Kenyanpoet

• Gil Scott Heron, The Godfather of Spoken Word Poetry dies at 62

  Posted: May 28, 2011, 3:25 pm by K.P

  I have just woken up today to the news of the death of Gil Scott Heron. If you have heard the phrase "The Revolution will not be Televised" then you know who who he is.
  
  He is the credited as the  God Father of Hip Hop, Rap, Neo-Soul and Spoken Word as his album 'Pieces of a Man' and 'Winter in America' went on to influence these three Genres.
  
  Heron died yesterday evening at a hospital in New York and the cause has not yet been identified. However, in a 2008 interview with New York magazine, Scott-Heron revealed he had contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, after years of batting drug and alcohol addictions. In 2001 and 2007, he was jailed on drug charges. He was 62.
  
  The famous Revolution will not be televised phrase was from a song by the same title from his first album that went on to put him in the musical Map.
  
  Artists such as Common, Kanye West have sampled his music with many Hip, Hop artists and Poets identifying him as the biggest influence in their careers. These artists are, Talib Kweli, Saul Williams, Bob Dylan and many others.
  
  Indeed poets, such as Sarah Jones were so influenced that they sampled his spoken word performance of the revolution song
  
  After a 13 year Hiatus, Gill Scott released his final album, "Am new hear" last year.
  
  My his soul rest in Peace.
  
  "The Revolution will not be televised because the revolution will be Live"
  
  
  

  
  

• Amka Literature Forum 28th May @Goethe Institut

  Posted: May 25, 2011, 12:25 pm by K.P

  Literature Forum
  Poetry Performance / Readings / Discussions
  GOETHE-INSTITUT LIBRARY
  SATURDAY 28th MAY, 10.00 am – 1.00 pm
  ENTRY FREE
  This is a forum for upcoming, unpublished as well as established women writers and literary critics to share stories, poetry ideas and ideals with the aim of enhancing women’s creativity. Interested participants may send their short stories and poems to amkaspace@yahoo.com www.goethe.de/nairobi.
  
  Amka  will also be launching their first anthology this 29th June at the Goethe Institut Auditorium.

  
  

• Sawa Sawa Festival 2011 featuring Fally Ipupa 28th - 29th May at Carnivore Gardens

  Posted: May 24, 2011, 6:33 pm by K.P

  They have brought African Greats such as Hugh Masekhela, Mhotella Queens, Baaba Maal, Yossour N'dour and Reggea Kings like Black Uhuru, Culture and Gregory Isaacs, this time round, they are bringing the latest Lingala sensation, Fally Ipupa who is re-defining Lingala.
  
  I first came to know Fally was through his unusual but interesting song Bizking.Fr featuring Olivia  which mixes Lingala and RnB sang in Congolese and English. The song set him apart from other Lingala artists and I guess now we can say goodbye to Koffi Olominde being the King of Lingala.
  
  Sawa Sawa seems to be reducing on the international artist lineup that they have been known to offer during their annual festival especially for the Reggae fans. It seems the reggae fans have been mis-behaving too much in the previous events with weed being smoked like  the world was coming to an end. I went for one event when the group Black Uhuru was performing and I got high just inhaling the smoke in the air!(let me not digress too much).
  
  
  
  The event will be on Saturday, May 28 at 6:30pm - May 29 at 6:30pm at the Carnivore Grounds, in Langata.
  
  The artist lineup includes: Daddy Owen, Sauti Sol, Sarakasi Allstars, The Villagers, Maia, Neema, Fena, Muthoni Dq, Amileena, Susan (Gogosimo), Dela, Camp Mulla, Wanjiku Mwaura, Mob Djs, Mcs: Larry Asego, Tero Mdee and Buddha Blaze
  
  Tickets: will be Sat 28th May: 1000 Advance, 1200 Gate, 2500 Vip, Sun 29th May: 500 (Kids Below 12 Free)
  
  Advance Tickets Now Available At :: Tamambo - The Mall, Westlands, Tamambo Tapas - Village Market, Tamambo - Karen Blixen, Carnivore, Concorde Motors - Shell Hurlingham, Jacaranda Motors - Shell Lavington, Sarakasi Dome.

  
  

• Exhibition: Endangered Cultures- Nairobi National Museum June - September 2011

  Posted: May 24, 2011, 11:27 am by K.P

  
  

• 2nd POWO on May 21: Blogging & Social Media Workshop

  Posted: May 17, 2011, 5:28 pm by K.P

  
  
  
  What?
  Poets and Writers Online (POWO) is a forum for Poets and Writers with blogs and those with an interest in using the internet in promotion of, or as a platform for their writing.
  
