Nomadic Wax

META AND THE CORNERSTONES- FORWARD MUSIC ALBUM- MAY 29th 2008

admin — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:16:14 +0000

Please join Meta and the Cornerstones to celebrate the release of their independently produced, full-length studio album, FORWARD MUSIC. With hits such as SOMEWHERE IN AFRICA, SENEGAL, and WHO YOU WANNA BE, this album is packed with 13 soulful and electrifying tracks.

Meta’s powerful lyrics, tasteful melodies, and soulful voice will take you back to the roots of Reggae music. Infusing hip hop, rock, soul, and African influences, and in multiple languages, this modern day classic truly stands alone.

Hailing from five different countries, Meta and the Cornerstones bring to bear some of the best international musicians working in New York City: Andre Daniel (keyboards), Adrian Djoman (bass), Ian Joseph (drums), Shahar Mintz (lead guitar), and Daniel Serrato (guitar).

So come and join us for our album launch and be a part of a movement that will change the face of international reggae and world music forever.

Peace, Love and Harmony

April 26th - Global Hip-Hop Mini Fest

admin — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 08:46:13 +0000

RSVP for the Event

International Hip-Hop Film & Music Mini-Fest to Take Place in NYC’s Lower East Side

12 hour Global Hip-Hop music and Film to Take Over the Lower East Side

Just as hip hop reached out to the world in the 80s and 90s, the world has taken hip hop and is reaching back into America. The influence of non-American hip hop culture is evident and celebrated is music, film and activism. The Global Underground Film and Music Mini Fest will celebrate this international spirit in an all day/all night day global hip hop event on April 26, 2008, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan that will last from 2 PM to 2 AM.

From global hip hop label Nomadic Wax and sponsor World Hip Hop Market, the Global Underground Film and Music event will celebrate world culture and positive hip hop with film screenings drawn from the global Diaspora. The films will be shown from 2:00 PM until about 9:00 PM at The Performance Project at University Settlement, 184 Eldridge Street, New York, NY. This event is free and open to the public. Free Wine will be served from 5 PM - 9 PM.

The films shown will include:

African Underground: Democracy in Dakar (Follows the controversial 2007 elections in Senegal from the perspective of youth and Hip Hop artists)

Peduo Hablar (Documenting the career of Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez)

Diamonds in The Rough (A group of young people from Uganda use Hip Hop to spread their revolutionary message of hope and change.)

Chocolate City (Explores the rapid gentrification of Washington, DC, through the eyes of a group of local women displaced from their city center homes to make way for massive reconstruction)

Benign Eleven (Film adaptation of an absurdist play exploring American society’s issues and the reasons behind the 9/11 attacks)

Estilo Hip-Hop (Hip Hop in Latin America as a voice and an agent of social change)

African Underground: Democracy in Paris (The attitudes and concerns of France’s immigrant and Hip Hop communities during the elections of 2007)

Nomadic Wax will then host the official Global Underground after party at Drom, 85 Avenue A (between 5th and 6th), New York, NY. The live music event will feature MCs,
DJ and live percussionists from countries including, Senegal, Mexico, Brazil, Sierra Leone and more. The performance will begin at 10:00 pm. Entrance to the after party will be $10 to the public or $5 for those who attended the free film event.

For more information, contact Ben Herson ben@nomadicwax.com

Sponsors Include: Nomadic Wax, World Hip-Hop Market, Sol Productions, The Performance Project, Drom, Lima Chips, Annansi Clothing, Kamhuri Wear, Zol Lab, H2A, Fusicology,

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March 28th - NYU Panel with DJ Spooky

admin — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 08:14:33 +0000

More about the event

MUSEUM FOR AFRICAN ART
2008 Spring University Lecture Series

TIME LINES: New Perspectives on Contemporary and Traditional African Art

Friday, March 28, 2008
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Conceptual artist, writer, and musician Paul D. Miller/DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid moderates an all-art panel discussion on African hip hop and music videos. Professors Jesse Shipley Ariefdien of the pioneering South African rap group Prophets of da City and filmaker Ben Herson to discuss the emergence and current state of hip hop in Africa.

Co-Sponsored by the Institute of African-American Affairs at New York University

Lecture will take place at 19 University Place, Room 102, between E. 8th and Waverly Street. Note that all non-NYU guests must present photo ID at security desk

Nomadic Wax 5 Year B-day March 15th!

admin — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 02:53:50 +0000

African Underground at Idylwild Arts Academy - Idylwild CA!

admin — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 00:11:16 +0000

Feb 16th - Balla Kouyate - Live at Rose

admin — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 19:28:17 +0000

Balla Kouyaté is one of the greatest balafon players from the Djeli or “griot” tradition in Mali. The Kouyatés were the first djelis in the Mandé Empire. The balafon (ancestor of the xylophone) was given to Balla’s ancestors by nobles in the 12th century and has remained in his family ever since.

