of us are very hypocritical. We just want the fame, the limelight, the attention…  That’s the lie I’m talking about. That’s why I am forced to speak out. I caught myself many times being a hypocrite. I decided to admit to myself that I was a hypocrite and confess to myself on that album.’ Asked if she was advised by record labels to lighten up the mood of her album, Nneka answers that it is the music she had to compromise on, not her lyrics. ‘I never had direct confrontation with the record company, except maybe on the music itself. They thought it was too underground for them. I compromised a little bit but not too much. . Or else I wouldn’t have an identity. I respect myself and my identity. I would not sell my soul, myself.’

* This article was originally published in November 2008. Nneka has since released a second album, the critically-acclaimed No Longer At Ease

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‘A Lot of people said that I couldn’t win’, Alexandra Burke, winner of the X Factor 2008

For all of you that don’t already know, Alexandra Burke could quite possibly be the best contestant on this series of the X Factor. The beautiful and talented Islington-born finalist has it all: the voice, the look but most importantly the humble attitude that will ensure that she will be loved wherever she goes. During her demanding and hectic schedule, the very friendly 20-year old spares a few minutes to talk to Catch A Vibe.

CAV: What has it been like this week, living in the house?
Alexandra Burke: Oh my gosh! This week’s been amazing! It gets better every week because… the last week I had, I was quite negative. This week has really picked up and I think it’s because of Saturday’s performance. Tonight we are going to the Bond Premiere, no one knows that we’re going and it’s our first night out as a team in the public eye.

CAV: What has your schedule been like?
Alexandra Burke: It has been really busy. We have vocal coaching every day; we have routines, choreography and singing so it’s been quite hectic, in a good way. I’ve got a good song [this week], hopefully I am going to put my own stamp on it.

CAV: And what is it like living with the cameras?
Alexandra Burke: It’s good living with the cameras, they are not always in our face, we can choose when to have them around.

CAV: Do you think you could be the first Afro-Caribbean winner of X Factor? *
Alexandra Burke: I am going to try my very best to be! A lot of people have said that I couldn’t win because Leona won but I don’t see why not!…I don’t feel that people should look at who won last and what colour they were, we could be pink, purple or blue at the end of the day! I don’t know who people are supporting out there but I’m just hoping that they can see who I am and what I’m trying to portray which is positivity. As a young black artist I want to be big in Britain, but it’s all down to the public.
[* Leona Lewis is of mixed heritage]

CAV: Do you think that the best singer always wins or is there politics involved?
Alexandra Burke: It’s just a case of who can hold it together. It’s the battle of the toughest. There is a lot of pressure that goes into this show that people don’t know about, and it is about whether you can handle it or not. Like the media for example, I’ve had bad press – people calling me fat and etc. It doesn’t affect me, but it affects other people in the house. More than just singing it’s about your personality – it’s the whole package.

CAV: So what has the media attention been like for you?
Alexandra Burke: It’s been really good; because I’m the girl that came back after 3 years… It’s been quite positive and I’m really grateful for it.

CAV: So what were you doing during the three year gap?
Alexandra Burke: I was working, doing gigs, corporate events, birthday parties. I was under two managements deals, never really signed to anything. It got to the point where I was about to sign but I said no and instead went for X Factor. I wanted to get on the map and was just tired of gigging so I thought I’d try X Factor – again. It wasn’t planned at all.

CAV: How has it been working so closely with Cheryl Cole?
Alexandra Burke: Really, really good! She is more of a friend than a mentor and we have a very good connection.  She is very supportive and she is always, always there. Even if we want to ring her at 4 in the morning, she’s on the other line…

CAV: Lastly, anything you would like to say to the audience?
Alexandra Burke: I’ve always been dedicated. I’ve always said that if at first you don’t succeed, then you must try again. You’ve got to keep your foot in the door. Sometimes you may have to do something you don’t necessarily want to do, but you just do it. You have to always go for it and never give up.

