At The Peoples Hub, we are all about the little people. Those too short to be noticed by the Emperor from the height of his podium, those out of reach of the plinth, those who can’t make a sentence’s mention in the town crier’s bulletin.

We also appreciate good work with solid traits of hard work behind it. So, we hope this post will reflect a good balance.

Damarcus Daville – Trust

Coming out of Rochester, New York by way of Danville, Illinois, is a young crooner who recently set the US blogosphere alight with his self-released get-it-on number, No Competition.

Damarcus Daville’s new gift to the world is the single, Trust, which is again available to all for free.

Damarcus’s music has the DNA of the sound that made the likes of Uncle Sam, Aaron Hall and Dave Hollister, such global stars.

Already, he has opened up for the likes of Jagged Edge, Carl Thomas, 50 Cent, The Game, and Lloyd; and we certainly hope this 26-year-old star-in-the-making will continue rising.

Download Trust on our player above; and find out more about Damarucs here.

Tinashe – Stargazing

I pick on this one track off Tinashe’s hugely impressive second mixtape, because of the song’s very affecting lyrics and earnest production values.

In truth, the whole body of work that is Reverie, is a 9-song fascinating ride, taking in all that the US’ latest contender to the Pop Princess tiara has: warm harmonies, multiple catchy choruses, stuttering self-produced electronic beats and vivid song writing.

We previewed Tinashe’s show last time when she was in London, and reports from the gig say she didn’t disappoint.

Watch out Queen Bey!

Grab your own copy of Reverie here.

Doma da Bling – My Eish

Dama do Bling a.k.a Ivannea Jose is the queen of Mozambican pop.

Through her music, “The Queen of Bling” is attracting a worldwide audience to a positive Mozambican culture different to the one of famine, war and disasters, as you would see on world news channels.

Her music is pretty much a cross between R&B and Rap with some Afrobeats productions.

 

Dama do Bling’s new single, My Eish, is another step towards a fifth studio album and comes hot on the heels of the “Bad Girl” cut earlier this year.

Janelle Monáe ft Erykah Badu – Q.U.E.E.N

On to other Queens of a different space (and time, if you believe the video concept…) Here’s one of my brightest mainstream Pop tunes of the year so far.

Sean “Diddy” Combs protégé, Janelle Monáe really turns it out when she links up with veteran, Erykah Badu on Q.U.E.E.N.

The track is the lead single from Monáe’s upcoming sophomore album The Electric Lady.

 

This is another girl-power collabo, with an impeccable video to match it.

Words by: @makiwahenry

Zimbabwe today marks the 33rd anniversary of its independence from Britain.

The station – which broadcasts on SKY Digital’s Channel 232 – will have its “Zimbabwe Special” at 18:30 GMT this evening.

Moses Kellie, Klear TV spokesman said, “Tonight’s show is a celebration of Zimbabweans at home and in the diaspora. Our feature will show the “real Zimbabwe” to the world.

“Since we launched last October, our whole ethos has been around promoting the lives, work, entertainment and the cultures of Afro-Caribbean and we shall continue doing so. We are aiming to broadcast in every African country within the next year,” he added.

Klear’s Zimbabwe Special show will feature footage from the recent Zimbabwe Cup Clash, a Dancehall competition held in the UK two weeks ago.

Here’s a clip from the show:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The programme will also carry interviews with entertainment personalities such as DJ King Alfred, singer Mr. Boomslang a.k.a Kazz ; and rising songstress, Shanky.

Tony Mliswa

Welcome to Zollywood !

Tony Mliswa, director of the Milton Keynes-based film distribution and production enterprise, Zollywood Entertainment, facilitated Klear TV’s interviews with the Zimbabwean stars.

He said, “It’s a great act and a huge thumps up from Klear to recognise our country and people; and changed their schedules to respond to mark Zimbabwe Day.

“We want to see Zimbabweans being given more prominence in the world media; and given a voice to discuss and showcase their rich culture.”

New Music

Meanwhile, rapper Ndabaningi “Zubz” Mabuye has released a free download single to mark Zimbabwe’s independence on Soundcloud.

Zubz’ single Purpose is his forth release as he builds momentum towards his next album, DragonLion_FullCircle. Purpose features producer Melvin “Melly Mel” Biza on the chorus.

Download the track above.

Elsewhere, Shanky this morning dropped the video to her new, Zouk-inspired single, First Sight. See vid below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

In the US, Tendai “Baba” Maraire, also put out the militant number Unity is Power. Baba is currently cooking up a storm in South Seattle as he directs his red hot protégés, the Somali-born rappers, Militia Mali Mob.

