Stories about Music
Women's Day in Latin America: Reggaeton, rage, and sisterhood
Despite varying demands around labor or abortion rights, the main thread throughout Latin America was against gender-based violence.
After two long years, mas has come again in Trinidad and Tobago
[T]here is a fluorescence of joy and creativity like when dawn pierces a long and unnatural dark, splitting an entire horizon with a radiance that awakens.
Trinidad & Tobago's Carnival 2023 playlist revs you up, then cools you down
More fun and fabulous tracks from 2023's much anticipated Trinidad and Tobago Carnival, which takes place on February 20 and 21.
From nostalgia to a touch of ‘horn,’ Trinidad & Tobago's long awaited Carnival has a super soca playlist
With less than a week to go until Trinidad and Tobago Carnival, the festival's soundtrack is capturing a wide range of emotions.
Rihanna brings pride to Barbados in spellbinding Super Bowl performance
"Y'all [don't] understand the pride. #Barbados is 166 square miles. A ridiculous number of people live no more than a mile from where their ancestors were enslaved. And from all that...#Rihanna"
Trinidad & Tobago's 2023 Carnival regulations read more like respectability politics
"Who determines what or whose representation venerates the spiritual in the mas? The mas by definition IS the spiritual and the profane. And this is an act of war."
A look back at the Mayan Languages Digital Activism Summit 2023
From January 11-15, 2023, the Mayan Languages Digital Activism Summit convened digital activists and their communities to explore how the internet, digital media and technology are helping to revitalize Mayan languages in digital spaces.
An iPhone perspective of Trinidad & Tobago's Panorama competition
Wanting to travel light, I decided my smartphone would have to suffice for photo-taking. The results offer an on-the-ground view of the 2023 Panorama experience.
Soca star Patrice Roberts’ tribute to calypsonian ‘Penguin’ is woman power’s new take on Trinidad and Tobago’s ‘Soft Man’
Roberts’ decolonial declaration of being human on African, female terms is defined through her contemporary engagement with sexuality, gender, intimacy, pleasure, and violence.
In Togo, singer Elias Atayi uses music as a vehicle for human rights
In Togo, the promotion of human rights is not only the work of civil society organizations. Artists also contribute to the cause.
Togolese music scene embraces globalization without abandoning its roots
Rich in musical and linguistic diversity, Togo is embracing the globalization of its music, which is being recognized on a national and international level alike.
Professor Gordon Rohlehr, the ‘finest mind regarding calypso,’ dies at age 80 in Trinidad
Rohlehr's dedicated much of his life to to researching and writing about the significance of Caribbean culture — particularly calypso — as well as its literature, oral tradition, and cricket.
Social networks make civil society voices heard in Togo
Internet in Togo enables influencers to make social networks effective promotion platforms. Journalists and civil society activists take advantage of this to make their voices heard.
Trinidad & Tobago's International Soca Monarch competition is cancelled, and Carnival lovers are either shattered or unfazed
Even as organisers cited financial constraints as the reason for the cancellation, the government called it "unconscionable" for a private event to expect the state to underwrite its full cost.
Celebrating the ex-Yugoslav music scene, hall of fame style
Inspired by the Musicians Hall of Fame, American expat Will Richard set up the EX-Yugo Rock Center (EYRC) in Sarajevo, celebrating its legacy and impact during the last decades of the 20th century.
May 14 will determine the future of Turkey
Pundits who have been watching the country's political turmoil brought by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) describe the upcoming May vote as crucial.
The band that Lukashenka declared extremist sang ‘Zhyve Belarus’ (Long live Belarus!)
Rarely covered by the international media, Lukashenka’s regime is using Stalin-like repression on its citizens. Dissidents are detained and prosecuted and, in many cases now, their family members are too.
2022 was a bittersweet year for European comics
European comics creators and fans experienced some particular wins and losses during 2022. Some of them are presented in this non extensive listicle.
Overcoming existentialist crises with music: Poland's Karolina Cicha
Polish folk artist Karolina Cicha, singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and one-woman-orchestra is trying to use the language of music to overcome historical prejudice toward minority groups in Europe.
Liked Shakira's new hit? Listen to these other empowering songs from the same DJ
Bizarrap and these artists are helping shape pop culture for a safer and empowering space for all women and LGBTQ+ people.
How the Black Star Line Festival and hip-hop could further accelerate more dynamic Pan-Africanism
The festival was not just paying homage to Garvey by christening itself to his shipping company, it was embodying his teachings and fulfilling his legacy of unifying African people by beckoning U.S. artists to Africa and sowing the seeds of cultural exchange.
