Thursday, September 26, 2013

Videos for a World Music class

Tomorrow I'm going to skype in to my friend Tes Slominski's World Music class at Beloit college to chat to her students about South African music. I've put together a few of the videos I plan to use so that Tes can play them easily in the classroom, and so that the students can refer to them later.


Wavin' Flag. K'Naan


(listen from the beginning to 1:13)

Lyrics:
When I get older, I will be stronger
They'll call me freedom,
Just like a waving flag (and then it goes back)

Born to a throne / Stronger than Rome
But violent prone / Poor people zone
But it's my home / All I have known
Where I got grown / Streets we would roam.
Out of the darkness / I came the farthest
Among the hardest survival
Learn from these streets / It can be bleek
Accept no defeat / Surrender, retreat
(So we strugglin') Fighting to eat
(And we wonderin') When we'll be free
So we patiently wait / For that fateful day
It's not far away / But for now we say

Wavin' Flag Coca Cola Celebration Mix



(play from beginning to 1:43)

Lyrics:
Give me freedom / Give me fire
Give me reason / Take me higher
See the champions / Take the field now
Unify us / Make us feel proud
In the streets out / Heads are liftin'
As we lose our / Inhibitions
Celebration / It surrounds us
Every nation / All around us

(Singing forever young / Singing songs there beneath the sun
Let's rejoice in the beautiful game / And together at the end of the day we all say)

When I get older / I will be stronger
They'll call me freedom
Just like a wavin' flag
(So wave your flag)

Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) by Shakira, featuring Freshly Ground

 (Play from beginning to 1:26, then skip to 2:04 and play to end)

Lyrics:
You're a good soldier / Choosing your battles
Pick yourself up and / Dust yourself off
Get back in the saddle
You're on the front line / Everyone's watching
You know it's serious / We're getting closer
This isn't over
The pressure's on / You feel it
But you've got it all / Believe it

When you fall get up oh, oh
And if you fall get up eh, eh
Zamina mina Zangalewa
'Cause this is Africa

Zamina mina eh eh / Waka waka eh eh
Zamina mina zangalewa
This time for Africa.

Zangalewa by Golden Sounds



(Play 1 minute, then skip to 7:20 and play to 8:31. Later I'll ask you to play from 1:30 to 1:36, and then to replay the Shakira from 0:11-0:20).


Afrikaners is Plesierig by Karen Zoid



(Play from start to 1:44)

Afrikaners is Plesierig Volkspele


Play about one minute only

Karen Zoid and Zolani Mahola sing Afrikaners is Plesierig

(Play about 30 seconds)

Zolani Mahola and Karen Zoid sing I'd Like


Vusi Mahlasela and Karen Zoid sing Weeping

(Play to 1:50)

Dorothy Masuka at the KKNK

I'd like us to watch the whole thing, but we might not have time.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Musical appropriations: Harlem Shake, Die Antwoord, and Graceland

What happens when a spoof of a hip hop dance becomes a viral meme?
Ethnographers write long blog posts about it. It's an interesting commentary, and makes curious reading alongside Chapters 3 (on Die Antwoord) and 4 (on Gangsta) of Adam Haupt's recent book Static: Race & Representation in Post-Apartheid Music, Media & Film (free download available) and alongside some of the comments and articles on Paul Simon's Graceland. There's the bare bones of an interesting seminar, I think.

Friday, March 15, 2013