Living outside the performance bubble
So much of our lives seem to be performative
Greetings All,
It’s still early enough in the year to say ‘Compliments of the new year.’ We are coming out of one of the strangest festive seasons in history. Years usually start with unprecedented optimism and enthusiasm for the year ahead. If we are honest with ourselves, this one hasn’t. In some ways, it has been quite the opposite but keep on, we must.
1
For lovers of hip-hop, the year started with the passing of Daniel Dumile/MF DOOM, or at least the world being informed of his passing at the end of October. In a world where everything feels performative, I am hoping that the family took the time to come to terms with the loss before actually making it public, which is why it took a few months. Q-Tip called him “your favourite MC’s, MC”. There have been so many pieces on him since he passed, but this 2009 article The Mask of Doom by Ta-Nehisi Coates is my favourite. Old but gives great insight into his journey and his approach to music.
2
When I first heard Beyonce’s Love on Top, I immediately - excuse the pun - loved it. There was something familiar about it, something that I couldn’t put a finger on. I went online to find the songwriters and if they had sampled anything to no avail. And then, one day, in a conversation with a friend, I had the answer. The reason why I loved the song was because it reminded me of Jonathan Butler’s 1987 song Lies.
In Why Do We Even Listen To New Music, Jeremy D. Larson breaks down what listening to nostalgia - when we tend to do as we grow older - does to our brains, which makes it hard to listen to new music.
I found this mashup of Love On Top and Lies, decide for yourself.
3
African literature, like so much on the continent, has been pushed to the back and looked down upon. Yet, it has a place. An increasingly important place. African Literature and Digital Culture.
4
When I was a teenager, I had illusions of being a music producer, inspired by hip-hop producers. I would listen to my father’s record collection and hear chords, sounds and stuff that I thought would be dope samples. And I have always been fascinated by the ‘crate diggers’. It seems, as with everything else, the digital realm has altered the way producers look for samples. Dusty But Digital: How Producers Went From Crate Digging To YouTube Surfing.
5
“The role of the designer is that of a good, thoughtful host anticipating the needs of his guests.” –Charles Eames
If you believe in, agree with, the above quote, then you will also recognise that is about more than the aesthetic and, therefore, design education needs to take this into consideration. How can higher education build a better architect?
6
“As the first Ugandan Buddhist monk, the most venerable Bhante Bhikkhu Buddharakkhita has ambitions to train 54 novices, one for every African nation.” He says, “It’s not weird or foreign.”
7
Sadly, there continues to be drastic and tragic inequality in the world, which the coronavirus pandemic has shown repeatedly across the world, including online. Tim Berners-Lee, the man who invented the World Wide Web, acknowledges this and has said that closing the digital divide must be top priority.
That’s it for this week. If you enjoyed, please share. If it was shared with you, please subscribe.
And a thank you to the people who have reached out and shared their thoughts on both Zebra Culture by Kojo Baffoe and some of the stories shared.
Easy
Kojo