BURNA BOY, LADY GAGA, JOHN LEGEND, PAUL MCCARTNEY AND A HOST OF STARS JOIN FORCES FOR ‘ONE WORLD: TOGETHER AT HOME’ CONCERT.
THE CONCERT WILL HELP RAISE FUNDS AND ADDRESS THE FIGHT AGAINST COVID-19 SET FOR SATURDAY, APRIL 18
World Health Organization and Global Citizen Work in Unison to Spread Message of Social Distancing and Other Factors in Keeping Disease in Check
Building on the success of the digital series “One World: Together at Home,” Global Citizen and the World Health Organization (WHO) are partnering for a special one-night event of the same name, to air across BET/MTV/MTV base on Sunday, April 19 from 4 – 6 AM (WAT).
Launched with Chris Martin of Coldplay on March 16, 2020, “Together at Home” has become an outlet for artists to share music with their fans for a purpose, to educate and inform millions around WHO’s critical effort to prevent, detect and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“One World: Together at Home” is not a charity event, but a broad global entertainment special to support the World Health Organization and the global fight to end COVID-19. The show will feature A-list superstars such as Burna Boy, Lady Gaga, John Legend, Billie Eilish, Elton John, Finneas, Idris and Sabrina Elba, Jimmy Fallon, and more.
The two-hour program will be hosted by marquee personalities from each of the major networks. It will include both live and pre-taped performances from the world’s most prominent artists with multimillion-naira pledges to the WHO’s Solidarity Response Fund.
The show will lift viewer’s spirits in these trying times with exclusive and unique cameos from the worlds of music and arts, sports superstars, and comedic sketches, while always drawing back to its core purpose to educate and inform on COVID-19 risks, prevention and response. The broadcast will also feature interviews with experts from WHO as well as stories of frontline healthcare workers from around the world.
Dazed Magazine’s Spring/Summer Issue Features Viral Superstar, Rema
Mavin Records wonder kid Rema is taking on the whole world with his artistic prowess. The 19-year old Afropop futurist has made history once again as he covers British globally recognized magazine, DAZED spring/summer 2020 issue.
Rema, who credits his parents for introducing him to music, especially Fela Kuti and 2Baba, revealed that he began writing raps and performing covers of songs at school at the age of seven. By then, he had created his own flow. As a young teen, Rema decided to knock at the door of what he suspected was a recording studio, after hearing music blasting from inside on his way to school. The man later made him a beat and allowed him to record for free.
On how he got the record deal with Mavin Records, Rema recalls that in early 2018, he uploaded a video to the internet that caught the eye of singer D’Prince. The minute-long clip, a freestyle to D’Prince’s “Gucci Gang”, made waves across the country and prompted D’Prince to reach out to Rema, whom he invited to Lagos to meet with him and his brother, Don Jazzy, the head of Mavin Records.
Explaining his unique sound, Rema says: “My sound is hard to explain, it’s simply freedom and just enjoying what I’m doing in the studio. This musical fine-tuning, a unique blending of cultural touchpoints and spiritual expression, is what makes it so compelling to audiences thousands of miles away from west Africa. I believe my music is evergreen because there is nowhere else you (can) go around the world and find this type of sound.”
Credit
Photography: @joshua_gordon
Set design: @tony_hornecker
Art Director: @reidjamie
Fashion Director: @emmawyman
Styling: @raphaelhirsch
Hair: @vpintomoreira
Make-up: @annesophiecosta
Ethiopian Movie ‘Enchained’ to Screen Online During Lockdown
The award-winning Ethiopian movie, ቁራኛዬ (Enchained), is set to be streamed online starting on April 18th, 2020.
Thanks to the Internet we don’t necessarily have to break the “stay-at-home rule” during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to entertain ourselves with the latest film releases. You can add to your list the upcoming online screening of the award-winning Ethiopian movie ቁራኛዬ (Enchained) that’s set to be streamed on the Habeshaview online platform beginning on April 18th.
“This will be the first time Enchained will be screened outside of a cinema, in collaboration with The International Emerging Film Talents Association (IEFTA),” Habeshaview announced, noting that the film will be made available for paid viewing through its app for a limited time next week.
The announcement added:
Enchained is a lush historical drama set in 1910, and was selected as the opening movie of the prestigious 2020 New African Film Festival in the United States. The Ethiopian production has won the top prize at the Alem Cinema Awards as well as the Lizzo Awards. The film has previously screened internationally in New York, Washington DC, London and Addis Ababa.”
“At a time when many people are spending more time indoors, Habeshaview is proud to share exclusive and excellent Ethiopian entertainment to its audiences around the world,” says Tigist Kebede, Habeshaview’s Operations Director. “Habeshaview is committed to raising the profile of Ethiopian films. With Enchained we provide audiences around the world with quality movies that inspire.”
About Enchained (Quragnaye)
Until the early and mid-19th century in Ethiopia, institutional punitive prisons did not exist and the justice process was restorative. The film Enchained illustrates the rift between the prior oral system that incorporated socio-cultural practices into the legal process and the current legal judicial system largely operated through the national court system.
