Spells, media and male feminists: new interviews

So now that Oakland Local’s out of the gate and in the race I’ve been getting back into the swing of reporting after spending most of the year on marketing projects.   It’s amazing how a few months can add dust to your dancing shoes, but I figure I’ll be back to fighting weight and ready to clean off a place on the mantle for a Pulitzer by, um, realistically, next Tuesday.

But in the meantime I’ve been grabbing lots of impromptu interviews (which I’ll get around to posting soon) in addition to more structured dealies.   Lots of talk about art, media, journalism, and the general grappling with the WTF world that we do around these parts.   A lot of the interviews were for Oakland Local but of course my alter ego-The Long Winded Inquisitor-made sure to cover enough ground to be able to chop, screw and parse till my little editor’s heart is content.  I like the idea of a longer book project, but then so does everybody else, so we’ll see how that goes.

For right now just check a couple of edited pieces that I have up now. I’ll be posting more regularly and figuring out what to do with the raw (rawr baby) material.

Filed under: Art, Interviews, Media , Activism, alters, Art, curation, feminism, Interviews, Media, richmond rape, visual art

Kenyan Hip Hop Comes to Oakland

Kenyan Hip Hop in Oakland
By Kwan Booth

For the last three years, Emerge Media Group has produced events promoting positive interactions between African and American Cultures. In 2005 the company produced the film “Hip Hop Colony”, documenting Kenya’s developing hip hop scene. This Saturday they’re sponsoring three of Kenya’s biggest hip hop acts on a special US Tour. The Logombas, Bamboo and Ida have gained national acclaim and a unique worldview, with two of the artists-Bamboo and Ida having lived in the States for years. The performers answered a few questions about music, social change and the differences between the two cultures.

Filed under: Interviews, Music

Kenya’s Hip Hop Colony

Hip Hop Colony: The African Hip Hop Explosion

By Kwan Booth (October 06, 2005-Whatchusay.com)

Hip Hop Colony, the new film by Director Michael Wanguhu and Russell Kenya, explores the emergence of Kenyan Hip Hop culture and it’s struggles to gain legitimacy. The film screened recently at the Oakland International Film Festival and I talked to the director about his inspiration, Kenya’s current music scene, and Hip Hop’s ability to break down boundaries.

Filed under: Film, Interviews, Media, Music , , "hip hop colony" "Michael Wanguhu", "Russell Kenya"