Western music listeners have a rather unfortunate habit of filing anything not from the United States or Western Europe under the banner of “world music.” Even in today’s climate of increasing globalization and transnational social interaction, breaking from this categorization and into the mainstream remains one of the toughest challenges for non-Western artists. Lately, however, a number of artists are breaking away first from the “world music” category and then from the “African musician” stigma that mainstream media so effortlessly tags them with. ABC News has the story on this new class of singers and emcees, which includes some familiar names like K’Naan and Nneka, emerging from the African Continent. Read the Full Article here.
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I love how artists like K’Naan and Nneka are breaking ground in the U.S. It reminds me of twenty years ago when American-born musicians like Arrested Development and the Native Tongues family captured the mainstream (at least temporarily) by celebrating the link to Africa in their music, visually, sonically and politically. The more artists who celebrate Africa, whether from the West, from the continent, or from anywhere, the better.