The X Factor is on ITV1 every Saturday evening until December. More information on the contestants and the show can be found at: http://xfactor.itv.com

Soul I-D: Soul on a mission

In an industry where formula rules, it is rare to find a band in the spotlight where friendship and music are at the core. Though boasting four identities, Soul:ID are not the machinations of a clever PR; so do not expect cute names and kitted out personalities to match. With their combined experience of studio recording, production and supporting other artists in live performances Tcha? (lead vocalist), Dad’D ( vocalist/producer) , V ( vocalist/producer) and Urban Deep (lead producer) decided to build their own creative collective, back in 2004. ‘Everybody knew each other in different ways and that’s how we slowly started to form the sound of Soul:ID,’ says Tcha?.

The sound of Soul:ID is referred to as Afropean Soul,  for their music is ‘made by Africans that grew up in Europe and vice versa.’ The result? A combination of jigsaw sounds that piece together perfectly. Based in Belgium, with Tcha?, Dad’D and V hailing from Africa: Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo respectively, Soul:ID’s day to day experiences epitomise this newfound genre. Being a band with members from two continents that share an afflicted history, whilst three quarters of the band hail from neighbouring countries, Soul:ID had some decisions to make. ‘The first question we asked ourselves was: are we going to be political or not? But with three of us from three close countries with difficulties, coming together and making music – it was inevitable,’ Tcha? explains.  Having performed in Africa already, the band is aiming to do more. ‘We would like to start initiatives for peace in Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It’s an incredible amount of work, but not impossible,’ Urban Deep reveals.

Despite their political aspirations, Tcha? is quick to point out their ability to maintain a balance between this and the value of entertainment, ‘We definitely want people to be aware of things, but at the same time you need to laugh and you need to smile.’

With the European release of their debut album this month, the quartet are optimistic about the future, ‘The first album is an adventure of four people seeing how their music comes together. Now we know the ingredients, the second album will be completely different,’ Tcha? tells me.

Introducing French musician Spleen

Often referred to as an MC, French music-maker Spleen is actually one of the most atypical, and least categorisable, young artists currently operating in France. His only album to date, She Was A Girl, spans soul, rap, jazz, blues, folk and electronic experiminentation over a dizzying 22 tracks. The overwhelmingly positive critical response to that demo, and the album which followed, was in part down to the fact that Spleen seemed to arrive fully-formed, displaying a musical maturity and adventurousness that belied his lack of experience. ‘Before the tour, I hadn’t been making music for that long. I met Coco Rosie four or five years ago in Paris, in St Germain des Pres in a jazz club, and two weeks later we were recording La Maison de Mon Reve in a small flat in the 18th arrondissment.’

This chance encounter seems to have been an important catalyst, but there’s no doubt that prior to his work on La Maison…, Spleen had already recognised his vocation. ‘I began to rap because I don’t play any instruments and I have a lot of things to say, because of my origins and my position being a European guy but also a black guy, so not really in my place, my world. I needed to express myself and words are a good way of telling people what you really feel. I always try to use my voice as an instrument, to find the musicality in my voice, so after a few attempts at singing and rapping, I also tried beatboxing, making strange and original sounds with my mouth and it’s like that I started making beats.’

Spleen, as a personality and in his music, is an alluringly paradoxical combination of rootedness and rootlessness, and the flipside to the feeling of displacement he describes is a strong attachment to his Cameroonian origins. ‘My parents came to France to give me the chance of having a good education, to be free to do exactly what I want to do and not have to work on a farm in my village. When I sing and when I make money I have to think about my family, and about my grandparents living in a village without electricity, so when I come onstage I always have this idea of changing life, because I need to change my life first and then the lives of people around me.’ Equally though, there is no sense that he considers himself an ‘African’ artist, any more than he feels tied to, say, the French hip-hop. ‘I don’t like genres, they always divide people everywhere and I don’t want to be an ‘MC’ or a ‘rapper’ because I rap. I love Tom Waits, and I prefer Tom Waits to Notorious BIG, or maybe Tupac. It’s like Miles David, I’m the sort of musician who tries to find the best way to express a feeling. Sometimes I rap because I need to be aggressive, sometimes I sing because I need to be kind, and sometimes I just play instruments because you don’t always need words to express yourself. But I’m a citizen of the world. I just try to build something original without forgetting people from the past who were amazing, like Tom Waits, Mozart Beethoven, even The Roots, Bjork, Tricky or Massive Attack. I try to make a mix of all the stuff I listened to as a kid, and in fact I just create a mosaic of those things.’

