The minute you press play on this song your fingers start to snap to the beat, it is what I call the “soul power” of Stevie Wonders. Truly there are few who can make you feel the rhythm like this man. . ‘Living For the City’ is a...
Written in 1992 after the death of Latasha Harlin, a black-american 15 year old girl who was unlawfully shot and killed by a 51 years old Korean shop owner who thought she was stealing, ‘Keep Ya Head Up’ touches the topic of the treatment of black women...
Fortunate Son is a song by Creedence Clearwater Revival (also known as CCR); it was released in the album Willy and The Poor Boys in 1969, during the Vietnam War. Both and anti-Vietnam war anthem and a working class shout, the song is full of frustration,...
The founder of the band we are presenting to you today made his first guitar from a tin can, a stick and bicycle brake wire. The band, now known as Tinariwen, is now an award-winning group, but their path to success was not immediate, and required...
There is a genocide happening in Sudan, precisely in the Nuba Mountains, and the world is ignoring it. A few days ago, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof shared a video where he and his colleague Adam B Ellick documented the situation in the Nuba Mountains in Sudan, where...
Oliver Mtukudzi is a Zimbabwean musician whose career kicked off when Zimbabwe was still Rhodesia. At the time, Robert Mugabe, now president of Zimbabwe since 1987, was fighting for the country’s independence. Mtukidzi earned his popularity by performing political songs that spoke of national pride, resistance...
The name Socotra derives from a Sanskrit name, meaning “The Island of Bliss”; these Islands are known as the most alien place on earth. The island is situated in the Indian Ocean between Somalia and Yemen, two countries torn by war, and it is filled with the...
One seldom falls in love with a song the second one hears it, but it happened to me with ‘Soul is Heavy’. I had just finished reading Sozaboy by Ken Saro Wiwa a Nigerian environmental activist killed in 1995 whilst in prison. My curiosity for Nigerian history and society...
In almost any Pink Floyd song, you can get lost in a world you thought you would never know, and you always feel at ease, even when you are afraid. In their technical perfection, every note, word and sound is studied and nothing is left to...
“If a miniskirt is responsible for everything, if a miniskirt means immorality and unchastity, if a woman who wears a miniskirt is sending an invitation about what will happen to her, then we are also sending an invitation!”. This is the message being sent by men in Turkey: there...
Muslims all over the world are being labelled: as terrorists, as violators of human rights and as having no respect for women. This is due to the horrific acts that are conducted in the name of Islam; such as the Paris attacks of the 6th of...
Danish photographer Mads Nissen has won this year’s World Press Photo of the Year. The photo shows Jon (21) and Alex (25), a gay couple, in an intimate moment. In the last years, the world has come face to face with the reality for LGBT people...
Blogger Raif Badawi and his lawyer Waleed Abu Al-Khair have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. They are both facing long jail sentences for having used their freedom of expression. This is one of the few positive things that have happened in this...
With the rise of horrific crimes by ISIS, and the Charlie Hebdo massacre, Islamophobia is on the rise. The Blind Trust Project has made a video in response to the hate crimes against Muslims: the video was an idea of 24 year old Assma Galuta. The result...
Another antiwar song, The Unknown Soldier was released in the incredible 1968 Doors album ‘ Waiting for the Sun’. The Doors were composed of vocalist Jim Morrison, guitarist Robby Krieger, keyboardist Ray Manzarek and drummer John Densmore. They were known for their anti-conformist behaviour and their provocative...
