Posts Tagged ‘Bilal’

Givaway: Nneka Hot Tickets!!!

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

nneka1

No matter where on the spectrum you lay your musical hat, chances are the name Nneka means something to you.

Since the release of her 2007 debut ‘Victim Of Truth’, Nneka’s songs of freedom have amassed a sizable global following.  Her own biography speaks the truth when it says this popularity has less to do with marketing budgets and a whole lot more to do with the content and delivery of her art. Although ‘Victim Of Truth’ was slept on by many, her sophomore offering ‘No Longer At Ease’ (which joins the Root’s “Things Fall Apart” as another LP title garnered from the mighty Chinua Achebe) refused to let us continue in our slumber with its tough-yet-soulful collection of treatises on the political and humanitarian crises we face in our times – not least in mother Africa.To date she’s shared stages with the Roots, Mos Def, Femi Kuti and Bilal and is now all set to hit the road with Damien Marley and Nas for their Distant Relatives album tour. Basically, this woman is not joking…

To cut a long, but pretty interesting story short, we’ve been given the opportunity to give away two pairs of free tickets to her London show at the Scala on Weds 28th April. Free entry to what is bound to be one of the capital’s hottest live shows this year goes to the two lucky people who can answer the following question:

What is the name of the single which Nneka released at the end of March?

The two winners will be picked at random from the list of entries with the correct answer. Good Luck!

EMAIL US YOUR ANSWERS HERE and see below for details of the show, an interview with the lady herself and a Lauren Hill inspired unplugged studio special.

nnekascala

NEWS: Alternative Soul

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

Imagine Led Zeppelin and Radiohead tinged with a high dosage of blues and soul… Well for those that don’t remember, this is what Questlove, Robert Glasper and a crew of other heavy-duty bandsmen offered when they performed as Bilal and The Witness Protection Program at Okayplayer’s Holiday Celebration a few years back.

Finally Questlove has posted up the entire set on his SwiftFM page for all to indulge in. This all seems very timely as alongside Glasper, Bilal has been nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance and there’s word that he will also finally be releasing his sophomore effort sometime early this year.

With Mayer Hawthorne and soon to come Bilal, Sade and Gil Scott-Heron, I wonder if 2010 will be the year that represents the revival of soul music.

Thanx to Questlove for making the entire set available… Baby Since I’ve Been Loving You/Everything In It’s Right Place/Sometimes (Live). Click here to check it out.

Catch Billboard’s in-depth interview with Bilal.

Bilal’s Twitter page.

Preview: Shafiq Husayn ‘En’ A Free Ka’

Friday, August 14th, 2009

-1

Ancient Africa has given us more than we know. sciences, principles, processes and most of all knowledge. Egyptians defined the Ka as the life force of an individual, which although it was an ethereal projection, required food and drink for sustenance. I’m not going to extend myself further and try to decipher the full meaning of Shafiq Husayn’s new offering – i’ll leave that to you. What I can tell you is ‘Shafiq En’ A Free Ka‘ is a heavy journey into the psychadelic, tripped out reaches of a spiritually focussed master of the boom-bap. Composed entirely using outboard equipment and packed with collaborations from the likes Rozzi Daime, Bilal, Fatima, Count Bass D and Om’Mas Keith, Shafiq En’ A Free Ka is an eagerly anticipated project from 1/3 of the Sa Ra Creative Partners.

As a follow on from the SaRa interview I posted a couple of days back, we thought we’d drop this preview mix of some LP tracks lovingly cut and pasted by Brownswood’s DJ Lefo to free up your life forces….

Shafiq En’ A Free Ka Preview Mix