“Africa can make a difference, especially to our sisters and brothers here in the Diaspora, and everywhere there are children of African descent and others who want to know about …
By Francine Ayessou-Komla With her third album, Okaman, released in 1995 that sold a whopping one million copies, Ivorian entertainer Monique Seka saw her music career blossom all of a sudden. Okaman, …
By Paul Yao Love is probably the most common theme in songs the world over. Savan’ Alla, an entertainer from Cote d’Ivoire with a 20-year career who now lives in …
BY SOUMANOU SALIFOU (with reporting by Jules Maoussi) It was almost midnight in Benin, West Africa, where I happened to be on June 25, 2009. I was in a cyber café …
One of the most prestigious European festival this past summer provided the opportunity for a highly-talented African musician, Vyckos Ekondo, to showcase his country’s musical heritage to an European audience …
BY PAUL YAO “Men have nothing left in their heart. They have it all down low,” Ivorian entertainer Savan’ Alla sang recently in a jam-packed West African nightclub while her …
By Soumanou Salifou It was a gorgeous Saturday evening in a cozy, very elegant theater on a West African beach. Red carpet, first-class decorations… nothing, really, like the rest of …
By Soumanou Salifou Members of the African American community who attended the inaugural ceremony of Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo in May 1999 were not all elected officials, high-level government officials …
Rolling Stone magazine has written about Youssou N’dour, one of Africa’s best entertainers—also referred to as “the King of mbalax”: “If any third world performer has a real shot at the …
BY ALAN GREEN “We saw that during colonial times, it’s easy to come in, take out natural resources, pay off leaders and leave. And when you leave, you don’t leave …
