Category Archives: Music

Akon heads to Nigeria

keeping a finger on the pulse of music… this might be a difficult concert to attend, but you may find the tracks…

Akon storms Nigeria

The reason for this, Akon says, “There are a lot of negative things going on today and so we need to party and just have fun. Bananza… is a party record. You just go in the club, party and enjoy those beautiful women.”

However, life does not solely revolve around beautiful women and leisure time and Akon is well aware of this.

On the somber, soulful “Ghetto” and the meditative, impressive “Journey,” Akon gives listeners an in depth look into a harsher world, one that is just as gripping as it is chilling. But rather than sensationalize his own drama, Akon transmits, to his audience, the feeling of being a part of his inner circle.

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Oojami in the Boston Herald

i could do without the sandwich reference on this one, but…

Turkey club: Oojami makes a musical sandwich

“We’re trying to connect with people, cross over and build up the bridge and defuse the negative feelings between cultures. But most important, we want people to have a good time because we live in a world and in times that are difficult. We need to go out and help put a smile on people’s faces.”

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arabic pop in the post

picking up on the theme of music related to dance, the washington post has a piece, In the Arab World, Pop Stardom Can Be A Touchy Subject, related to the upcoming big-deal Nancy Ajram show here in the DC area.

it’s worth checking out, if you can catch it before it gets locked behind the archive-wall at the post.

that said, i do want to pick one small nit with the story…

In 2003, the Egyptian Parliament banned the video for another of her songs. (The legislature’s jurisdiction covered only Egyptian television stations; the video was still seen in Egypt via satellite from Lebanese broadcasts.) By Western standards, the video is demure. She is shown swaying her hips and arms while wearing a black dinner dress that covers her ankles.

it’s entirely possible that i saw a different version of this video, but that little black dinner dress didn’t cover much ankle when i saw it.
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putting oojami on tour

i don’t have much time to devote to this (i wasted all of my ‘free time’ for the month yesterday eating cake and ice cream), but it is something that came to my attention this week and i wanted to say something… so, since i have a short break now, here’s something.

oojami came through the area recently, near the start of their east coast tour. six musicians off on the road, bringing their stuff (which you may know from the first bellydance superstars disc or elsewhere)… and while they were here, i learned that their next stop was… canada. i don’t have anything against canada (and even tried to push a few people into the show), but that struck me as a pretty odd place to go from this area. it’s 500-ish miles, with two big cities in between (pittsburgh and philadelphia) and several others (in no particular order and off the top of my head – frederick, md; hagerstown, md; york, pa; harrisburg, pa; morgantown, wv; cleveland, oh; erie, pa; syracuse, ny; buffalo, ny; rochester, ny). so i decided to check out the rest of their tour, and it looks like this:
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