· June, 2013

Stories about Music from June, 2013

Yemen, Beyond the Headlines

Yemen is a country rich in culture, heritage, and history, as well as extremely friendly and hospitable. But that doesn't make the news, and Yemen is often reduced to Al-Qaeda, poverty, and wars in Western media coverage. But through film, photography, blogging, and social media, some Yemenis are trying to change that.

25 June 2013

Palestinian Assaf Wins Arab Idol Singing Contest

Palestinian Mohammed Assaf won the title of this year's Arab Idol, the Arabic version of American Idol. Because there are contestants from different Arab countries, the citizens of each country consider the win a national trophy. Assaf's win sent thousands to the streets celebrating, chanting and dancing.

24 June 2013

Colombia: Learning from Vallenato

Amongst Colombian Twitter users, the trend of publishing phrases from Vallenato songs -under the tag #Elvallenatomeenseñó (Vallenato taught me)- has emerged, with the intention of highlighting famous lyrics immortalised in songs that reflect different life lessons.

19 June 2013

Song, Video Shed Light on Congo War

‘In the Congo’ is a song and video that shed light 20 year conflict over minerals used in mobile phones and electronics: The video is produced and directed by Zavara...

19 June 2013

Norwegian Music Video Offends Kyrgyzstanis

For small, landlocked and little-known countries such as Kyrgyzstan, "self-branding" is a slow and difficult process. So, when stars from foreign countries arrive to shoot a video in your countryside, the hope is that the message they take home with them is the right one. But unfortunately, it doesn't always work out like that.

6 June 2013