SPOTLIGHT: CHRISTMAS IN GHANA

It's December so you know what that means, it's time for everyone to be nice
to each other for a whole month.I mean it's Christmas time! Ok so Christmas isn't for another 22 days but that doesn't mean we can start the celebration early right? In Ghana, Christmas doesn't start on the 25th but rather on the 20th and it goes all the way until the first week of January. It really isn't all that different from how we celebrate Christmas here in America; kids often put on nativity plays in Ghana like they do here, just with different clothing on to reflect the difference in culture. Christmas day is when people usually go to church, often in traditional clothing, and after church is when they usually open their presents.

Children wearing clothes for a Christmas play

December seems to be the month of giving for Ghana; not only do they give each other presents, they also give the world a gift in the form of chocolate. Ghana is the world's second largest producer of cocoa and December marks the start of the cocoa harvest. Santa Claus must love going over to Ghana, drop off some gifts and get some chocolate in return, that's a pretty sweet deal.

-DJ ( who is trying not to steal Christmas again)

MUSIC MONDAY: GOOD NEWS

So many African artists are doing such big things right now. As a fan, and fellow African, I am so proud and excited for them all. Here are a few that I am the most excited about.

1. Petite Noir is featured on, Saint Heron, the first album released from Solange Knowles' new label. 

MUSIC MONDAY: ASHA'S OBSESSIONS

Theophilus London is still my obsession

It's been brought to my attention that I simply don't just like things, but I become completely obsessed. I've also been known to call everything my favorite, but that's another story. For now, enjoy some of my latest obsessions. Enjoy!

DOSHA DOES: ECHO PARK RISING

This past weekend, Farida and I had the pleasure of attending the 3rd Annual Echo Park Rising Music Festival. 

The two-day extravaganza is full of great bands, music, food, art, and is completely free to attend. Once we arrived and saw the massive crowds of people, we knew we were in for a fun night. 

There were various venues all over the Sunset streets, but Farida and I decided to hang out at Taix French Restaurant. The parking lot next to the restaurant held the main outdoor stage, where great bands like Olin and the Moon and Big Black Delta graced the stage. In the Champagne room, in the restaurant, was where we spent the majority of our night. It was such a fun and intimate setting, you could tell that all of the people in the room simply wanted to have a good time and enjoy great music. Hardly anyone had their cellphones out during the sets, which is so rare nowadays.

The Reflections 

We made some new buddies and discovered great acts like Spirit Vine and The Reflections. Spirit Vine has an amazing female lead singer and an awesome female drummer; I just love girls in rock bands. The Reflections are kinda the coolest band ever. We not only watched them perform in the room, but went outside to see them rock out in a food truck. Who does that? 

Of all the great bands and musicians we saw on Saturday, no one was able to top Moses Sumney. In fact, he was the reason we went to the festival in the first place, and I am so glad he did not disappoint. 

Moses Sumney 

Moses Sumney is life! I heard thirty seconds of the Ghanaian rapper on Tumblr, crazy right, and within the hour Farida and I were in the car going to see him perform live. Boy does he know how to put on a show. It was just him alone on the stage, and he commanded the attention of everyone in the room. I was enjoying his performance, but when he performed "Alchemy" I was completely locked in. The song is beyond beautiful and his vocals are kind of insane. I'm actually listening to it while I write this. It's just so good.

After his set, Farida and I were able to speak with him briefly. He was extremely nice, charismatic, and claimed to love Instagram more than his parents. Sumney was also kind enough to give Farida a clapping lesson. During one of his songs, he asked the audience to clap along, and well, Farida could not keep up. 

Make sure to check him out live if you can. You definitely will not regret it. Check out this video of him performing another one of his amazing songs, "Replaceable." 

Moses & Me

See more pictures from the festival on our Instagram. 

-ASHA 

PACIFIC RIM

Let me start by saying that I am a huge fan of the Kaiju, or Monster film genre, and I'm also a fan of big giant robots fighting said monsters. Pacific Rim combines my two loves,  into one epic monster fighting movie that manages to hold your interest throughout the entire film, although I could be being totally biased here. The main story centers around Raleigh Becket, played by Charlie Hunnam, and how he teams up with a resistance group led by Stacker Pentecost, played by Idris Elba, to stop the impending monster apocalypse. Can we talk about how awesome Idris is in this film? His character commanded presence each time he appeared on screen and you really got that sense that he was a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders; also, he is the main reason why different nations have abandoned their differences and have teamed up with each other. I don't want to give too much away since the movie is fairly new, but  I will say that if you want to watch an entertaining film, you need to go see this movie. Don't believe me? Check this out.

MUSIC MONDAY: ENVY

Have you ever listened to a song and realized the lyrics hit a little too close to home? Envy's song "Am I Wrong" did that to me. I was having one of those deep life conversations with myself and essentially questioning everything. You know, the usual philosophical questions people tend to ask. Should I being doing this? Am I where I should be in life?

