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President Barack Obama made history last night by being the first American President to appear on late night television. The visit was part of his trip through California to sell his economic plan directly to the American people. Obama’s platform on Leno highlights the shift in White House attitudes—not like we needed more evidence to convince ourselves of this. Nevertheless, despite critics who said that Obama wouldn’t be able to appear on television and fix the economy, he has proven that he can indeed multi-task. Shocking!
This appearance comes only days after Obama’s appearance on ESPN to pick his NCAA basketball favourites.
I’m not sure how long Obama can sustain these PR publicity stunts; but until he burns out, I’ll be there alongside millions of others eating up everything he does. I’d rather be starstruck by someone with integrity than by Britney. Just saying.
America’s habit of producing city-based hotbeds of musical schools is well-known: Motown in Detroit, West coast rap in LA, the nascent Chicago hip hop arena, and the Atlanta crunk that surfaced in the early years of the twenty-first century are but a few examples. My musical love had long been faithful to Philadelphia, the city that produced Jill Scott, the Roots, Ursula Rucker and Jaguar Wright (and earlier, the likes of Patti Labelle and the Delfonics). However, upon becoming familiar with the eclectic music of 24-year-old singer/pianist/engineer/producer/composer Muhsinah Abdul Karim at the end of 2008, my curiosity moved further down the East coast to Washington DC.
I’d heard Muhsinah’s name hover around London by way of 1xtra DJ Benji B and his monthly set at Gramaphone. Having done a bit of long-overdue research, and finding familiar lists of independent releases this name had appeared on, I landed on the DC native’s rainbow-coloured MySpace page. A track entitled ‘Construction’ started blaring from my laptop. It had been some time since I had heard such organic, pounding beats accompanied by horns with rich harmonies floating over the top. Then ‘Once Again’ started playing, this time matched with even more complex beats and drum sequences.
I did not hesitate in getting my very own copy of the self-released EP, The Oscillations, which has been wearing my iPod battery down since December. It is an beautifully contagious blend of psychedelic melodies, ethereal strings, complex Akai MPC thuds and various loops that seem to come together effortlessly. By breaking down labels and boxes and embracing her own individual style, Muhsinah manages to connect the progressive dots between soul, jazz and hip hop.
So…my question appears to be: when is she gracing London again? Deviation fans such as myself are in luck, as she’ll be appearing alongside Hudson Mohawke and Om’mas on 2nd April at Gramaphone. Luckily for me, she’ll also be in performing inDCwhen I make my first Stateside pilgrimage in the middle of April. For those in Philadelphia at the start of May, Muhsinah will be just one of a bunch of musical minds performing at the Black Lily Film & Music Festival.
I think it was Mark de Clive Lowe who said Muhsinah makes him realize why we make music in the first place. I could not agree more.
Cool links:
Muhsinah’s MySpace Page and Website
For those of you who still haven’t heard of Rye Rye, we’re here to tell you that this talented 18 year old from Baltimore is making rounds! This vid surfaced last year and we love it. She’s since been signed to Interscope and M.I.A.’s label N.E.E.T. Last heard the album was to be released sometime in ‘09.
Keep your ears out for her!
Cool links:
Check her MySpace page for alternative tracks. She released ‘Bang’, a collaboration with M.I.A. on Friday—it’s a banger!
For those who missed their sold out show last month, there’s a number of chances to see them at Jazz Cafe’s monthly event L’Afrik C’est Chic! The duo is curating the event along with their artistic director Marc-Antoine Moreau. The events feature African DJs, acoustic sets by local artists, and performances by Amadou & Mariam themselves. The event kicks off tomorrow at 3pm, and continues on until about midnight. It’s sure to be fantastic, and with three dates, there’s no excuse to miss it!
Twitter: good, bad? The verdict’s still out.
But we’re pretty sure that it’s going to be a great way to keep you updated in real-time about all the coolest happenings as we find them.
We’re also on the lookout for what you think is cool, so we’ll follow you’re tweets too!
Follow us at: www.twitter.com/journalofcool.
March 20th, 2009 | 
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