Freshly Ground. No silly I don't drink coffee but I do love live music and I can't wait for this Saturday!

Marcilio, Miki and I will be going to the Bassline again to see another concert and this time we will see South Africa’s very own hit band “Freshly Ground”. I only first heard of Freshly Ground on the airplane over from the States in July but immediately liked their music and have been hoping to see them since then. Needless to say I am excited! What a blessing to be here in Joburg which despite its drawbacks (crime, terrible infrastructure, pollution, etc.) has been an advantageous place to hear great live music. Freshly Ground is a "mix" composed of South Africans, Zimbabweans and Mozambicans and a good sign for how Africans of different nationalities and races can work together. Let's just hope they remain fresh!

Freshly Ground seems to be getting a larger international following since it won the regional award for “Best African Act” at the MTV Europe Music Awards this year. This was a great thing for them and thrust them into the international spotlight. This will be there first concert in SA since they won the award on November 2^nd and when I am driving in the car I often hear their songs being played and praises being sung. The issue I take with the whole thing though is that if you go to Wikipedia’s coverage of the MTV Europe Music Awards you will see that 17 “regions” were given awards ranging from German, to Italian to Adriatic to Africa. Now I might be stupid but first German is not a region but rather a language and second Germany is not a region either but a country and while Africa is a region it sure is a lot bigger, more diverse and populated than France, the UK or Norway, so what gives? I don’t mean to imply that these awards were racist, narrow minded, short sighted, arrogant or pointless or maybe I do. I guess I should be happy that the MTV awards in Europe even included Africa but who knows maybe it is neocolonialism in the musical sense. I honestly haven’t watched MTV in over ten years and from what I understand I am not sure that the whole music part of the name applies anymore but that is for another blog which I won’t even bother writing as it wouldn’t be worth the time. Anyway once again the West/northern countries has given an improper projection that the south is small and insignificant or at least that is my take.

Politics aside I can’t wait to hear Freshly Ground (Wikipedia) and if you want to see/hear a bit of their music check out this short clip off of their song “Doo Be Doo” which is a fun and inspiring song in many ways the opposite of the colder, harsher, ruder gangsta rap that is popular here similar to that heard in the Tsotsi album which I do own and enjoy, within reason. I should say that all of the Tsotsi soundtrack is not kwaito, rap, etc. but rather a good compilation including Zola, Vusi Mahlasela and Mafikizolo. The show should be great and sure enough I will be dancing the night away. I’m gonna miss this place but then again Brasil has some great music as well so stay tuned for a future entry about music there!