Yaabafunk, keeping the spirit of Fela alive

Yaabafunk have a clear vision – to spread highlife music from their basis in Brixton to the farther reaches of London and beyond. The ten piece band was formed in May 2006:  ‘Most of us were drummers in previous bands – Funk, Senegalese and Samba which we incorporate into our sound, but we all love highlife music and this is what’s brought us together.’ As the new pioneers of such a niche sound, they’ve created a flavour that encompasses the traditional elements of 70s highlife while borrowing basics from ska and dub. This modern take on Ghanian music has given Yaabafunk great following, with fans hailing from the UK, Germany or Jamaica: ‘ It’s always more satisfying when we reach out to the ordinary Ghanaian who expects familiarity from the highlife sound, but to be appreciated with the sound we make and what we’re doing is very pleasing’ says Tobias of Yaabafunk.

Fela Kuti, the human rights activist and creator of afrobeat once said in an interview ‘…there were hardly any recordings of African music; you heard that in the street – especially highlife’. Richmond Kessie, Yaabafunk’s frontman, tells me how all members of the band strive to embody the spirit of Fela:  ‘That’s what we try to do, bring people together, into the sound to make a community’. This also reflects on the list of high profile artists who have worked with the band: highlife legends such as Nana Tsiboe and Rex Marty from the 60s band Tempo. Bilal, Ali Farka Toure, Outkast and Meshell Ndegeocello are other musicians that Yaabafunk would like to work with in the future.

I had the chance to meet and talk with the band right before their 14 December ‘07 gig at the back of the Grosvenor pub in Stockwell, London. The show was a raucous affair, drawing people out of their seats almost immediately as Helen and Richmond, the vocalists, belted out the first few bars of Nyash! E Go Bite You, the title of their new E.P. It was live music in all its unabashed brilliance, with the audience dancing and drinking with each other, displaying a community spirit rarely seen in concerts. The songs Me Nye Me Dofu and the rousing Dman Foa (Let’s celebrate) had people singing along merrily like a highlife party anthem. It didn’t end there. After a rowdy encore, the party simply moved into the pub to relish in the spirit of afrobeat that had surely manifested itself that evening.

Yaabafunk’s debut album No sleep till Accra (working title) is currently simmering in the studio, awaiting an explosive release
Visit www.myspace.com/yaabafunk for a sample of songs from the Nyash! E Go Bite You! E.P.

Itw with Nadia Denton, Director of the BFM Film Festival as they celebrate their 10th year in 2008

Nadia Denton has film in her blood. Her father was Menelik Shabazz, the British Filmmaker who directed the 1981 film Burning an Illusion. The film was the catalyst for new traditions in Black British Filmmaking as it placed the Black British experience at the forefront, in ways that hadn’t been done before. Nadia is the festival director for the BFM International Film Festival which opens on the 7th November with The Ghost of Hing King Estate by Trinidadian director Horace Ove. She took some time off her hectic schedule to tell Catch A Vibe more about her ambitions for the festival.

