World Cup fever is mounting steadily and despite not being a huge football fan, even I am beginning to succumb to the allure of what is to come. To those of you who are fans, have you ever wondered how so many African players come to be in our home leagues and teams? To be honest, I hadn’t, but after running into director Baff Akoto, at our most recent Heads High session, my curiosity is acutely awake.
I first met Baff through a mutual friend at one of many warehouse parties I was involved with way back when. I always knew he was creative, but was always to polite to admit that I didn’t quite know in which way. Reasoning with him in Brick Lane, it transpired that after a long and arduous process, his debut film ‘Football Fables’ was set to be released this week. The blurb reads something like this:
African football has more global stars than at any other time in history. Every youngster across the continent dreams of playing for glamorous European clubs to become the next E’to or Essien.
The award winning documentary “Football Fables” tracks Francis, a young Ghanaian hopeful as he comes to the UK for Premier League football trials whilst attempting to navigate the tricky terrain of agents & scouts back in Africa
“Football Fables” provides unprecedented insight into the workings of African football migration. This internationally acclaimed documentary’s unparalleled access sheds light on the middle men who earn a living making sure that it’s their cream rising to the top. A “system” which (although far from perfect and in spite of itself) manages to produce some of the best players in the world!
Truth time, I haven’t seen the full feature yet, but between the trailer and the write-up, I know its one I will have to make time for.
Us London dwellers are going to be spoilt for choice. There are 8 seperate screenings to choose from over the next two weeks in the capital….i.e. no excuse. Click here to make the jump to the Football Fables site where you can digest all the information about screenings and plenty more besides, and click here to join the 1000+ strong facebook group.
I’m starting this by showing a little love to Amelia (she runs tings) over at Put Me On It. She dropped a post about Spec Boogie’s Bed Stuy joint, which is fire by the way, a wee while back. Time being what it is, passed, and when I finally got to doing the research on the SB I was like “rah….man’s got SKILLS”. Lyrically, musically, visually, his vibes are on point. So, now I’m back in the hotseat and writing again , I figured it’d be a good time to link Mr Boogie and shine a light on his artistry….presenting, Spec Boogie:
So who is Spec Boogie?
I’m just a simple dude from Brooklyn NY who loves art, women and hip hop.
Where are you based?
I’m based out of the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. My father was a native and he moved the family here from California when I was 3 years old.
Does your location affect your art?
Brooklyn has influenced my art for as long as I’ve been an artist. I remember when I was 6 or 7 years old a dude was shot and killed on my corner. About a week later I was going to the store for my mom and some writers were painting a mural for him and it was the first time I saw someone other than myself create a piece of art, from start to finish.
Talking of art, word is that you’re a pretty hot graphic designer too. Do you see similarities between your modes of expression? Do they tend to influence/relate to each other?
I’ve trained myself to keep them separate, most of the visual art I do nowadays is commissioned so I try to create to reflect my client’s point of view rather than my own. When it comes to my personal work, yes. I can’t write a song without thinking of the video, the cover, even clothes that match the song, it’s automatic. I really want to create a video for every song on my upcoming album. I don’t know how likely it is of happening, but I have ideas for every one. Either way, as long as I get to be creative, I’m happy.
Just out of curiosity, apart from your own Spec Boogie site, where else can we see your design work?
One recent project that I’m very proud of is the site for the J Dilla Foundation. The team over there was very clear, helpful and knew exactly what they wanted. They were perfect clients. Being that I’m one of the billions of MC’s who have rocked over his beats for mixtapes etc, I’m grateful to be able to say I gave something back. Shout out to Ma Dukes. Other than that a lot of the work I do is very corporate. I’ve been lucky enough to do work for the NBA, Def Jam, Ralph Lauren and many other brands that I grew up admiring.
Your music is delivered via Loosie Music right? Is that your own label? Tell us about Loosie and what it represents…
Yes, Loosie is my baby. My goal is to build it into a creative agency rather than just a record label. The name Loosie is representitve of working class New York, here cigarettes are expensive so if you can’t afford or don’t want to pay for a pack, the corner store will sell you a “Loosie” or a single cigarette. I don’t know how much they are now because I don’t actually smoke cigarettes but growing up they were 25 cents. It’s just something that reminds me of the working class struggle that I try to represent through my music.
While we’re dealing with names, Lessondary is another that is linked with you. What is Lessondary and what should we know about it?
Lessondary is Tanya Morgan (Von Pea, Donwill & Ilyas), Che Grand, Elucid, The Red Giants & Aeon. There are other extended family members but that’s the core. We’re called lessondary because we are all students of the culture. Dope beats, dope rhymes, just dope.
So the Specflix thing. I was on your site recently and was so into what you’ve done that I watched each video from beginning to end in one sitting! What is Specflix? What was the inspiration to begin such a project and how have people responded to it?
Thank you, the response has been great. The inspiration came from wanting to challenge myself. I’m a bit of a movie buff and on previous mixtapes I’d taken Superfly and Do the Right Thing and made mashups so I figured it would be fun to do that for a whole project instead of just one or two songs. The idea to call it Specflix came from my boy Naturel.
