Kojey Radical is more than just an artist

If you never heard of the name ‘Kojey Radical’, you have been missing out on one of the best inspiration sources of the past couple of years. Referred to as the Basquiat of alternative urban music, the artist/poet/musician/director and occasional designer (amongst other things) will go to extremes to keep his creativity flowing. He recently launched his single ‘OPEN HAND’, a powerful tune dealing with the race stigma in our society. With his new concept brand ‘Francis and the artist’, he proves yet again that art can go beyond superficiality.

“The revolution is not in the closed fist, it’s in the open hand”

Kojey is not afraid to deal with world problems right handed. His last EP ‘OPEN HAND’ is as beautiful as it is meaningful. Produced by fellow London artist ‘New Machine’, he managed to find the words many aren’t capable of finding, striving for people to embrace acceptance.

“Those who will… and those who actually will…”

Knowing the struggle of receiving recognition in the creative sector, ‘Francis and the artist’, Kojey's new concept brand, is a project that hands over part of the creation to new artists.  Fusing his background in contemporary art and his love for fashion, Kojey breaks down the basic constructs of the everyday garment, giving young talent the opportunity to make an art work and translate it into a piece of clothing. The first piece is curated by the artist himself, commissioning work from upcoming artist ‘Palime Demanet’ for “The Archetypal T-Shirt”.

The brand will be launched and available for everyone on the 2nd of November at 17:00 GMT. Prepare yourself for a 48 -hour race to get your exemplar at https://andtheartist.com

Africa Utopia 2015 art and ideas from Africa that are impacting the world

 Toumani Diabate, Baba Maal, Damon Albarn ,Tony Allen. Photo by Ade Omoloja

This year was one breath-taking summer for arts, music, dance and fashion festivals in London. What is more? The recently concluded third edition of the Africa Utopia Festival was one of the capital's forthright and most spectacular festival ever, celebrating all aspect of the creative arts industry.

Africa Utopia was a creative explosion of Jedi proportion that featured performance arts, music, dance, fashion, theatre, visual-techno art exhibition, family events and mouth-watering food market and much more besides.  The whole shebang was spread out - in the streets, galleries, library, public buildings, and every available space and corner of London’s most vibrant cultural quarters – The Southbank Centre. This four-day fiesta enthused by the African continent and Diaspora delved into the dynamic and ever-changing contribution of modern Africa to art, culture and ultimately to our society.  Organisers hope the festival will also help make connections between artists and activists, get more accessible; to engage.  

Discussions and debates deliberated on sustainability vs profit, digital journalism and digital activism, youth education and power to African feminism. Furthermore, in a nod to the present refugee crisis, the migration debate asked the question: “Why do people flee? What awaits them where, and if they reach their destination?” It’s a question for us all to ponder on at this time.  The Talks/Debates consisted of defining speakers including the traditional suspect, journalist, author and arts programmer Ethiopian-born Hannah Pool, who must be noted has been involved in Africa Utopia from the very start. Next in line is singer-song-writer and UN Ambassador for HIV/AIDS Malian, Baaba Maal, who also has been involved with AU from its birth. As well as Jude Kelly CBE, Artistic Director, Southbank Centre. The lot are experts in contemporary art, art history, music and green politics, each addressing the historical relevance of arts and culture - including the power of art in activism and the role of women and young people who have made a huge contribution to our arts as part of our lives and still motivates us all in creating future change. These themes are conceived to appeal to taste, of all ages, colour, cultural aficionados and newcomers alike.  

Chineke Junior Orchestra with founder Chi Chi Nwanoku  and conductor Wayne Marshall.  Photo by Ade Omoloja

Even more so, the tune line-up was a must-hear for anyone and everyone fascinated by great live performing. First on stage was Malian singer Kassé Mady Diabaté of royal stock and acknowledged as one of West Africa's finest singers.  He was accompanied by fellow Malians: Ballaké Sissoko, a noted player of the kora; Lansiné Kouyaté performing on Kora & Balafon (The balafon, also known as balafo is a wooden xylophone - percussion idiophone from West Africa) and Makan Tounkara, a gifted composer, arranger, singer, and n'goni artiste. (The n’goni, an ancient traditional lute found throughout West Africa). To bring the festival to a close was the master of it all - Nigeria’s Tony Allen with friends. And oh boy were they great!

