The diverse crowd had congregated for the highly anticipated hip-hop opera “Gaddafi: A Living Myth” which runs through Sept. 16. At worst it may sound like a joke, at best a cheesy Mel Brooks knockoff. But this—dare we call it a “hip-hopera?”—is neither. The story follows the life of Col. Muammar Kaddafi, the leader of Libya since 1969. The soundtrack is built on ragga-jungle rhythms (an electronic form of reggae), and if this sounds nothing like a typical night out at the opera, well that’s the point.

Opera houses in London’s West End and elsewhere are desperately trying to appeal to younger viewers increasingly with political subjects. The recent staging in London of John Adams’s stunning “Nixon in China” is a prime example. And, of course, there is “Jerry Springer—The Opera,” the offbeat opera that became a big hit even with (or arguably because of) its crude language, dancing Ku Klux Klansmen and a man in a giant diaper.

So if the new work was meant to shock, then it succeeded. Critics around London were left sputtering their wine as they grappled with the rap-staccato singing over the brash and synthesized score by the Asian Dub Foundation, a popular electro-punk collective. The Telegraph gleefully reported that the “old guard were cowering in their seats” while the Independent sniffed that the music was “loud and crude.” The Times of London noted that while critics had different things to say about the opera, “all agreed it was completely bonkers.”

There is more to the opera than just the outre score, of course. This is, after all, the story of a man Ronald Reagan once called “the mad dog of the Middle East.” Played convincingly by Ramon Tikaram, the fictionalized Kaddafi tends to surround himself with a cadre of Amazonian female bodyguards who occasionally bust out a hip-hop dance. The rest of the large, multiethnic cast play a variety of roles—Reagan, Tony Blair, Islamic terrorists and Kaddafi’s kids among them—to track the Libyan leader’s meteoritic rise from a poor boy born in a tent in the desert to a man once high on America’s list of dangerous tyrants.

But for all its roaring energy, there are several blunders. The plot unfurls in disparate vignettes—Kaddafi plays soccer with his sons in one scene, hosts Tony Blair in a Bedouin tent in another—and they fail to sew together a compelling narrative or even offer new insight into Kaddafi’s psyche. The plot is paper-thin and there is little conflict or suspense to push it forward.

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Shakira

Latin superstar Shakira is in talks with concert promoter Live Nation for a contract that will include touring, merchandising and recording, according to people familiar with the talks.

The Colombian-born songstress is expected to complete a multimillion-dollar deal with Live Nation before the end of the year, after months of talks.

The New York Post reported today (July 1) that the so-called 360-degree deal could be worth up to $70 million, though one person close to the artist said she should be worth more based on her recent touring success.

Live Nation’s strategy is to expand its business beyond handling artists’ touring to also offer recording, merchandising, ticket sales and other services that have traditionally been handled by disparate companies.

Live Nation already has a touring relationship with Shakira, having handled the U.S. leg of her “Oral Fixation” tour last year. People familiar with the global tour said it had grossed over $100 million.

Shakira’s recording rights currently belong with Epic. The 31-year-old still has two more studio albums to deliver — one in English and the other in Spanish — under the Epic contract, as well as a greatest hits album.

Last year, Live Nation signed Madonna to a similar 360-degree deal for $120 million over 10 years. It has also signed deals with rapper Jay-Z and rock act U2, although the latter does not include recording rights.

“We want to host a festival in Senegal that creates a meeting point for all the hip hoppers of the world,” said Matador, a prominent Senegalese artist and founder of the festival’s host organization, Africulturban.

“It’s the first time that we’ve had 20-something artists from other countries come and we really have to capitalize on it,” he said at a press conference last week. “Everybody can meet in Dakar and exchange.”

Rap music was introduced in Senegal in the late 1980s with the debut of artists like MC Solaar and Positive Black Soul. Today Senegalese rap is prominent on the continent. Several documentaries have been made on hip hop’s scope and scale.

The festival - the third - features all the major elements of global hip hop culture - rap, slam poetry, deejaying, break dancing and graffiti art. More than 20 international artists from countries such as Canada, France, Switzerland, Cameroon and Benin have joined more than 200 Senegalese acts for a week of performing, talent development and exchange. There are four major concerts and a number of smaller shows and workshops. Everything is free.

Matador created Africulturban to help his local community of Thiaroye and other impoverished suburbs of Dakar, at the same time creating a structure that could extend beyond Senegal. One way to render the name of the organization in English is “African urban culture.” Its literature says that its goal is “to develop a favorable context for willing youth to learn how to become tomorrow’s cultural actors.”

The festival started in 2006 as an extension of an idea by festival director Amadou Fall Ba. A rapper himself (El Fuego), Ba hosted hip hop nights every summer for a number of years with his group Lyrics Mortals, which included another rapper and a graffiti artist.

After Matador created Africulturban, Ba joined the organization and decided to develop a new model for presenting hip hop.

“I said to myself that it can’t be like that in Africulturban,” the 26 year-old Ba said. “We have to let people express themselves and in their way. We are just going to serve as the platform of expression of urban culture. Period.”

Last year’s festival introduced an annual theme. The first was “United artists against Aids.” This year’s is: “I fight against clandestine migration.” The most prominent innovation for this year is the decentralization of the concerts and the festival’s global emphasis.

Hip hop disturbs many older people in Senegal, who call it a blind imitation of popular American music and castigate the youth for degrading traditional values.

Conspicuously, there is no American presence in the line-up. Matador admitted that despite hip hop’s universal appeal - he does not distinguish between American, French or even Japanese hip hop - you cannot talk about it without including the United States. “I don’t want to live in the U.S.,” he said. “I just want to get to know the people who started the culture that I have adopted.”

The biggest group of foreign artists at the festival comes from Canada. Among the nine who have come - with their own funds or support from Quebecois philanthropy - are Webster, Poids Lourd (Heavy Weight), Sarahmee, an emerging female rapper from the Quebec scene, and Togo-born Stratege,

who received his degree in street education in Montreuil, France.

Aimée Kassi, a Canadian singer born in Côte d’Ivoire, said she was moved by the mobilization of the Senegalese rap scene. “You all are really an inspiration for me,” she told a group. “I’ve come here to learn.”

Matador and the other promoters would be happy with that. They want to develop a grassroots network of hip hop surrounding Festa 2H, with Dakar as the hub. This year’s first installment was a concert in Quebec. Next year they hope to begin creating a chain of satellite events, spreading to France, Belgium and Switzerland.

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Click to read more … ]]> http://www.globallyurban.com/2008/06/20/live-nation-ceo-to-exit-over-jay-z-madonna-deals/feed/ http://www.globallyurban.com/2008/05/28/la-gangs/ http://www.globallyurban.com/2008/05/28/la-gangs/#comments Wed, 28 May 2008 16:11:47 +0000 sutukh http://globalurban.wordpress.com/?p=742 [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvVbWHmznhg&hl=en]