  When?
  21st May, 2011 ( 11.00am – 2pm)
  Where?
  The IHub located on 4th flr of Bishop Magua Building along Ngong Road (opposite Uchumi Ngong Rd.)
  Who should attend?
  Poets, Creative Writers, anyone with an interest in writing
  
  Guest Speaker
  Aleya Jamal - Story Moja( The Reading Revolution)
  Poetry performance by
  Dennis Inkwa - Poet and Member of Mstari Wa Nne
  
  Blogging & Social Media Workshop
  -Starting a blog with blogger
  - Starting a blog with wordpress
  - Uploading photos/ embedding video/html code/sound/follow me FB n Twitter, gadgets and widgets
  - SEO, enlisting with Afrigator,mashada etc
  - Creating an FB and twitter a/c, Shortening url, including tweet streams on a blog
  - Registering a Domain and choosing a host
  - Migrating from blogger to wordpress or to a webiste
  - Intepreting and using analytics
  Follow us on
  Twitter @POWO
  Facebook POWO
  Email: PoetsNWritersOnline@gmail.com
  
  PS. Carry your laptop, for better learning. There will be also be free Wifi.
  
  To sign up, log on to [powomay.eventbrite.com] and click on register

  
  

• Artist Presentation - Jepchumba

  Posted: May 16, 2011, 11:41 pm by K.P

  When: Tuesday, May 24 · 2:30pm - 5:30pm
  
  Location: KUONA TRUST
  Likoni Close, Likoni Lane, Off Dennis Pritt Road
  Nairobi, Kenya
  
  Jepchumba is a digital enthusiast who works hard to combine her two loves: Digital Media and Africa. Originally from Kenya, she has lived around the world developing her interest in philosophy, art and technology. Founder of African Digital Art Network, Jepchumba enjoys studying how technology has changed art and culture
  
  She is a highly creative and multitalented digital content creator with extensive international experience in digital media. Her areas of expertise include digital and new media, online marketing management and strategy, project management, graphic design, audio/video production, 3D/2D Animation and digital effects.

  
  

• I.D.P’s by Dennis Inkwa

  Posted: May 16, 2011, 12:09 pm by K.P

  I.D.Ps
  are
  Initials Defining Peoples
  like
  Irate Delinquent Pupils
  in
  Institutions Destroying Property
  as
  Infants Die Prematurely
  therefore
  Immunise Diseases Properly
  because
  International Donors' Preconditions
  insist
  Ignorant Demented Politicians
  should
  Initiate Development Projects
  although
  Information Disseminates Prejudicially...
  Internet Disburses Pornography
  showing
  Intercourse During Pregnancy
  readily like
  Industries Diffusing Pollutants
  because
  Individuals Dictate Policies
  that
  Ignore Da People
  therefore
  Ink'wa Dennis Purposes
  to
  Illuminate Dark Paths
  like
  Inside Da Parliament
  
  PEACE!
  Dennis Inkwa 2008 ©

  
  

• Copycat Copy "Righting"

  Posted: May 15, 2011, 8:28 pm by K.P

  The argument of Intellectual Property especially in music is sometimes taken to the realm of the absurd; for instance in the theatres, Thespians perform Shakespeare and Goethe all the time without requiring written permission but in music every now and then the BMGs and SONYs of this world from time to time do bring infringement suites for music of musicians who are long dead. Art is supposed to be a gift to humanity not merely a commodity for resale... or so we thought.
  
  If you think about it, it is tantamount to saying that someone should not sing a song they like in the bathroom without written permission from the original composer of the song! Look at YouTube, it is full of clips of other people singing popular songs and they are not being
  sued!
  
  Now, will SONY or JB Maina sue Wangari if she makes a clip of herself singing his song on youtube?...probably not. Why? Because they do not think Wangari will make any money from it. So copy right is no permission to perform but rather it is permission to earn using
  someone's art composition. It is a license to make money issued by the originator of the artistic expression to a third party.
  
  Now here comes the interesting part. From the beginning, the rights to intellectual property, in many cases, do not entirly belong to the artist rather the artist share of earnings is normally much less than that of the producers and publishers of art whose work it is to commercialize art.
  
  Most notably, The rights can be bought and sold such that the original composer of the music may not hold any rights at all for his so called intellectual property. Meaning that he or his
  next of kin can perform the art piece but they cannot earn a living from it; especially after his demise the same producers and publishers will come to “moan” with the bereaved family and offer to stabilise them financially, now that the bread earner of the family is gone, by
  buying off the little rights the artist had left to produce or publish the artwork.
  
  The intellectual property, is then reduced to a commodity whereby you find the businessman without a musical note in his voice owns the rights to an elegant musical piece and the dimwit and the dullard have sole authority over the publication of well written literature.
  
  That said, intellectual property is a commodity business that thrives on restricting commodity use. However, with the coming of the internet age, it is become very possible to get art for free especially in the third world where copy right rules are not followed to the letter.
  