Tony, is a skilful drummer, composer and songwriter and once musical director of late Fela Anikulapo Kuti's band Africa 70 from 1968 to 1979. Furthermore, he’s famed as the powerhouse behind the late Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat movement. It’s  recognised that Fela said: “without Tony Allen, there would be no Afrobeat music”.  In alliance with Tony on stage; Baaba Maal, multi award-winning singer/song writer and Toumani Diabaté, a Malian kora player, genius of African music and widely recognised as the greatest living kora player. And in a rare father-and-son kora-playing collaboration, Toumani Diabaté and his son Sidiki Diabaté put down a spell-binding presentation. It was a mind-blowing ensemble. A-ma-zing! And to put the last bit on the Tony Allen and friend’s fusion was French star rapper Oxmo Puccino (born Abdoulaye Diarra) a hip hop musician born in Mali.  The whole shebang brought the house down. It was a high octane musical extravaganza of fantastic proportion that received a rapturous reception at every song and every notes that rings out.  These musicians nailed and killed it in equal measures. There was an eight minute standing ovation. For a man who turned 75 in August, Tony Oladipo Allen, is remarkably springily. He still hits the studio (and treadmill, I suppose) every day. He is just as you’d imagine, small, frail and thin looking, dressed in a classic white African traditional classic number with bold abstract designs and he outdone it with a white Fedora Hat.  Maybe this is what comes from churning out some five gigs a year for over 50 years. He has delivered some of the music most indelible music albums and concerts from Africa to Europe and North America to Australia and the Americas – straight-up.

Toumani and Sidiki Diabate, Baba Maal.  Photo by Ade Omoloja

With all the serious shows and presentations that took place, however, the three that stood-out for the festival – in my modest view - are the music performances and fashion presentation curated by Samson Saboye, of Nigerian parentage, from Shoreditch-London. Soboye brings together a team of leading designers from Africa and the African Diaspora to present an inspirational and exciting women’s wear, menswear and accessories. 

“I’ve been a Fashion Stylist for many years now with a spell designing and manufacturing soft furnishings, which led me to open SOBOYE. 

Africa Utopia is a great showcase to celebrate the importance and significance African Culture to the rest of the World. London has the highest population of African nationals from all over the continent and the contribution that Africans have made to the city is noteworthy. Our presentation is called DIASPORA CALLING! A presentation of African Contemporary style, inspired by Street Style photography. Our show producer Agnes Cazin from Haiti 73 Agency conceived the concept as we were searching of different ways to present fashion that was away from a traditional catwalk show. We are showing the diversity of Africa that will linger on even after the festival: the Joy, the vibrancy and richness of its people, who mostly have an innate sense of style that is not dictated by the latest trends or Designer head-to-looks. The Modern Style-conscious African’s style is a mash-up of pop culture, vintage clothes, self-made fashion and images fed daily through Instagram and Pinterest, of which they are fully engaged in. All these influences are absorbed in to the visual memory banks and stored for future referencing at any time. This then in turn manifests itself in the Individualist looks that we see influencing mainstream Western style today”. 

On the small matter of who SOBOYE designs for: “SOBOYE designs are for the fashion savvy, confident, style literate person, with their fingers on the pulse and a zest for life. The Women’s wear came a year after the Men’s collection and is designed in collaboration with Designer and friend Chi Chi Chinakwe”. (A moniker moment in this festival is the premiere of Chineke, the UK’s first professional classical orchestra made up entirely of musicians of African descent and minority ethnic classical artists performed a tribute to the black teenager Steven Lawrence that was murdered in a raciest attack in 1995)  Soboye expressed: “Our customers tend be in the creative industries and have an eye for well fitting, original clothes with an attention to detail. Our clothes add to the enjoyment of dressing up and I’ve yet to see someone wear any of our pieces and not look and feel better for wearing them… Sidney Poitier is my all-time style icon. Not only was he well-dressed, he always carried himself with such dignity and broke so many barriers by being such an accomplished actor. Currently Pharrell Williams and Solange Knowles would both be great brand ambassadors for SOBOYE." So if they are both reading this come on in… we are waiting for you. Yes, of course they read roomsmagazine.com.