CAV: As your father was a film director and founder of BFM, was it always your desire to work in Black Films?
Nadia Denton: No, I actually studied history at Oxford and never had any intention of going into anything film related. By chance, I was offered the opportunity to run BFM Film Club (at the ICA) about 6 years ago. Initially, I took it up as a hobby. Over the years it has become a labour of love and I have realised how powerful an expression film really is. It was from this that I decided to dedicate myself to the exhibition of Black World Cinema

CAV: Do you feel any pressure from his legacy?
Nadia Denton: No, because I have my own achievements. Many people don’t know that I have travelled extensively, taught in a village in Ghana for 6 months, that I have a qualification in photography and am also a qualified Life Coach.

CAV: Being your first year as festival director, what are your plans for the festival?
Nadia Denton: To make it the most outstanding Black World Cinema platform in Europe. I want to create an event that can be easily duplicated in places like Africa and the Caribbean where much broader representations of black people are needed.

CAV: What are your views on the other black film festivals? (Black International Cinema – Berlin, American Black Film Festival, Pan African Film Festival – Cannes, etc)
Nadia Denton: We should all keep it up. There is so much work out there and so much more to come. The filmmakers really need us and we owe it to our communities to manage the showcasing of such work, rather than to leave it to more mainstream festivals who may never represent us a fully as we would like. I am yet to attend the other festivals, but certainly looking forward to!

CAV: How will you bring the BFM Festival up to the standard of some of the other festival, the American ones in particular?
Nadia Denton: My aim is that BFM will exceed the standards that have been set. Being based in London, we are a much more accessible axis point and as such what we present has to be even more unique.

Sika Designs: when ethical production meets fashion

African prints are hot. The latest, unexpected fashion trend to emerge from the catwalks used to be an underground statement. Whether it be afro twists sheathed in a kente cloth scarf or an ethnic bag hanging from some boho chick’s tattooed shoulder – African prints have always been worn by a conscious few, up until now. Phyllis Taylor, aka Sika, could be described as the pioneer of modern African-inspired clothing. Catch A Vibe caught up her with her for a quick discussion on fashion, heritage and ethical issues.

CAV: What inspired you to create Sika?
Phyllis Taylor: My Ghanaian roots inspired me to create Sika. I have always loved Kente cloth and Ghanaian materials and I began to realise there was a niche for clothes inspired from African prints. I began designing clothes and it basically took off from there.

CAV: What does Ghana mean to you?
Phyllis Taylor: It’s my roots. So much energy and inspiration comes from there! Africa as a source of inspiration often gets overlooked, with all the negativity that goes on – it can affect people’s judgement. I want to begin to change those negative stereotypes of Africa and I think I can make a start by bringing African prints to the forefront of fashion.

CAV: How you source materials for your clothes?
Phyllis Taylor: I personally choose all the fabrics and materials for the designs in Ghana. The range is vast so I have a lot to pore over. I then have my team start to make the clothes with the chosen cloth based on my designs.

CAV: How important is it that your designs are ethical produced?
Phyllis Taylor: It’s very important. I source all materials and fabrics from local traders and stockists in Ghana, where my garments are also made. It’s good to buy directly from the people who make the materials. It’s a principle Sika believes in and it also provides work for the locals. I work with this in mind, it’s a top priority in what I do.

CAV: Can you envisage Sika going mainstream?
Phyllis Taylor: Yes and no. My product is quite niche and unusual – African prints aren’t really used in mainstream fashion. It’s only with the recent interest in exotic prints that African cloth is becoming popular. In a way popularity is good because if Sika becomes more accessible to the fashion buying public, more people will be wearing African prints, but then I’m not too sure how it would take off and if there’ll be enough interest to make it mainstream. I have had a lot of interest from the fashion mags – Vogue and Marie Claire and the shirtdress from my Spellbound collection was recently featured in Grazia.

CAV: Any plans to venture into menswear or open a shop?
Phyllis Taylor: Yes, definitely, that’s a priority along with maybe a menswear line in the future. I’ve had a lot of men who’ve come into the shop and asked if I stock menswear – so that’s a venture I’d like to explore in the future. (ed – I’m there already!)At the moment, Cherry Picked (a boutique in Greenwich, London) stocks most of the line and pieces from the new collection.