Last year, Baba again shared a track with his Zimbabwean fanbase when he released the banger, Boom.

Not to be outdone, Harare Hip Hop group, Few Kings – made up of Tehn Diamond, Jnr Brown and producer/DJ Take Fizzo, also released their new single Boyz Dzangu this afternoon.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Words by: @makiwahenry

#Banji has arrived and it’s razing fires on the internet and bringing the heat onto the streets. Sarah “Sazrah” Hunt breaks it down for ya’ll.

You may have seen the #Banji hashtag on Twitter already.

It’s becoming a popular trend on the social networking platform; and is taking the web by storm. Unlike most viral online stunts though, this is not another flash in the pan, empty gimmick.

B.A.N.J.I stands for:

• Be
• Authentic
• Never
• Jeopardise
• Individuality

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ambassadors

Two of the movement’s leading ambassadors are female MCs, Sharaya J and the multi-platinum selling rapper/producer Missy Elliott.

Catch the very humble Sharaya J on Twitter or follow the #Banji chats on Twitter.

Also, e-mail your story to banjitv@gmail.com and get the discussions going on Sharaya’s “Testimonial Tuesdays”.

Words by: @sazrah_producer 

The country’s Red Cross society announced today that it has teamed up with the telecommunications industry to use mobile phone technology, to save lives in Sierra Leone.

Using an innovative location-targeted SMS system called the Trilogy Emergency Relief Application (TERA), the Red Cross – with support of leading mobile communications providers in the West African country – will be able to reach 36,000 people an hour at the touch of a button.

The Red Cross and Airtel initiative aims to reach around 1 million Sierra Leoneans within its first month with information on disease outbreaks and other emergencies such as fires or floods.

“This system is a real life-saver. We can use it to warn people when emergencies or outbreaks start and to give them vital information on preventing diseases like malaria and cholera,” said Sharon Reader, the Red Cross TERA project manager.

“Even better, TERA is a two-way system so we can quickly assess the areas with the greatest need after an emergency, and respond to requests for information on a large-scale. Harnessing technology in this way is really helping the Red Cross to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our aid operations.”

Ground-breaking tech

Sierra Leone is only the second country in the world to launch the TERA SMS system after Haiti. Still recovering from a long-running civil war and cholera outbreak which killed hundreds last year, Sierra Leone hopes the TERA initiative will help cut down further fatalities from preventable diseases.

The Peoples Hub’s readers may recall our report from last November on the use of the TERA technology in other parts of the world.

In Sierra Leone, the government has given TERA its backing.

Sharon Reader

“Last year our country was hit by the worst cholera outbreak in 40 years. Simple information could have helped prevent some of the 300 deaths we suffered,” Sierra Leone’s Vice President Chief Samuel Sam Sumana said.

“We know Sierra Leone has a poor health record and the government is committed to doing something about that. Working with the Sierra Leone Red Cross, Airtel, Comium and SierraTel we can make sure people are armed with the knowledge and tools they need to protect themselves and their families,” he added.

The system will immediately roll out information on preventing malaria, a disease which claims over 16,000 lives in Sierra Leone every year, making it the country’s largest preventable cause of death.

Sierra Leone suffers extreme poverty with one of the poorest health records in West Africa. Life expectancy is just 50 years old, 18 years below the global average. Child and maternal mortality rates are amongst the worst in the world. The country suffers from epidemic outbreaks of preventable diseases including yellow fever, cholera, lassa fever and meningitis.

Cholera in Sierra Leone, August 2012. The Red Cross at work

The TERA development is key in the West African country. Approximately 70 per cent of Sierra Leoneans have access to a mobile phone and this number is growing each year in line with the rest of the developing world.

Words by: @makiwahenry

Here in the UK, the BBC and SKY News covered stories with a range of angles, bringing in the various elements at play in an industry that crosses Europe, Asia and Africa. Simply put, the world has to act now and curb the illicit and cruel trade of this species’ horns before rhinos are driven into extinction.

Trade in rhino horn has a long history, with the earliest records of use in medicine in Asia going back millennia. In the past, rhino horns were supposedly prized for their translucent appearance when carved and used to make household ornaments which were believed to have the added advantage of being able to detect alkaloid poisons. (Apparently, these are the same qualities that the horn of the unicorn possessed – until scholars quashed the existence in the mythical creature in the 17^th century.)

More recently however, demand for rhino horn has shot up on affluent and underground Asia black-markets where it’s prized as a cure for everything from colds to impotence. In places like China and Thailand, the rhino horn is believed to possess the Viagra-effect (which reminds me of THAT Futurama episode!)