Beside ambitious philosophy in the horizon: What does the future hold for Samson Soboye? “We plan to expand our online business and build the brand. We’d like to secure good investment to consolidate the business and allow for expansion and growth and for that to be manageable. We’d like to be the ‘go-to’ brand for the talented, ambitious discerning globe trotter “.

www.soboye.com.

Southbank Centre

Artists and Scientists at Music Tech Fest

Soft Revolvers by Myriam Bleau

Andrew Dubber, Music Tech Fest’s director, explains to me the freedom Music Tech Fest fosters in joining creative musicians and technological minds in an all-inclusive environment – the aim is to ultimately liberate the music technology scene and revel in the mayhem that ensues.

How and why was 'Music Tech Fest' conceived and what developments has it gone through to make it the internationally-reaching community it is today?

I wasn’t there for the first Music Tech Fest. It was something that came out of the European Road Map for the Future of Music Information Research. Michela Magas was the scientific director for that project - and was the founder of the Music Tech Fest. The idea was to bring together artists and scientists, academics and industry in a ‘hands on’ experimental environment - rather than just a conference. I came along to the second one and, like most people who now work for MTF - I basically just never went home. I was asked to take on the role of director of the festival, and we have had invitations - sometimes through some of my own professional connections - to bring the event to different cities. It’s different everywhere we do it, and we learn a lot by doing each one. But what makes it work is the fact that it brings together such a diverse range of brilliant and interesting people. It’s not a matter of controlling the outcome. You put them together in a room and watch what happens. 

Why do you think it is important for musicians working with technology to meet face to face in a world saturated by online ‘music technology’ content?

I don’t think it’s necessarily important for musicians to meet each other face to face. It’s nice, just as any personal human interaction is nice. But there’s a lot that can be done through online collaboration between people who have the same language and mode of working. What’s important is that they meet *other types of people* with different skills and frames of thinking. People who aren’t musicians, but bring something else to music. And to make that work, people need to build something together. If you want to innovate in music, you need creative technologists, designers, hackers, musicians, artists, product designers, music industry people - a whole range of different minds. That’s what the face to face stuff is for. You get people working collaboratively and it opens up all sorts of unimagined possibilities.

‘Music Tech Fest’ seems different in that you pride yourself on being ‘a community with a festival, not a festival with a community’ - why is it important to 'bring down' the hierarchy that a lot of creative ‘festivals’ have and somewhat ‘level the playing-field’ for musicians working with technology?

There are a few important things here. First - we want to remove barriers to participation. Anyone who wants to play music, make technologies, hack, research or find out about music technologies should not be prevented from doing so because of financial restrictions. Second, it’s important to us that things that happen at Music Tech Fest have a life beyond the festival. New projects begin, new businesses are formed, new art installations are imagined, new performances planned - that sort of thing. That’s what Music Tech Fest is for. It’s a catalyst for the community. Where people come together, get exposed to new concepts and experiences, meet new people, have interesting discussions, make new prototypes and so on - but then go off to develop those further and maybe come back and showcase those things on the main stage at a later Music Tech Fest.

A lot of the creative developments in the ‘music tech’ world aren’t solely to do with music anymore - how and why is cross-collaboration in artistic mediums important and how does ‘Music Tech Fest’ foster these concepts?

The edges where music stops and other stuff starts has always been blurred - but now more than ever. We’re interested in music for its own sake, because music is amazing - and we’re also interested in music as a tool for other things (social change, industrial innovation, education…). Music is something pretty much everyone has a relationship with in one way or another. It’s the bit that connects the tech-heads with the artistic people, the academics with the industry. We’re working with Volvo trucks and Philips lighting. Those organisations might not be thought of as music related, but they see the value of a transversal approach to innovation, and music as a galvanising force that gets young people interested in technology and engineering. The cross-collaboration in the arts is especially important in an age of computing because the artificial barriers between storytelling, music, film, visual arts - even taste and touch - are broken down in our increasingly synaesthetic and multi-modal world. 