Swiss organisation invites SA jazz guitarist to record song for collabo album.
The organisation seeks to jointly develop innovative pieces of music across cultures and genres.
This will be Beyond Music’s second volume after the release of Same Sky in 2019. The album was recorded by Grammy-winning producer Larry Klein and features 23 musicians from 17 countries.
Haskins told Music In Africa that collaborations would take place despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have all received confirmation that everything is still going ahead as planned,” he said. “We are collaborating online and every musicians records in our own studios. I am already collaborating online with a singer from Ghana, a tabla player from India and a flautist from Japan.
“The name of the album is Songs for the Planet and the name of my song is ‘Earth Cry’. Artists who are collaborating with me on ‘Earth Cry’ are Mark Warburton from the UK and a musician from Cameroon. June is the closing date for collaborations and the album will be finalised in September at La Fabrique Studios in France.”
Haskins said he was excited to be part of Beyond Music project.
“I feel honoured and elated to have been chosen and invited. This is what I have been aspiring to. The fact that one is collaborating with musicians from across the world, on the same album, is exhilarating. Knowing that the musical director is multi-Grammy award winner Larry Klein and that the album will be submitted to the Grammys Awards is out of this world.”
Beyond Music is a non-commercial entity made possible by the Beyond Foundation, a non-profit organisation established in 2007 to support causes that unite world cultures through music.
Liberian President Releases music video on the fight against Coronavirus.
President of Liberia, George Weah has released a song on the COVID-19 pandemic.
The song released by the 1995 FIFA Footballer of the Year is to educate his populace and humans at large on the disease as well as fight the Coronavirus pandemic.
The song is titled ‘Let’s stand together and fight Coronavirus’.
In his song, George Weah who is regarded as the greatest African footballer of all-time said: “we must all rise, stand together and fight Corona.”
It explains how the disease is contracted, preventive measures and expectations from especially Liberians.
Liberia has recorded 31 confirmed cases of Coronavirus, 4 deaths and 3 recoveries.
This is not the first time President Weah has produced a song to address a national or international issue.
His spokesperson, Solo Kelgeh said President Weah produced songs during the Ebola, a disease that led to the death of almost 5,000 Liberians.
He added that the former PSG player started working on the song before the coronavirus reached Liberia.
Books For Africa ships books in midst of coronavirus pandemic
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Books For Africa continues to ship school and medical books to africa in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis.
In the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, Books For Africa continues to assist medical personnel with needed medical resource books and students with instructional materials.
BFA is trying to help in the fight against the pandemic by building capacities in developing countries that don’t have the educational or medical infrastructure that the United States does. With the help of a recently approved $150,000 grant from the Merck Foundation, BFA is providing thousands of medical resource books in print and medical e-books to doctors, nurses and medical students across the African continent. These educational materials in the hands of medical personnel will help make people in Africa safer now and in the event of future medical emergencies.
Books For Africa, a nonprofit with offices in Minnesota and warehouses in Atlanta and St. Paul, has shipped a record 3.3 million books to African students this fiscal year (since July 1, 2019), including a recent shipment to Kenya, according to a press release.
While there are some impediments to shipping such as port closings in North America as well as in Africa, BFA continues to get books to African children through its warehouse in Atlanta, which remains open. Shipments are organized by Minnesota-based staffers working remotely. By later this year, BFA plans to have shipped its 50 millionth book since its founding in 1988.
Books For Africa remains the largest shipper of donated text and library books to the African continent, shipping over 48 million books and serving all 55 countries on the African continent since 1988. Last year alone, Books For Africa shipped 3.3 million books, and 155 computers and e-readers containing over 400,000 digital books, to 29 African countries. More than $2.9 million was raised last year to ship these books to Africa.
Information: booksforafrica.org
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Nasty C Unveils Exclusive Shazam Playlist, a First for an African Artist
Nasty C becomes the first African artist to have his own Shazam Exclusive Playlist on Apple Music.
Nasty C’s Shazam Exclusive Playlist is the first in which Apple Music features picks from an African artist. The South African lyricist joins artists such as Lizzo, Kesha, Anne-Marie and others who’ve all shared their selections on Apple Music.
Nasty C’s playlists features songs by Jay-Z, Frank Ocean, Young Thug, Drake and of course some of his own songs among others.
“I chose these songs because they are my go-to tracks for when I’m in a good mood,” says Nasty C. “I bang this list when I’m traveling, in the car and even in the shower. Music makes me feel free and unrestricted. It’s important to choose your playlist wisely.”
This news comes after Nasty C released his single “There They Go” at the back of signing a deal with Def Jam Recordings. The song, which also makes the emcee’s Shazam Exclusive Playlist, was his debut release with the label and it will appear in his upcoming album Zulu Man With Some Power.
The album was announced last year, and currently has no release date. No new details have been shared about the album, but we are aware the rapper will be working with international artists and producers such as No I.D and T.I..
Stream Nasty C’s Shazam Exclusive Playlist on Apple Music.