  But even in the first world, people go round copy right through “file sharing” because it is not feasible to stop two people from exchanging art work in private. It is not also legally feasible to stop them from exchanging art work in an online public forum; having already purchased the rights they cannot be stopped from exchanging the rights. The music artists and their producers have now been forced to heavily rely on live performance shows as the sure way of enforcing
  copy right and earning income.
  
  More fundamentally, given that art has become a commodity for sale, and with it intellectual property, going by market logic the value of something is determined by its use to the community.
  
  In Kenya, the value of movies and music is not of immediate priority and its market
  value currently ranges from free internet downloads to Kshs 50 per CD on the streets and exhibition stands of Nairobi. The artists compositions are mainly depictions of street life in oral and written form but on compilation of their art work they demand a fee for telling people what they already know and so the art of itslef does not add value to its receipient and what they are actually buying is the price of the CD container and a bit of psychic pride in that they are watching what their peers are watching and in these sense they are not left behind the gaping times.
  
  For the majority of Kenyans who are grappling with the price of kerosene, the use value of art is almost non-existent. Why, you may ask, is the common man obsessed with the market price of Kerosene and not the market price of a music concert... even in places where art is
  more prominent, art performances in pubs and coffee houses mainly serve as an accompaniment to the drinks and the theatres are dilapidated to say the least and the performers get compansated accordingly.
  
  This is the voice of the market, there is no market for art in kenya and the only way it gets by is through sponsorship; from the largesse of foreign institutions and local “well wishers”who made their fortune in all manner of businesses except in the art business. This situation is not unique to kenya, though, for even in the Western world art thrives on its connections with the well to do because in the strict sense, there is no market for it; the bulk of art has no use value rather it can only appeal to charity.
  
  The market for art is really a charity of sorts for the art commodity has no real use value as such there is no exchange of use value with money but a gifting of money to the performer without any expectation of gaining value on the part of the audience
  
  Consequently, the idea of copyrighting is not backed by use value and it is use value that dictates the value of a particular occupation in soceity. Perhaps, recognition is important for the human psyche and when one originates an idea and someone else refuses to acknowlegde him for it one may have a right to be upset. But acknowledgement should not mean monetary compensation because the artists ability to draw on charity is not based on the “art” itslef but on the sympathy the masses have towards him or her.
  
  This copy right business has become big business in the local social scene where until recently we had in place the Music Copyright Soceity of Kenya (MSCK), which was disbanded over misuse of funds. Our copyright watchdog had been enforcing what it termed as copyright law! And yet when we look at the fraternity of local urban musicians we just feel like crying! Their music is a carbon copy of the american hip hop music and culture.
  
  Should one copyright a blue print or the carbon copy? Most, if not all, of their ideas are gained from mimicing the western hip hop culture thus the “intellectual property” is not even theirs. The only difference is in the language and wordings. Which brings us to the question should language and wording have been copyrighted as MSCK is doing? In hindsight it did not make sense but it surely made money!
  
  If today I do something and call it art and tomorrow you do something similar and call it entertainment then according to copyright law the entertainer has a case to answer!
  
  Apparently, there is an ongoing tussle, in the River Road productions scene, between Makadem and JB Maina over the hit song “Reke Tumanwo” which was originaly composed by JB, resampled by Mike Rua in Mugithi Style and now Makadem used the instrumentals without seeking written consent. The song itself is not informative and I do not know whether it qualifies to be called a song as there is hardly any singing in it.
  
  Fine, JB atleast seems to acknowledge this as he is talking about instrumentals. He supposedly being the originator of the instrumentals has certain rights that are due to a first born such as “artistic” acknowledgement. But Djs use other peoples tunes all the time and do not have to ask them for permission everytime they come up with a new remix!
  
  I personally think that the beef is really that Makadem has been making a bit of dough riding on the back of JB's instumentals. However, it all boils down to Makadem's ability to gain sympathisers and has really little to do with instrumentation... and besides what instruments can JB really play... did he not get the tunes done in a certain studio, talk of a copycat copyrighting!
  
  by Poe. T. Kritik
  
  NOTE:
  According to media reports, the Music Copyright Society of Kenya has since been deregistered after complaints by musicians of misappropriation of funds. This is contained in Gazette Notice no.5093 of May 2011, which saw the society as being deregistered on 1st April 2011.

  
  

• Poem: Conversations by Dennis Inkwa

  Posted: May 7, 2011, 3:24 am by N.W

  I really do….I really do.
  I enjoy Conversations
  When we try get it out there in the open,
  So that others may hear and others may note it down with a pen.
  I talk…every time, all the time
  Whether floating in currency or brutally broke.
  I talk that kind o f talk…
  Walk that kind of walk.
  