The improvements and accessibility of technology in general is something that is obviously allowing more people to engage with it. How has the festival engaged with the issues of inaccessibility to technology to allow a wider engagement with music tech?

It’s a really important strand of what we do. For instance, we’re working closely with a number of organisations who are focused on using technology to remove barriers to participation for people with disabilities. We encourage our hackers to keep accessibility in mind when developing any new projects and we showcase projects that are about making music available to more people in more places - for instance, the One Handed Musical Instrument (OHMI) Trust, Drake Music and Human Instruments. It’s also a key part of our #MTFResearch network principles. The Manifesto for the Future of Music Technology Research, which came about as a response to the Music Tech Fest we held at Microsoft Research in Boston. See: http://musictechifesto.org

Music Tech Fest

All images courtesy of Andrew Dubber

Arcade Fire: The Reflektor Tapes

This September, Arcade Fire are offering fans a unique insight into the making of Reflektor, their most recent, critically acclaimed international bestselling album. Featuring 20 minutes of previously unseen footage as well as an unreleased track, The Reflektor Tapes will be screened in cinemas for a limited time, unveiling the sights behind the sounds that we have loved since Reflektor’s release in 2013.

Directed by award winning LA based filmmaker Kahlil Joseph, the film recontextualizes the album experience, transporting the viewer into a kaleidoscopic sonic and visual landscape. Meeting at the crossroads of documentary, music, art, and personal history, it promises to be a unique and authentic cinematic experience; with Arcade Fire granting previously unprecedented access to Joseph, fans can expect a truly honest and intimate glimpse into the lives of the Canadian indie rockers.

 “There were parts of the Reflektor tour where I think we, Arcade Fire, came the closest in our careers to putting on stage what we imagined in our heads. We were insanely lucky to have Kahlil Joseph documenting from the very beginning."

Until The Reflektor Tapes opens in cinemas on the 24th of September, fans can appease themselves with the newly released exclusive music video for the track ‘Porno’, created by Kahlil Joseph and featuring footage from the film.

Cinema listings and tickets available soon at: TheReflektorTapes.com

AMY

‘When I tell people what I am, I say I am not a singer, I’m a Jazz singer,’ Amy sets straight in her ballsy attitude in a short candid clip of her practicing in a studio. That sets the tone of the film directed by documentary filmmaker Asif Kapadia. First and foremost her love of music particularly Jazz which framed her style and a compillation of short candid videos all merged together seamlessly, bounded by the story of a young Jewish girl’s rised to stardom and fame and the tragic pitfalls that consumed her life and eventually took it away. The film itself was first debuted at a late night screening at this year's Cannes and has since snowballed from indie flick into one of the most anticipated biopics to hit the screens this year.

Image via clickypic.net

The videos are led by interviews of famous names who had been touched by the late songstress and the characters that framed her career, from the narration of her childhood friends Juliette Ashby and Lauren Gilbert who stood by her throughout her success and recognition, her father Mitch who plays a key storyteller in this biopic, to her former manager Raye Cosbert, her musical collaborators friends, Mark Ronson and Tony Bennett, to name but a few, as well as conversations with her ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil, with whom Amy had developed her tumultuous relationship with drugs and alcohol.

It was easy to assume that before watching the film there would be an element of pure tragedy as Amy’s life and death was so readily noted in the media, this is true but there is also a component of good that this film delivers too. It is Amy’s side of the story from beyond the grave. It is told mostly through her voice, whether it be through her melancholic lyrics of depression and love loss or her ability to be a young silly girl, talking in accents, showing her affection to her closest friends in her personal voicemails she had left them which the film offers so honestly. She is also shown to be hilariously fun to be around, with her blunt tongue and wicked sense of humour, which she showed in one piece of archive footage of an interviewer who tried comparing her to singer Dido, her facial expression of complete disapproval lit the whole cinema with laughs.

What is clear to suggest from the way Amy acted in her short life, was that she was grieving a pain that went unnoticed for most of her life, a pain that was disguised and fuelled later on with men, drugs and alcohol and that her initial complexity was with her family separation at a young age between her mother and father. This issue is something a lot of a young people can relate to, but the real tragedy that the film uncovers was her continuous secret battle with bulimia and the painful affects this had on her body, which proved ultimately to be a key contributor in her death at the age of twenty-seven.