Are all the Specflix beats yours? I really like the fact they all feel different.
Not all of them. Some were done by Von Pea, some by me, some are straight from the movie’s soundtrack and some are other people’s beats that happened to have sampled movies I like.
Which Flix is your favourite and why?
That’s a tough one. I think AKIRA might be my favorite becaue It’s the only beat I did on the project that wasn’t a simple 2 or 4 bar loop. I chopped up 3 different songs from the Akira soundtrack to make it but you can’t really tell because the whole soundtrack is drums and chanting. Other than that, I love all of the Von Pea produced tracks. He’s criminally slept on as a producer, one of the best out right now.
Outside of the Specflix series, where else can we hear Spec speak?
As far as projects out now, I am featured on all my Lessondary brothers’ projects. Donwill’s Don Cusack, Che Grand’s Everything’s Good Ugly, Tanya Morgan’s Brooklynati. just look for Lessondary and you’ll find me. I’m on a bunch of outside projects as well this year but none of them have been released yet.
Going deeper, what is important to you as an artist/human being (not that they’re mutually exclusive!)?
Damn son, that’s a tough one, haha. As both an artist and a human being I feel it’s important to be as honest as you can with your audience and with yourself, because when you are you don’t feel the pressure of conforming to outside opinions. It gets tough when money and business get involved but there is a balance, as long as you know what your goals are.
What drives you to create and what do you think the value of art is?
I create because that’s all I know how to do, I was raised by an artist to be an artist. What I love most about art is that it’s value is relative to whoever is experiencing it. As much as I like to be complimented on my work I love it even more when someone tells me something they got from my music that I didn’t even intend, it just shows how malleable art and perception are.
Looking forward, what is on the horizon for Spec Boogie?
Up next is a mixtape I’m putting together with the help of 2dopeboyz.com & okayplayer.com, it doesn’t have a name yet but it has a theme. That’s dropping in May, then the debut album, Introspective on June 1st. After that I may put out another Specflix, and I’m working on a project with Dego of 2000 black/4 Hero that’s going to be a bit of a departure from the traditional boom bap type stuff I usually do.
Who or what would you like to work with in the future?
That’s a loooooong list right there. At the top though is Brent Rollins. He’s a graphic artist who has influenced design as it relates to hip hop or “urban” media more than anyone I can think of. He has this kind of collage style that a lot of people do nowadays without realizing that it started with him. On the music side there’s Madlib, his beats are incredible and he’s a great example of a free artist, he seems to have mastered that art/commerce balance I spoke on earlier. And Buckwild because he’s the shit, crazy underrated.
Plug time. Where can we find your art? Links please!
You can find it all on specboogie.com if it isn’t there now. it will be.
Thanks for sharing Mr Spec Boogie. To continue in the giving spirit, here is a little something from SB to we. Its a Lessondary posse cut that didn’t make it to Spec’s Introspective LP because it didn’t fit the theme. Remember, if you like what you’ve heard/seen then make sure to head over to Spec Boogie’s site where you’ll find the whole Specflix series, links to all the Lessondary artists and much more besides.
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We in the West have been bombarded with films, novels and more speculating on (and in some cases shaping) the future condition of our society, but how many times has this forward gaze been allowed to rest on Africa?
Pumzi, written and directed by writer/director Wanuri Kahiu, officially claims the title of Kenya’s first science fiction film. Set in a futuristic African society characterized by a totalitarian government, repressive social control systems and an absence of individual freedoms, the film centres on Asha, a young woman living in one of East Africa’s contained communities 35 years after water wars have ravaged the world, causing incomprehensible ecological devestation. With her discovery that a soil sample sent to her in the mail is capable of germinating new life, the stage is set for her quest to investigate the possibility of new life outside the confines of the community structures – against the wishes of the governing Maitu Council. Kahiu’s short film taps into current Third World realities and walks them forward to terrible, yet entierly possible conclusions.
Funded by Focus Features’ Africa First short film program, the Goethe Institut and the Changamoto arts fund, Pumzi has already screened as part of Sundance’s New African Cinema program. As far as I can ascertain, there is no release date as yet but see below for a taste of East African Dystopia. Think black THX1138 and you’re getting close…..
The viral marketing for Black Dynamite has been pretty sticky to say the least. Its been a few months now since Apparition signed the deal to domestically distribute the Blaxpolitation spoof first aired at Sundance’s 2009 film festival (due to regulations, I cannot post the trailer on this site, so click the picture below to view the official trailer, if you haven’t yet seen it, its well worth it).
Online advertising has become somewhat status-quo for the slowly evolving film industry. Pioneers of this technique go back as far as Donnie Darko or Snakes on a Plane whereby the online geeks played a role in the co-creation and hype of the film prior to its release. However after new benchmarks were set with The Dark Knight’sAlternate Reality Game, smaller independents are tapping into the online world as a tool to promote beyond their tangible resources and Black Dynamite is no exception.
