Aṣa (pronounced "Asha"; born 1 September 1982) is a Nigerian French singer-songwriter and recording artist. Her stage name "Aṣa" means "Hawk" in Yoruba. Early life Born Bukola Elemide, Aṣa was born in Paris, France to Nigerian parents. She was two years old when her family returned to live in Nigeria. Aṣa grew up in Lagos, in the south-western part of Nigeria. She states that the city is "buzzing with energy but also home to a deep-rooted spirituality. (...)

Alpha Blondy (born January 1, 1953) is a reggae singer and international recording artist. Alpha Blondy was born Seydou Koné in Dimbokro, Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast). He sings mainly in his native language of Dioula, in French and in English, and sometimes in Arabic or Hebrew. His lyrics convey serious political attitudes and a sense of humuor. First son of a family of 9 children, Seydou Koné (Alpha Blondy’s name before he changed it to Alpha Blondy) was raised by his (...)

Credit: cbc.ca A funeral was held Friday for Henry Pratt. He and his four brothers escaped the civil was in Sierra Leone a decade ago, hoping for a better life. But Pratt (photo) died on Oct. 11. The 24-year-old was shot to death inside an apartment on San Romano Way in the city’s north end. "It’s a brutal senseless and violent crime and we cannot continue to see the community go through this," said Osmand Bangura, the uncle who helped Pratt and his brothers flee West (...)

Kojo Antwi of Ghana, after leaving school, started his music career immediately by playing with Boomtalents. He was shortly after discovered and became the frontman of the then newly formed Classique Handels, later Classique Vibes. The authentic and energetic youth band, within a short period captured the ears and eyes of Ghanaians and the neighbouring West African countries. The potential the band had and the early discovery by an international agent brought the band to Europe,where they (...)

Angélique Kpasseloko Hinto Hounsinou Kandjo Manta Zogbin Kidjo, commonly known as Angélique Kidjo, is a Grammy Award–winning Beninoise singer-songwriter and activist, noted for her diverse musical influences and creative music videos. Time Magazine has called her "Africa’s premier diva". The BBC has included Angélique Kidjo in its list of the African continent’s 50 most iconic figures. The Guardian has listed her as one of their Top 100 Most Inspiring Women in the World (...)

Fela Anikulapo Kuti 15 October 1938 — 2 August 1997), or simply Fela, was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist, and political maverick. Fela was born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria into a middle-class family. His mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti was a feminist activist in the anti-colonial movement and his father, Reverend Israel Oludotun Ransome-Kuti, a Protestant minister and (...)

Hugh Ramopolo Masekela (born April 4, 1939) is a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, and singer. He is the father of American television host Sal Masekela. Early life Masekela was born in Kwa-Guqa Township, Witbank, South Africa. He began singing and playing piano as a child. At age 14, after seeing the film Young Man With a Horn (in which Kirk Douglas plays a character modeled after American jazz trumpeter Bix Beiderbecke), he took up playing the trumpet. His (...)

Kevin Brereton (born February 20, 1972), better known by his stage name k-os (read as chaos), is a Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. His given name may also be cited as Kheaven, a spelling he later adopted. The alias "k-os", spelled with a lower case "k", was intended to be less aggressive than the pseudonyms of other rappers whose names were all upper case, such as KRS-One. It is an acronym for "Knowledge of Self," although in a later interview he said that it (...)

Gibril Gbanabome Koroma (photo), CEO and Publisher of this newspaper, the Patriotic Vanguard, has received an award from a US-based organization called the Save Sierra Leone Foundation headed by Patricia Omo Thorpe a respected and acclaimed Sierra Leonean humanitarian and social activist based in Maryland.The award ceremony was held last Friday August 31. Here is an edited version of the letter sent to publisher Koroma: Dear Sir: Congratulations for making the list of our 100 top S.L (...)

Today we continue our new Musician of the Week series. American musician Tracy Chapman is on stage this week. Here is her bio from Wikipedia: Tracy Chapman (born March 30, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her singles "Fast Car", "Talkin’ ’bout a Revolution", "Baby Can I Hold You", "Crossroads", "Give Me One Reason" and "Telling Stories". She is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award-winning artist. Tracy Chapman was born in Cleveland, Ohio. She was (...)