African Singers: P-square

P-Square are a Nigerien  R&B duo composed of identical twin brothers Peter and Paul Okoye. They produce and release their albums through Square Records. In December 2011, they were also signed to Akon''s konvict Music label. In May 2012, they signed a record distribution deal with universal Music South Africa. 

In 1999, Peter and Paul returned to music school to develop their skills on keyboard, drums, bass and rhythm guitar. Their work includes the soundtracks for a number of films likeTobi, Mama Sunday, Moment of Bitterness and Evas River. years later, they applied to the University of Abuja to study Business Administration. 

In 2001, "P-Square" won the "Grab Da Mic" competition, and hence Benson & Hedges sponsored their debut album, titled Last Nite, which was released under Timbuk2 music label. P-Square was also nominated as "Most Promising African Group" in the Kora Awards three months after the release of their debut album. They eventually won the 2003 Amen Award for "Best R&B Group".

In 2005, P Square released their second album, Get Squared under their own label, Square Records. This album was marketed nationwide by TJoe Enterprises, although they were still managed by Howie T of Adrot Nigeria Limited. 

They have an ever growing fan base across South Africa with a particular stronghold of diehard fans in Cape Town. The group has performed alongside the following international artists like Ginuwine, Sean Paul, Akon and Busola Keshiro. The members of P Square are now located in Lagos.

Late in 2007, they released their best selling album so far, Game Over. They are also known for the close resemblance which the twins have to American R&B Superstar, Usher Raymond.

On 4 April 2010, P-Square was named the Artist of the Year at the KORA All Africa Music Awards in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso while they were in London for a Concert at the Troxy, and they will receive a whopping sum of $1 Million Dollars as the Award Winners, in Ebebiyin City.

Here are some songs from them:

Ousmane Sembene

Ousmane Sembène (January 1, 1923 – June 9, 2007) was a senegalese film director, producer and writer. The Los Angeles Times considered him one of the greatest authors of Africa and has often been called the "father of African film". Descended from a Serer family through his mother from the line of Matar Sène, Ousmane Sembène was particularly drawn to serer religious festivals especially the Tuur festival. 

After working as a mechanic and bricklayer, he joined the Free French forces in 1942, serving in Africa and France. In 1946, he returned to Dakar, where he participated in the great railway strike of 1947. The next year he returned to France, where he worked in a Citröen factory in Paris, and then, for ten years, on the dock in Marseilles. During this time Sembene became very active in trade union struggles and began an extraordinarily successful writing career. His first novel, "Le Docker Noir", was published in 1956 to critical acclaim. Since then, he has produced a number of works which have placed him in the foreground of the international literary scene. Long an avid filmgoer, Sembene became aware that to reach a mass audience of workers and preliterate Africans outside urban centers, cinema was a more effective vehicle than the written word. In 1961, he traveled to Moscow to study film at VGIK and then to work at the Gorky Studios. Upon his return to Senegal, Sembene turned his attention to filmmaking and, after two short films, he wrote and directed his first feature, Black Girl (1966). Received with great enthusiasm at a number of international film festivals, it also won the prestigious Jean Vigo Prize for its director. Shot in a simple, quasi-documentary style probably influenced by the French New Wave, BLACK GIRL tells the tragic story of a young Senegalese woman working as a maid for an affluent French family on the Riviera, focusing on her sense of isolation and growing despair. Her country may have been decolonized, but she is still a colonial -- a non-person in the colonizers' world. Sembene's next film, Mandabi (1968) which is Money Order in english marked a sharp departure. Based on his novel of the same name and shot in color in two language versions--French and Wolof, the main dialect of Senegal--THE MONEY ORDER is a trenchant and often delightfully witty satire of the new bourgeoisie, torn between outmoded patriarchal traditions and an uncaring, rapacious and inefficient bureaucracy. Emitaï (1971) records the struggle of the Diola people of the Casamance region of Senegal (where Sembene grew up) against the French authorities during WWII. Shot in Diola dialect and French from an original script, EMITAI offers a respectful but unromanticized depiction of an ancient tribal culture, while highlighting the role of women in the struggle against colonialist oppression. In Xala (1975), Sembene again takes on the native bourgeoisie, this time in the person of a rich, partially Westernized Muslim businessman afflicted by "xala" (impotence) on the night of his wedding to a much younger third wife. Ceddo (1977), considered by many to be Sembene's masterpiece, departs from the director's customary realist approach, documenting the struggle over the last centuries of an unspecified African society against the incursions of Islam and European colonialism. Featuring a strong female central character, CEDDO is a powerful evocation of the African experience. 

topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/.../s/ousmane_sembene/index.html

https://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/sgadjigo/

Quotes from Nelson Mandela

In my previous blog, I talked about one of the greatest man in the history of the world: Nelson Mandela. As you learned a little bit about him, I would like to share with you some of his sayings.

- “When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.”
- “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

- “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."

- “I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one's head pointed toward the sun, one's feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.”

- "A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special.”

- “It always seems impossible until it's done.”

- “For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

- “Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.”

- “There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.”

- “Lead from the back — and let others believe they are in front.”

- “I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.”

- “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

- “I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended.”

- “There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”

- “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.”

- “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

- “Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”

- “As I have said, the first thing is to be honest with yourself. You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself... Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, but humility.”

- “As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison.”

- “Where you stand depends on where you sit.”