Blaxploitation as a genre has been integral to the development of black culture and how it is represented in the mainstream. Classics such as Super Fly (‘72), Black Ceasar (‘73) and Coffy (‘73) (to name a few) are responsible for allowing the once under-represented and creatively repressed black actors of the 70s a platform to be supercool. In an age where sex, drugs and money were becoming key factors in black urbanisation, the messages from these films were aggressive and non-apologetic. Blaxploitation symbolised the end of an old struggle and the beginning of a new one.
Along with the entertainment industry’s attempt to continue ‘hiding’ its black artists on records or unrealistically portraying black people on the big screen in subservient roles, the social state of America was also as bleak as ever. Martin Luther King’s promises had fallen by the wayside, people were broke and the Vietnam war continued to dampen spirits. These turmoils resulted in a cultural turning point where the young began rebelling: leaving Negro and becoming Black. Nothing provided a better form of escapism than music and film and this was expressed, in turn, by the all-black casts portraying exactly what their white contemporaries were, except in a smoother, sexier and more powerful way.
Blaxploitation fully manifested itself in the 70s, spawning legends (Gordon Parks) and a series of phenomena that has left its mark on modern-day America such as crack, funk, pimps, players and hos. Most of the films in the genre are predictable and sensationalised but to an extent, more representative of the complex issues that black city dwellers faced during that time. The movement, however does come with its antagonists who believe that Blaxploitation negatively depicts all black Americans as gun-slinging, pimp-hustling, drug-taking criminals and bitches.
Regardless of the moral stance one takes, Blaxploitation should be applauded for its contribution to black entertainment on the whole. When we think about Isaac Hayes, Bobby Womack, Curtis Mayfield and even James Brown, we can attribute some of their success to the genre. We must even acknowledge the influence Blaxploitation has had when we look at the success of black actors and directors such as Sidney Poitier*, Richard Pryor, Pam Grier and today’s Spike Lee – who’s films usually focus on issues revolving around black urban life. To show the extent of its potency, even non-black folk have been able to appreciate the highly stylised genre. Quentin Tarantino continuously borrows from Blaxploitation when making his blockbuster films today.
So, back to Black Dynamite… Here we have an amalgamation of every Blaxploitation film ever made, spun on its head with the dash of ironic humour that not many intelligent spoofs can boast. Coined as the ‘Austin Powers of Blaxploitation films’ – Black Dynamite is Shaft with chilli sauce and extra mayo.
Without divulging into the specifics of the film, Scott Sanders directs the film and Michael Jai White plays the protagonist. He’s pretty slick or as the trailer puts it: “Drives a $5000 car with a $100 suit.” When a bad turn of events result in the death of his brother and the mafia pump heroin into orphanages, Black Dynamite is called back into the CIA to sort shit out.
The film aired at Edinburgh’s Film Festival ealier in the year but since then has struggled to clinch a UK distributor. The Blaxploitation story is an American one and despite its impact over the Atlantic in the 70s and beyond, it remained relatively niche in the UK. Side-stepping this fact, many reputable British film websites have been demonstrating the power of the internet by circulating “Fighting Smack In The Orphanage” teasers and other ‘official-yet-unofficial’ virals. These have spread like the plague from Facebook to public blogs and in essence have proven that the UK is ready for Black Dynamite.
Following its October 16th US release, Icon have agreed to bring the film across the waters. A date is yet to be confirmed.
*NOTE: Sidney Poitier, prior to the Blaxploitation era played many insignificant roles considering his calibre as an actor and as a result was not popular amongst black urban youth.
Capoeira has its roots in Africa. Africans brought their dances, rituals and musicality to Brazil, and motivated by the need to be free from slavery and their ’senzalas’ (slave quarters) capoeira was born. At once serious and playful, dance and fight, spiritual and profane the uniting element behind the art from ancient to present is it’s drive for freedom.
The love-child of Abigail Clarke (Producer) and Daren Bartlett (Director), O-Zelador shoots a wide-angled gaze at Afro-Brazilian tradition using the life and experience of Capoeirista Mestre Russo as a medium. A humble figure, Russo prefers to be known as O-Zelador or ‘The Caretaker’ in reference to his self-appointed role as the guardian of the culture and integrity of Capoeira. A title which he richly deserves. If you’re looking for Russo, you’ll be guaranteed to find him every weekend at the famous ‘Roda De Caxias‘, a street Roda (capoeira circle) of which he has been the guardian for decades. Sometimes as many as three generations of capoeira players can be found at this Roda, and it provides a vital opportunity for the residents of the Baixada Fluminense to come together in spirit, dance, song and of course battle. Having survived attacks under dictatorship and hostility from the various state sanctioned academies, the Roda De Caxais is a symbol of defiance, strength and freedom to it’s participants.
Afro-Brazilian culture runs deep. O Zelador successfully communicates stories of the origins of capoeira, and its links with the Orisha worshipping Candomble ‘cult of nature’ whilst relating Russo and his family’s personal stories, lived out against a backdrop of poverty, crime and government oppression. The thread linking all these elements together is community, something we feel very strongly about…
Check out the trailer and a brief description of the Candomble religion below and if you want more, jump to the official O Zelador site here.
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