The rhino horn is also used to fashion ceremonial dagger handles – known as jambiyas – in oil-rich countries in the Middle East.

On these markets, rhinoceros horn now fetches more than its weight in gold.

Natural factories

There is growing evidence that the markets are in no way diminishing and so, the good old business laws of supply and demand dictate the order of the day.

The wealthiest sources of rhino horn are undoubtedly the savannah plains of Southern Africa where the animals have sanctuaries in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Mozambique.

Unfortunately the wildlife reserves in these countries are poorly protected and policed, rendering them near-open fields for rhino horn-seekers to plunder.

Although governments and wildlife authorities in these countries admittedly make efforts to curtail poachers from killing rhinos, the horn-snatchers always appear to be one step ahead.

Despite a range of tactics like deploying the army, mounting helicopter patrols to try to pinpoint the poachers, the killing of rhinos for their horns is continuing at an alarming rate.

I met Zimbabwean wildlife expert Ian Harmer, a while ago, who told me of how the

Ian Harmer

poachers are becoming more sophisticated and audacious.

Evidence from sites of the recent killings in Zimbabwe’s Matopo and Hwange national parks, showed poachers were “well-organized and well-funded,” Harmer said.

He said, “There are some wealthy syndicates involved in this business, possibly from China and other Asian countries. The trade is lucrative enough for poachers to be able to afford equipment our wildlife officials here often can’t afford.

“In the day, they use light aircraft under the guise of tourism, to fly over our parks, when they are in fact on poaching missions and reconnaissance. They then return to hunt at night in their own privately owned choppers. They use night-vision goggles, as well as silencers on their weapons to try to avoid detection. The poachers are also recruiting help from within the parks to establish where the rhinos are or bribing authorities to help kill the animals,” Harmer explained.

Everybody loves good neighbours

Zimbabwe itself, has fewer than 1,000 surviving rhinoceros, while it’s neighbour to the South, is home to an estimated 21,000 rhinos.

However, South Africa saw more than 660 of the creatures slaughtered by poachers for their horns last year; and a further 200 have been killed in the first quarter of 2013 alone.

Another one dead

The worst hit by far, is the country’s flagship Kruger National Park which shares a long 356km border with Mozambique, from where the vast majority of the poachers allegedly come from.

The situation may yet get more complex if political tensions persist in Mozambique, where rebels are threatening to return to the bush and wage another civil war. During Mozambique’s bloody war in the 80s, there were widespread allegations that RENAMO rebels were funding their arsenal from money acquired through the poaching of ivory.

Technology to the rescue

The heartening developments to this crisis have been the foresighted approach of curbing poaching through various technological ways.

The Scottish government’s Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture this week announced that it has begun collating a rhino DNA database to help snare poachers.

In a similar way scientists can track “blood diamonds”, genetic samples from rhinos will be analysed to create a DNA database, which will help trace the origin of any stolen horns intercepted by the police or customs.

Late last year, tech giants, Google, also donated a £3 million-worth of fleet of unmanned surveillance drones to help keep an eye on poachers trying to hunt rhinos.

More interestingly – and a personal favourite of mine – the Sabi Sand game reserve in South Africa has announced that it’s taking radical steps of poisoning rhino horns so that people risk becoming “seriously ill” if they consume them.

Political will

It is such measures, coupled with political will, which will bring a close to the sickening business of poaching.

We understand that both the Zimbabwean and South African governments have been in discussion with their Asian counterparts.  The latter, has gone further and signed agreements with Vietnam, Hong Kong and China on curbing environmental crimes.

Nonetheless, stringent measures must be implemented immediately if the rhino species is to retain residence on this planet.

The Peoples’ Hub’s Henry Makiwa

I have personally been fortunate to see these magnificent creatures at close quarters on several occasions.  As I experienced with elephants, it’s always is remarkable to see them up close. Rhinos are like dinosaurs, relics of a bygone age; and I would like my children and grandkids to be able to enjoy the same pleasure of seeing them as I have.

Words, Photography by: @makiwahenry

Podcast by: Claire Simpson

Fresh from releasing their debut EP, Million Miles Away (scroll down and hit play on our player at the bottom), the band have been busy rocking live shows at music venues around the capital and have created a buzz with their energetic, passionate and soulful performances.

Soneni & The Soul will join an exciting line up of entertainers at the ZAAs -including US Pop sensation, Tinashe – to toast the success of this year’s group of award recipients, who range from academics and entrepreneurs to community champions and musicians.

The event will this year be held at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel in London on April 20.

Roots Inspiration

Taking inspiration from frontlady Soneni’s Zimbabwean roots, the group’s music fuses bass and percussion grooves with catchy guitar riffs and soft soulful vocals.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The awesome foursome have steadily built a loyal and supportive fan base on the back of regular airplay on BBC 1Xtra, BBC London 94.9, as well as underground stations such as Déjà Vu FM and Rinse FM. Soneni & The Soul have also performed at established venues such as The Bedford and The Jazz Café in Camden Town.

Already, the group has garnered endorsements from established artists such as the celebrated US hip-hop band, The Roots who featured Soneni & The Soul their website a while ago. More thumbs-up were to come from rap icon Raekwon ‘The Chef’ of the legendary hip-hop super-group Wu Tang Clan.

Support good music. Cop yourself the new Soneni & The Soul on Bandcamp.

Words by: @chofamba

Weathervane – Music TJ 

Weathervane is the debut single from talented UK songwriter and poet, TJ Esubiyi a.k.a Music TJ.

A latecomer to singing, TJ – who is of Nigerian heritage – only began singing at 19. Initially, he had planned to get into dancing, but a car accident wrecked that dream. A start in a Gospel choir in his home-town of Birmingham took him on the singing path, and the influences are evident in his vocal delivery on Weathervane.

Support new artists, cop TJ’s debut single on iTunes.

It’s Your Life – Ben Sharpa 

Here’s a South African Hip Hop heavyweight (main pic).

The Soweto-born, Cape Town-based emcee has received significant mainstream airplay at home with the Nature Soul-produced It’s Your Life.

Sharpa received international acclaim after performing at Glastonbury in 2007, while his singles Hegemony and Live A Little (with departed Zimbabwean Hip Hop legend, Kingpinn) are furniture in the annals of underground rap.

They Told Me - Raiza Biza 

Thoughtful, reflective and personal. They Told Me is one of the lead singles off Biza’s latest projects, the LP Summer.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Summer follows plaudits all round the music world for the Rwanda-born rapper and, while such early praise sometimes proves a burden for breaking names, his songs ring out with an immediately breezy, bracing assurance.

There’s a quality to Biza’s repertoire and a forthright honesty that stands out in the world of Hip Hop. Tracks such as 7^th Floor and Art and Soul have a jazzy show tune feel that’s becoming Biza’s signature.

Sample Summer on our player above and DL it off bandcamp.

Party All Night featuring Double M & Diggs - McKnife 

Harare rapper, McKnife was a subject of much ridicule and mockery at home, and on the social networks when he released his naive and flaky debut single Hokoyo in 2011.

With the benefit of a couple of years grinding and some growing up, the young lyricist has done some knuckling down, perfected his song writing; and hooked up with Sparkle Talent Records who have introduced him to the UK airways (including Newcastle’s N1 FM !).

Here he gets the balance right collaborating with Double MM and motor mouth tongue twisting rapper Diggs for the club banger, Party All Night.

Words by: @makiwahenry

With the government’s public consultation review on the national curriculum coming to a close on 16^th April, the week ahead is the last window for most people to safeguard the status of first aid in education.

“Simply put, including first aid in the schools curricula would save hundreds, if not thousands of lives every year. It will also produce savings to the national health service of hundreds of millions of pounds and result in a better quality of life for all throughout the land,” Sir Bob who also heads the All Party Parliamentary Group for First Aid, said.

“Alongside the important saving of lives, first-aid training would also reduce visits to overstretched accident and emergency departments by people whose injuries did not warrant hospital attention. Likewise, it would reduce visits to doctors’ surgeries if people with first aid skills could more easily deal with such minor matters at home; or at their place of work. I urge my fellow MPs and members of the public to back this worthy campaign by the British Red Cross,” he continued.

 Campaign

More than 10,000 people have already signed the Pupil, Citizen, Life-saver e-campaign urging their MP to take action. As a result, 126 MPs have signed an early day motion (EDM), tabled by Sir Bob, urging the Government to make first aid studies mandatory in the classroom. This puts the motion 9^th out of almost 1,300 in a list of parliament’s most backed motions.

Joe Mulligan

Joe Mulligan, the British Red Cross head of first aid, said: “It’s great so many people agree that our children should learn about these vital topics. But we still need more signatures and support.  This is what we need in order for politicians to sit up and take note of the support our nation have for first aid education. Let’s make the most of this rare chance to build a generation of life-saving, global citizens.”

So far, the government has failed to include any mention of first aid education in the draft plans for the new schools curriculum. Worryingly, only 20 per cent of secondary school students in England and Wales say they have learned life-saving skills in the classroom and just 4 per cent of them would step up to help someone needing first aid assistance, according to an ICM poll in January.