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in Transkei, South Africa on July 18, 1918. His father was Chief Henry Mandela of the Tembu Tribe. Mandela himself was educated at University College of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand and qualified in law in 1942. He joined the African National Congress in 1944 and was engaged in resistance against the ruling National Party's apartheid policies after 1948. He went on trial for treason in 1956-1961 and was acquitted in 1961.

After the banning of the ANC in 1960, Nelson Mandela argued for the setting up of a military wing within the ANC. In June 1961, the ANC executive considered his proposal on the use of violent tactics and agreed that those members who wished to involve themselves in Mandela's campaign would not be stopped from doing so by the ANC. This led to the formation of Umkhonto we Sizwe. Mandela was arrested in 1962 and sentenced to five years' imprisonment with hard labour. In 1963, when many fellow leaders of the ANC and the Umkhonto we Sizwe were arrested, Mandela was brought to stand trial with them for plotting to overthrow the government by violence. His statement from the dock received considerable international publicity. On June 12, 1964, eight of the accused, including Mandela, were sentenced to life imprisonment. From 1964 to 1982, he was incarcerated at Robben Island Prison, off Cape Town; thereafter, he was at Pollsmoor Prison, nearby on the mainland.

During his years in prison, Nelson Mandela's reputation grew steadily. He was widely accepted as the most significant black leader in South Africa and became a potent symbol of resistance as the anti-apartheid movement gathered strength. He consistently refused to compromise his political position to obtain his freedom.

Nelson Mandela was released on February 11, 1990. After his release, he plunged himself wholeheartedly into his life's work, striving to attain the goals he and others had set out almost four decades earlier. In 1991, at the first national conference of the ANC held inside South Africa after the organization had been banned in 1960, Mandela was elected President of the ANC while his lifelong friend and colleague, Oliver Tambo, became the organisation's National Chairperson.

http://www.biography.com/people/nelson-mandela-9397017

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/361645/Nelson-Mandela

Languages

There are thousands of languages spoken in Africa. However, some of those languages are used in different countries. This is the case for languages such as Afrikaans and Fulani.

AFRIKAANS:
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent in Botswana and Zimbabwe. It originates from 17th century Dutch dialects spoken by the mainly Dutch settlers of what is now South Africa, where it began to develop independently. Hence, historically, it is a daughter language of Dutch, and was previously referred to as "Cape Dutch" or 'kitchen Dutch'. Although Afrikaans adopted words from languages such as Malay, Portuguese, the Bantu languages, and the Khoisan languages, an estimated 90 to 95 percent of Afrikaans vocabulary is ultimately of Dutch origin. Therefore, differences with Dutch often lie in a more regular morphology, grammar, and spelling of Afrikaans. There is a large degree of mutual intelligibility between the two languages—especially in written form. Estimates of the total number of Afrikaans-speakers range between 15 and 23 million.

Afrikaans Dutch English German
ek was (present: is) ik was I was ich war
ek kon (present: kan) ik kon I could ich konnte
ek moes (present: moet) ik moest I must have ich musste
ek wou (present: wil) ik wilde/wou I wanted to ich wollte
ek sou (present: sal) ik zou I would ich sollte

FULANI
The Fula or Fulani language (Fula: Fulfulde, Pulaar, Pular; French: Peul) is a language of West Africa. Like the neighbouring languages Serer and Wolof, it belongs to the Senegambian branch of the Niger–Congo language family. It is spoken as a first language by the Fulɓe (Fula or Fulani people) and related groups (such as the Tukulor in the Senegal River Valley) from Senegambia and Guinea to Cameroon and Sudan. It is also spoken as a second language by people in the region. While there are numerous varieties of Fula, it is typically regarded as a single language. However, it has been found that nine different translations are needed to make the Bible comprehensible for all Fula speakers, and it treats these varieties as separate languages.

Example
lootude, to wash (something)
lootaade, to wash (oneself)
looteede, to be washed

South Africa

Hey guys,
For this week posts, I decided to share with you some information about South Africa since my project is based on that country.
According to Wikipedia:
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of Africa. It is divided into nine provinces and has 2,798 kilometers of coastline.To the north lie the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe; to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland; while Lesotho is an enclave surrounded by South African territory.South Africa is the 25th largest country in the world by area and the 24th most populous country with over 51 million people.
South Africa is a multi-ethnic nation and has diverse cultures and languages. Eleven official languages are recognised in the constitution. Two of these languages are of European origin: English and Afrikaans, a language which originated mainly from Dutch that is spoken by the majority of white and Coloured South Africans. Though English is commonly used in public and commercial life, it is only the fifth most-spoken home language. All ethnic and language groups have political representation in the country's constitutional democracy comprising a parliamentary republic.
About 80% of the South African population is of black African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different Bantu languages, nine of which have official status. South Africa also contains the largest communities of European, Asian, and racially mixed ancestry in Africa. South Africa is ranked as an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank. It has the largest economy in Africa, and the 28th-largest in the world. By purchasing power parity, South Africa has the 5th highest per capita income in Africa. It is considered a newly industrialized country. However, about a quarter of the population is unemployed and lives on less than US $1.25 a day.

Here are some sites of interest you could check out on the internet of if you are thinking of visiting the country one day:
- Kruger National Park
- Table Mountain
- Gold Reef City
- Cradle of Humankind
- Two Oceans Aquarium
- Lion Park
- Johannesburg Zoo
- Blyde River Canyon
- Victoria and Alfred Waterfront