FASHION FRIDAY: OHEMA OHENE

I am proud to be an African, and what better way to express that than by wearing our clothing? Don't get me wrong, traditional clothing is great and all, but being the young fashionable man that I am, I'm going to need something a bit more modern. Thank goodness for Ohema Ohene. 

MUSIC MONDAY: SUMMER EDITION

Next to basketball, summer is my favorite season! I enjoy the amazing weather, BBQs, and great music. Music is always so good in the summer.  Here are some the songs that get me in the mood for all the summer shenanigans. 

AFRICAN ROBOTICS NETWORK

I was always interested in robots when I was growing up, partly due to Mega Man and Iron Man....ok totally due to Mega Man and Iron Man. I kust find robots to be super coo, so much so that I recently became a member of AFRON. 

SPORTS: NBA PLAYOFFS 2013 ROUND 1

First round of the playoffs are officially over. A few of our fave Africans are out (see full list here), but we still have some left so we're happy! Unfortunately, there are no longer any Los Angeles teams, so DJ & I are pretty upset and are in mourning. Take a look. 






-ASHA

DANCE, DANCE: WORLD MUSIC & DANCE FESTIVAL 2013

Each year, Cal Arts University holds a World Music & Dance Festival, where they celebrate the music and traditions of various cultures all around the world. This past weekend, they kicked off their concert series with the West African Music and Dance inspired by Ghana.

SPORTS: NBA PLAYOFFS 2013

The playoffs are officially underway. Even though we're rooting for our LA teams, (Go Lakeshow! Clippernation!), we proudly rep and support all of the Africans that are in the playoffs. 

WEST

Steve Nash 
Los Angeles Lakers
South Africa 

Festus Ezeli
Golden State Warriors
Nigeria 

Hasheem Thabeet
Oklahoma City Thunder
Tanzania

Serge Ibaka
Oklahoma City Thunder
Congo

Thabo Sefolosha
Oklahoma City Thunder
South Africa 

Boris Diaw
San Antonio Spurs
Senegal 

Andre Iguodala
Denver Nuggets
Nigeria

ON THIS DAY...

Today is a very good day for Africans; not only is today the birthday of the most awesomest person ever aka ME, it's also Ghana's Independence Day.

FASHION FRIDAY: A MAN'S STORY

One of my guilty pleasures is watching fashion documentaries, i.e. The September Issue, Valentino: The Last Emperor, Lagerfeld Confidential, etc. I just love the behind-the-scenes, fly-on-the-wall aspect of them. Most recently, I came across Ozwald Boateng's documentary A Man's Story, and it quickly has become one of my all-time fashion docs.

MUSIC MONDAY: VALENTINE'S DAY PLAYLIST

Being that Valentine's Day is in a few days, I thought I would make a playlist of a few of my favorite love songs... and you know I could not make a playlist without throwing a little Koffi in there. Enjoy!

-ASHA

SPOTLIGHT : YVONNE NELSON

Known as Ghana's "It" Girl, actress Yvonne Nelson has become one of the most sought after actress in African cinema.

MUSIC MONDAY: DENCIA

If you don't know Cameroonian/Nigerian singer Dencia, then you need to get familiar! Here are some need-to-know facts about the fabulous, Afro-pop songstress.

 Name: Reprudencia Sonkey

Hometown: Cameroon

Claim to Fame: Started off as a video vixen in videos like Jermih's "Down on Me", before releasing her hit single "Beri Beri" in 2010.

Girl's Anthem: Super Girl

Noteworthy Collaboration: "Me & U" feat. Ghanaian rapper Sarkodie

Diva Factor: She has a dog named Diva and it even has it's own Twitter account (@divathepinkdog).

Fun Fact: Dencia was the first African artist featured on MTV's website.  

Check out her video for Super Girl. Enjoy!

 -ASHA

COMEDY CORNER: BENJAMIN SASO

Actor.DJ. Comedian. Personal trainer. Entrepreneur. Benjamin Saso is a Ghanaian man of many talents.  I feel a sense of kinship with him; he's African, a DJ and hilarious.  I'm also African, my name is DJ and I'm quite hilarious. 

GET FAMILIAR: LETI GAMES

The video game industry is a  billion dollar juggernaut  and a global phenomenon  except for in Africa. There are major companies like EA who have a division in South Africa, but the amount of companies that are actually founded by Africans are slim to none. Fortunately, Leti Games is trying to change that. 

MUSIC MONDAY: BLAISON MAVEN

Last week, I had the pleasure of watching Blaison Maven perform at The Joint in Los Angeles. When the Ghanaian-bred, Los Angeles-based rapper first appeared on stage wearing all black, everything, and gold chains, (three...not two), I assumed he was another "gangster" hip-hop artist rapping about women and money. Minutes into his set, I realized that my assumptions were  inaccurate. Though he raps about women and money on tracks like "Gold Chain", Blaison is able to do it with a maturity and freshness that is uncommon in today's newer artists.