  But don’t talk to me about your Mercedes so sleek
  The one you illegally acquired within a week,
  Because these are the conversations that really make me sick,
  You say it gives you a kick when they say our economy is weak!!
  You say the trick is just to flick a coin and that has the same effect
  As a virgin chic seeing a thick……(dick!!)
  They will fear you? But I don’t…
  See my abilities are psychic
  And I see you and your clique
  are the reason Kenya’s economic future is …bleak
  So please…. Don’t talk to me!
  
  Your house…s o big
  It has become a tourist attraction
  CDF responsible for its construction
  As a result,
  You paralyse your own people’s and their systems of production
  Then you sit back and smile with satisfaction.
  Election year, you have the balls to try woe me into your faction.
  Tempting….
  But I will resist that suction,
  And instead I will instigate mass action,
  And you will see the reaction….
  Loud….Big…Red….Hot…like a volcanic eruption.
  Then instead of those long monthly statements of your foreign bank account transactions…
  All you’ll be getting are legal sanctions
  And numerous court injunctions
  So please…..dont talk to me.
  
  Because we…
  We are tired of individuals looting public coffers
  Living in plush residences complete with leather sofas
  Illegally owning fleets of cars as I bought during….buy-one -get-on -free offers
  The rich get richer while the poor man continuously suffers.
  We… are tired of this system criminalizing poverty
  Its illegal in this country not to afford a cup of tea
  Upholding the law means illegally amassing land wealth and other property
  And if you’re this type of individual….
  Please….don talk to me.
  
  But we are also to blame,
  Lettting these corruptible corruption agencies
  Like the KACC and the other international one called Transparency
  Not to act with any urgency.
  The judicial system does not help either.
  To corrupt individuals they are always granting clemency
  Discarding their cases with expediency
  And for their leniency
  They get remunerated….and sometimes in Armenian currency.
  
  So I ask you today,
  In fighting graft, where is the efficiency?
  
  You are not answering because you know you are a part of this rotten legacy!
  And so, before you change your attitude…
  Before you change the situation…..
  I DON’T WANT YOU TO TALK TO ME!!!!
  
  All rights Reserved©Dennis Inkwa
  
  inqwar(at)gmail(dot)com

  
  

• Western Cannibalization of Public Space

  Posted: May 7, 2011, 3:17 am by N.W

  Mid last month I bumped into a discussion on media and politics at Goethe sponsored by some self proclaimed patrons of the ‘liberal arts’. This potpourri of professors, journalists, donors and recipients laid the basis for pulsating counter-intellectualism; half asleep half awake I tried as I could to catch on to some phraseologies in the genealogy in which they were belched out by our high minded discussants… in staccato…
  “Think mediaDespair thinkingMedia is business…”
  “Generational changeTalk showsSocial talkSex talkSalary scalesGood looksCNN journalistsPulse magazine…”
  “Give people what they wantBlind wildebeestsFish marketBunge la mwananchiAmerican revolutionaryFreedom of expression…”
  “Dissenting voicesDivisive politicsHate speechBigotistIncitement…”
  “SensationConsumeristsSelf cannibalization…Fait accompli…Beauty and the microphone”
  (No wonder freedom of the press and democracy are held to be the highest virtues in Westernized societies)
  By Poe T Kritik

  
  

• Launch:Maddo Online Archive & Online Community 4th May 2011

  Posted: May 3, 2011, 10:22 pm by N.W

  * ITSAMADDWORLD.COM LAUNCH ** LAUNCH OF THE MADDO ONLINE ARCHIVE & ONLINE COMMUNITY *
  * WHERE: Alliance Francaise de NairobiLoita StreetNairobi
  * WHEN: Wednesday 4th May 2011 - 7 PM
  * ENTRY: FREE
  LAUNCH OF THE MADDO ONLINE ARCHIVE &ONLINE COMMUNITY
  Maddo (one of Kenya’s long standing media cartoonists) and SasaHivi Media (as publisher) will launch Maddo’s Online Archive & Community website titled Itsamaddworld.com.
  
  'It’s a Madd, Madd World’ (MMW) is a full page composite cartoon feature that takes already for 22 years a satirical look at Kenya, the world, people and politics and which appears in The Standard Newspaper every Saturday.
  
  The site will carry all editions of 'It’s a Madd, Madd World’ (MMW) since its inception and is loaded with interactive features for visitors to comment and discuss this Madd Madd world we are living in.
  
  The launch will be spiced up by a performance of Kenyan musician Makadem, MC Bill Odidi, The BIG MADD WORLD KENYA quiz (with fabulous prices to be won) and an introductory trip through the website amongst other activities.
  
  ENTRY FREE!

  
  

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes