Archive for June, 2009
The King Is Dead
The King is Dead. That was the headline of the one of the major Ugandan papers today. The front pages of all of the other daily Ugandan papers were also dedicated to the story of Michael Jackson’s death. Many radio stations here are playing his music all day and local Ugandan politicians and celebrities are speaking out about his death.
Although, my Fulbright is not directly related to pop music or Michael Jackson, I wanted to briefly comment on this. Like many people, I grew up listening to Michael and was very saddened to hear about his death. He was truly an amazing entertainer. While watching and reading about the worldwide reaction to his death, what fascinates me the most is that he was genuinely a global “household name.” I can’t think of any other artist of my generation that is as well known as Michael Jackson. Just a month ago, I was speaking to the guardian of one of the young people in the Hip Hop Therapy Project and I asked him how he felt about his nephew winning the popping competition at the Breakdance Challenge I recently organized and he responded “I’m so happy and proud of him and I hope that one day he will be able to dance like Michael Jackson. Yes, one day he will dance like Michael Jackson.” I remember thinking at the time how interesting it was that I was sitting in front of a mud hut in a very rural part of Uganda and someone was talking to me about Michael Jackson. I see kids in Gulu doing the moonwalk and trying to dance like him and am again amazed at how far-reaching his influence was. I think that despite the controversies and eccentricities that often dominated news coverage about him, he has obviously left an imprint on the world and will be missed. RIP MJ.
Find a Fandango Near You!
If you’ve enjoyed the sounds of Son Jarocho on this blog, I have good news: you don’t have to travel as far as Mexico to hear it played (and danced) live.
As I mentioned in my post on Son Jarocho camp, many of my fellow campers were Mexican-American artists, activists, and musicians living in the U.S. They clued me in to the booming sonero scene back home, where cultural centers, cafes, and nonprofits are increasingly hosting fandangos not only because they’re crazy fun, but because they double as a forum for intercultural dialogue.
And if you go to a fandango, you might just find out about workshops for jarana or zapateado being offered nearby. Fandangos are open to the public, so don’t miss out!
Video Interview with Nikkfurie of La Caution
Back in April, I interviewed rap artist Nikkfurie (aka Ahmed Mazouz) of the French hip-hop/electro group La Caution. While many Americans might not be familiar with the group’s name, millions have heard the instrumental version of La Caution’s song “Thé à la Menthe” or “Mint Tea” when it was featured in the movie Ocean’s 12. (Think back to the scene with Vincent Cassel’s laser dance.)
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Son Jarocho, Overexposed!
Recently in Xalapa, I found myself in the middle of a heated debate. I was sitting in the colonial courtyard of an artists’ cooperative, surrounded by a dozen local celebrities. They were a mixture of young and old son jarocho musicians who had gathered to discuss “the future” of their music, now that it’s all the rage in Mexican cities. The central issue could be summed up in one question: As metropolitan musicians playing country music, does that make them a ciudad de soneros, or soneros de la ciudad? That translates to say, are they “a city of [authentic] son jarocho musicians, or [somewhat less authentic] son jarocho musicians of the city?”
The debate was a chipper one—as students and teachers of each other, the group was a close-knit community who could take pride in the fact that their music’s biggest problem is overexposure. Still, their concerns were real. Is son jarocho losing its local flavors, now that young people are imitating hit records instead of their neighbors? Is it becoming commercial, now that hit records simply exist, and some fandangos charge a cover? Are fandangos becoming less instructive, now that the next generation of soneros is made up of Guitar Hero-playing, iPhone-addicted egomaniacs, whose shrinking attention spans and inability to hear anything that isn’t blasted through subwoofers mean that they’ve forgotten how to just listen?
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Back to the Ranch
When the band of young Mexican musicians Los Cojolites first started giving lessons a decade ago, their goal was simply to get their neighbors to turn off their TVs and play local music together again. Los Cojolites played Son Jarocho—the traditional music of their hometown in Southern Veracruz—at a time when it was going through a bizarre renaissance in other parts of the country. It had exploded in Mexico’s urban centers and college campuses, and even secured a spot on the “world music” stage abroad, yet it was about to fizzle in its own birthplace.
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