Words by: @makiwahenry

For Zimbabweans in the UK, our common language and cultural familiarity with the host society means that we do not exactly suffer a massive culture shock upon arrival on these wind-swept isles. But while many Zimbabweans manage to integrate into British society with relative ease, the same can’t be said of how they handle their estrangement from all that is homely and familiar.

And for those who, for various reasons, aren’t able to ease their homesickness by visiting the home country, their sense of being culturally marooned is all the more acute.

Enter Oliver ‘Tuku’ Mtukudzi and his acoustic guitar – stripped down ensemble of marimba, bass, drum and backing vocals in tow – on a mission to soothe the cultural malnutrition afflicting the Zimbabwean Diaspora.

From the turn of the century, the numbers of Zimbabweans who chose to vote with their feet and set up base abroad began to swell substantially. And since that time Tuku has been at it, like a musical Florence Nightingale, doing the ward rounds across the Zimbabwean Diaspora. With song and dance, he has nursed their weeping wounds of nostalgia and empathised with them over the painful realities of life in exile.

“Hakuna akaziva Marimuka idikita (No one knew that life in the Diaspora was hard work and sweat),” Tuku sings on Izere Mhepo (hit play below), a track that laments the tough and often unrewarding life of many in the Diaspora.

While the Zimbabwean government has only in recent years started formally working on its Diaspora engagement policy, it is fair to say that Tuku is now way into his second decade of cultural engagement with the global Zimbabwean family.

Click here to view the embedded video.

On all six continents, there’s not a single substantial Zimbabwean community outside the borders of our country that he has not visited.

It is no surprise therefore, that the 2013 edition of the Zimbabwe Achievers Awards (ZAA) has decided to honour Tuku with a Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions to music and culture.

ZAA chief Conrad Mwanza

ZAA chief executive Conrad Mwanza hailed the legendary musician as an artiste par excellence and a cultural champion who has served his nation with remarkable distinction.

“We’re proud to honour Tuku for his sterling contribution to the entertainment and enlightenment of our nation through his music. Not only that, he stands as the biggest cultural ambassador our country has today and has over the years consistently raised the Zimbabwean flag high and made us all proud to be Zimbabwean,” Mwanza said.

Still going strong on the road with over 60 studio albums under his belt, it is no coincidence that of the five events nominated for ZAA Event of the Year, two of them feature Mtukudzi’s shows – the first with Alick Macheso and the other, a solo performance at the world class IndigO2 (which we covered here) in London.

The full list of ZAA nominees for 2013 can be viewed here.

Words by: @chofamba

Photography by @makiwahenry

WE ARE back with some new music videos with a fresh new look. Enjoy! 

Baba Maraire – Boom

We featured this track when it first dropped on Zimbabwe Day last year. Now as we approach the 18^th of April again, Seattle-based producer/rapper Tendai “Baba” Maraire reminds us why the African struggle for economic and political emancipation is a continuous revolution.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Peep Baba when he opens up his second verse with:

Now everybody knows the world’s going crazy over bling, opium, coke, oil, 
weed / So why should Africa ever want for anything when we got the richest 
land / Kings, Queens?

Shot on location in Zimbabwe during the Shabazz Palaces’ man last trip to Africa, Boom captures Baba Maraire in his element, back to his roots.

Malitia Mali Mob – Untold Story

Think Somali rap, think K’naan right? No. Not anymore.

Enter Militia Mali Mob (MMM), who are fronted by two Somali-born, US-based emcees. MMM (pic above) are rising in popularity on the Seattle rap scene under the tutelage of Baba Maraire.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Raw, grim but sharp, here’s an introduction to an unhinged posse whose repertoire is as politically charged as it is thought provoking.

The Holstar and Teck Zilla – Past, Present and Future

Here’s the official video to Past, Present and Future taken off The Extraordinaires a collaboration album between Zambian emcee The Holstar and Canada-based producer Teck Zilla.

The pictures here are simple shots paying homage to the wholesomeness and ideals of underground hip hop courtesy of director, Jamiel Banda.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Dope track and a refreshing departure from today’s flash in a pan, pop hook laden rap songs.

Naomi Achu – Suga

She’s the self-proclaimed “Queen of Bamenda”, who’s got “more squeeze than pounded yam”.

Meet Naomi Achu.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The award-winning Cameroonian stunner, combines, song writing, rapping and singing with apparent ease. Also based in the US, Miss Achu is a familiar name on the Afrobeats charts of West Africa, where she has made a presence on the large markets of Nigeria and Ghana.

Grab a freebie Suga DL here.

Words by: @makiwahenry