Amy’s private vulnerability and personal struggles did not always get the better of her, as she successfully  channeled these into her craft, her timeless lyrics, five Grammy wins and forging  the world famous albums Frank (2003) and Back to Black (2006) consecutively as well as stand alone singles that will live forever such as Rehab and Love is a Losing Game. In the end, what the film shines a light on is the idea that Amy was a legend of our time who helped bring classic jazz to the forefront of popular culture, the unique old-school jazz stylings of her voice were epitomised by the legendary Tony Bennett himself when he says at the end, ‘Amy was up there with Billie holiday and Ella Fitzgerald,’ which was a very true comparison and a contrast that has proved since her death to be a voice that will live on with us far longer than her life.

If you haven’t already, watch Amy at your nearest cinema. My personal recommendation, check it out in the intimacy of the Electric Cinema in Shoreditch.

Amy was released in UK cinemas 3rd July 2015.

I Wanna Destroy (Sacred Objects From Suburban Homes) – A forthcoming performance by EMA

Image via © Barbican 

Musician and multimedia artist Erika M. Anderson (EMA) ensnares us into her own world of music, spoken word and virtual reality at the Barbican.

Portland-based artist EMA can be described as a bit of an avant-gardist. Her most recent album, The Future’s Void, is about the Internet and the ever-encroaching virtualisation of society. She’s an artist that isn’t afraid of commenting on the digital world. And her upcoming performance, I Wanna Destroy, accomplishes that and more.

You’re taken into her immersive virtual-reality word. A nifty device known as an Oculus rift further glorifies the full experience. It’s a virtual-reality headgear that, when accompanied by the music, can fully channel the solemn and poignant environment that EMA creates.

Excerpt from EMA’s I Wanna Destroy performance in Queens, New York.  

I Wanna Destroy is a part of Doug Aitken’s 1 month long exhibition, Station to Station: A 30 Day Happening. A project of his that brings ‘together a fusion of leading international and UK-based’ contemporary artists in all fields, including EMA. Her collaboration with developer Zach Krausnick and the software company, Chroma are what allow this unique cybernetic world to exist.

This performance has already proved to be a success in the states, and it’s now travelling across the pond. It’s come for those select few who wish to turn on the virtual-world, tune in to her sound, and drop out at the Barbican.

Tickets available here

7th July at 19:30, Art Gallery. Barbican Centre, Silk Street EC2Y 8DS

End of a Century: Nineties Album Reviews in Pictures

The Gold Experience – Prince, September 1995

Surfing On Sine Waves – Polygon Window (AKA Aphex Twin), January 1993

He Got Game – Public Enemy, May 1998

Ray Of Light – Madonna, February 1998

Full of stunning illustrations, End of a Century is a tour de force that collects the work of the late John Matthew Charrosin Wrake (better known by his trading nickname ‘Run’) and his partnership with music bible NME.

The personal introduction, written by editor and friend Andrew Collins, discusses Run’s student life and his success as an artist and illustrator, giving us an insight into the mind of a man with ‘a style of his own’.

Designed by his widow, Lisa Wrake, End of a Century pays tribute to Run’s visualisations of nineties album reviews between 1988 and 2000, an exciting period in pop music history. Run embraced this and provided keenly satirical imagery that sat beautifully alongside album reviews in NME, providing a visual guide for music lovers.

Using a clever blend of collage and illustration, Run’s career as a graphic designer and animator has always been heavily influenced by music, from the visuals he created for the live shows of U2 and the Rolling Stones, to the videos he helped produce for the Gang of Four and Howie B. Drawing on influences such as Dada, Pop Art and early animation, Run had a unique gift for creating illustrations that stay with the reader for a long time. Some of the bands featured include:  Julian Cope, Chemical Brothers, Joy Division, The Fall, Madonna, Kylie, Flaming Lips, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Manic Street Preachers, Pop Will Eat Itself, Blur, Belle & Sebastian, Public Enemy and Bowie. 

End of a Century  is published by Self Made Hero, retailing at £24.99 (208pp/ colour, hardback) and will be available in late June. To order a copy and for more information, visit: www.selfmadehero.com