N.K. Jemisin – Queen City Sounds and Art

Coely boldly yet with a casual confidence asserts the inherent value and power of her blackness on “Fruit of Bantu.” When James Brown sang “Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud” in 1968 it was an assertion of a truth in resistance to oppression. Coely here with rich background drones and whirling tones suggestive of dreams or a higher state of consciousness as part of the beat makes a similar statement of dignity because we’re still in a time when blackness is denigrated and devalued in the Western world despite the intellectual and cultural achievements of people of color. And beyond that does one need such recognized metrics to have value as a human being? When N.K. Jemisin published her book How Long ’til Black Future Month?: Stories in 2018 it posed a sharply observed question and offered perspectives on race but Coely simply takes the stance of being in that future and asserting that reality in her rapping and chiding those who would question the status of anyone like her as a person to be respected. Her rapping in the beginning of the song tags off to Shaka Shams who brings in strong words of mutual support and solidarity against racism and sexism. It’s a striking song with a sense of mystery and a deep mood. Listen to “Fruit of Bantu” on YouTube and follow Belgian rapper Coely at the links below.

Coely on TikTok

Coely on Facebook

Coely on Instagram

In the video for her new single “Malembe,” Colombian artist Gotopo invites us to imagine a future in which pre-European contact religions and cultures of the Americas and ancient African cultures have produced a syncretic culture. The song’s polyrhythms and the production that expertly blends organic sounds with processed sounds and effected vocals take you out of your usual cultural context for a few minutes and brings you into a world you’d actually want to visit where the dance music is more adventurous in its palette of sounds and emotional colorings. The video shows what looks like a series of scenes that blur the line between a mystic ritual and an intimate dance club. By offering this complete vision of an alternative future, Gotopo has given us a science fiction story not unlike those of N. K. Jemisin that dare to suggest something far different and in many ways more believable than most of what we’ve come to expect from the art form. Watch the video for “Malembe” on YouTube and connect with Gotopo at the links below.