Balla seemed destined to play this instrument, learning at the age of six. He performed for the first time in Bamako, Mali at "Palais de la Culture" with Malian singer Sanignai Kouyaté. In 1994, he was a member of the National Percussion of Mali. By 1997 he was granted the opportunity to play with singer Ami Koïta at the O.I.A. conference, which brought together 27 African presidents.

Balla has been called on to play with many African artists touring in the United States and his superior musicianship has been featured on at least 35 albums. Currently he works with kora master Mamadou Diabaté playing venues such as Lincoln Center Outdoor Festival, Symphony Space and festivals around the country. They both are part of Roswell Rudd’s MALIcool ensemble. In 2004, Balla played with Sidiki Condé at Carnegie Hall for a month long residency for children, and has been engaged by many African artists to tour in the United States. He joined Ursel Schlicht’s Ex Tempore in 2004. While playing with Ex Tempore, he felt the need to expand the tonal possibilities of the balafon and created a chromatic instrument, to his knowledge the first chromatic balafon ever. Check out his Collaborations page to see more of his current and past projects.

African Underground @ Wesleyan University!

admin — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 07:26:41 +0000

SOBs International Hip-Hop Showcase

admin — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 15:57:31 +0000

NTERNATIONAL HIP-HOP SHOWCASE AT SOBS

Event Information:
Wed, January 30, 2008
10:00 PM - 1:00 AM
COMMON GROUND
Featuring:
KEITH MURRAY
GANG OF ROSES (ATLANTA)
CHACHI (CAPE VERDE)
SPARK FLAME (HAITI/NY)
T-WEAPONZ (BROOKLYN BORICUAS)
VODKA (BROOKLYN/NJ)
HUL (AFRICA)
MR. REO (HAITI)
STREET ROXX (NYC)
HOSTED BY: The LEGENDARY LORD FINESSE
HOT 97’s PETER ROSENBERG ON THE WHEELS
Doors: 7pm
Show: 8pm
$10
www.myspace.com/tweaponz
www.myspace.com/bigchach
www.myspace.com/ftimz
www.myspace.com/thegangofroses

MLK Day at Proctor Academy!

admin — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 21:41:23 +0000

Nomadic Wax

Proctor Academy MLK Celebration

This is the first page I’ve created that features only photographs from inside the Norris Theater. While living in the west African country of Senegal, Ben Herson became intrigued with the use of rap music to promote polital and social change, a phenomenon that propelled the election of Abdoulaye Wade in 2000.

Collaborating with creative friends, Ben founded Nomadic Wax to explore and document the power of underground African music as a vehicle for social change. He brought Nomadic Wax to Proctor this weekend as we observed Martin Luther King’s legacy.

On Friday night, the whole school gathered for a hip-hop concert featuring Senegalese rappers. As the evening progressed, the crowd closed in on the performers on stage.

Ben noted that American rap descends from the oral tradition of call-and-response that survived the slave trade, and slavery itself. The introduction of hip-hop into African culture, therefore, is the completion of an artistic circle that began with the capture and trade of human chattel in west Africa hundreds of years ago.

The role of hip-hop in Senegalese politics is remarkable. While American rap lyrics glorify violence, crime and sex, none of this was possible in Senegal, due to cultural and religious (Muslim) traditions. Elders must be honored and promiscuity is deemed sinful, so lyrics decrying poverty and politcal inertia filled a vacuum.

In short, the Wade regime failed to bring the change that was promised in 2000. So, the elections of 2007 provided a rich setting for competing, underground musical positioning. Thirteen candidates vied for votes that would place them into an anticipated run-off election between the two highest qualifiers. Nomadic Wax’s documentary film "Democracy in Dakar" is a series of shorts–interviews and raps by underground artists and observers.

Shockingly, the results of the February 25 election made a run-off unnecessary, as the incumbent Wade miraculously secured a majority of the popular votes.

All of the calls for change had failed, as voters opted for stability. A sense of national despair followed.

While the role of hip-hop as an agent for social change in Senegal is beyond question, it failed–at least in 2007–to do something that the folk and gospel movement achieved in the United States in the 1960s.

Ben Herson decided to document the power of hip-hop to accrue social change in Senegal.

It may look and sound like American rap, but the lyrics respect social traditions and tabboos which prohibit personal attacks on elders.

Students were invited to join in!

A panel discussion followed Saturday morning’s showing of "Democracy in Dakar."

Following the panel, students were invited to hang out with the artists.

Speaking in Monday’s assembly, Andover resident Ray Mitchell recalls the power of folk music at the April, 1965 MLK-led march on Montgomery, AL, of which he was a part.

Members of the chorus sing a traditional spiritual Monday morning.

MLK Weekend Show at Proctor Academy

admin — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 07:43:53 +0000