Aba-Hry Kapatika

Excerpt from Track 5 off of the ‘Down the River Nile: Kmt’ project which is an interlude entitled ‘Makolo Athu’ or ‘Our Dignified Ancestors’ in Chinyanja. The track features the voices of the ancestors John Henrik Clarke, Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti and Vaughan Benjamin, who serve as guides and touchstones of wisdom for tangible and constructive conceptions of Afrikan unity. In this portion of the track, we hear the voice of Honourary Professor Dr John Henrik Clarke who affirms the origin of Afrikan architectural and engineering praxis as embedded within the Afrikan World of the Southern Cradle, first conceptualised by Chiekh Anta Diop, and others who came before like the esteemed Afrikan scholar Drusilla Houston Dunjee. We give thAnkhs continuously for the Word, Sound and Power, the ancestors have left ahead of us. ____________________________ #africanmusic #ancestralambiance #africanarchives #blackwisdom #africanhistory #sebayt #wehemmesu #cycleofrebirth #kmt #kush #azania #ancestralmemory #johnhenrikclarke #felakuti #vaughnbenjamin #midnite #blackmetaphysics #Osiriandrama #wisdomculture #wordsoundandpower #indigenousknowledge #africansovereignty #blackhistory #africandiaspora #metacolonialism #africanhistory #blackarchives

The fifth track off the EP is a dubwise remix of the Midnite and Ras L collaboration 'Starz'/ 'Applawz'. This musical collage is entitled 'Marketplace by the Nile' and includes four significant diasporic philosophical voices within the Rastafari movement being Cuban-born Mortimer Planno, Jamaican-born Peter Tosh as well as Robert Nesta 'Bob' Marley and finally St. Croix Island-born Vaughan 'Midnite Akae Beka' Benjamin. The video in the first slide includes the voices of Mortimer Planno and Peter Tosh and the video is an exerpt of Theo Eshetu's 2009 original short film 'The Return of the Axum Obelisk', all rights are reserved to the creator of this video. The video on the second slide are exerpts of various archival clips, and features the voice of Midnite. ____________________________ #africanmusic #roots #africanpoetry #diaspora #spokenword #wordsoundandpower #remix #dub #dubwise #mortimoplanno #petertosh #bobmarley #vaughnbenjamin #midnite #akaebeka #africanwords #ethiopia #africanhermeneutics #historicalmusic #monkeybay #ancestral #instrumental #nubia #kmt #axum #historyofideas #halieselassie #rastafari

The fourth track on the EP is entitled 'Carvan of Black Ideas'. This song is a dubwise remix of the great master of the Kora Toumani Diabaté and Ballaké Sissoke's 'Bi Lambam' off their album 'New Ancient Strings' and features poetry written and performed by ABA of the same title. This video was shot by Thomas Markert of the Meroë pyramids located in Sudan, all rights are reserved to the creator of the video. ____________________________ #africanmusic #roots #poetry #africanpoetry #spokenword #kora #poetics #toumanidiabate #remix #dub #dubwise #ambient #africanambient #africanwords #africanhistory #historicalmusic #nilevalley #ancestral #instrumental #nubia #kmt #meroe #historyofideas #archives

The base of the third track off the EP was recorded in Coffee Bay, Eastern Cape in 2020, at the Jambock campsite, with Hangten Drums loaned to us by Shaheed, a family friend. This song is especially important as it was recorded with my father, who has played, taught, made and skinned Malawian drums for many years, and played with ABA to produce this track. The song also features a family friend and elder Dingiswayo, hailing from great Zimbabwe @jumainstruments who masterfully plays the traditional mbira in this track. This track also features an excerpt of warrior scholar Ashra Kwesi's on site lecture at the Tiya archeology site as well as the words of Rastafari Binghi drummers on the African philosophy of drumming. The track is entitled 'Jah-Shabaka's Pyramid'. The first two videos are taken in Coffee Bay, the second video is a UNESCO video of Great Zimbabwe and all rights are reserved to the owners of that video. ____________________________ #africanmusic #africa #hangten #coffeebay #jambock #easterncape #ambient #africanambient #drumming #djembe #binghi #ancestral #ashrakwesi #roots #africanphilosophy #africanfusion #mbira #neotraditional #kush #rastafari

The second track off the EP entitled 'Great Lake Scroll'. This feature track is a dubwise remix of Zeb'ulun's 'Funky Kabula' from his 2006 album 'Passerby' and features the African ambient sounds of @glamaticus . This video was shot in Monkey Bay, Malawi, February 2021 and shows some of the semi precious stones on the shore Lake Malawi. ____________________________ #africanmusic #roots #reggea #malawimusic #remix #dub #dubwise #ambient #africanambient #funk #africa #malawi #lakemalawi #monkeybay #ancestral #instrumental #glamaticus #rastafarimusic #africanreggea

This was a collaborative creative work between Aba and the @afrikaufundicollective ____________________________ The back cover for 'i.ras sma.i tawy.i' features a historical and artistic references. On the bottom right is an archival image of Makonnen Wolde Mikael and his son Tafari Mäkonnen before taking on his royal title of Halie Selassie I. ____________________________ Symbols: 7. (Centre right) The Ankh, was a pervasive and ubiquitous symbol in the Nile valley cultures representing the breath of life and the continuity of life beyond mortal cessation. Evidence clearly shows that it was the precursor to the Christian cross from temple reliefs and the Coptic traditions. Scholars interpret it as ranging from a sandal strap, to a protective amulet and also as a cross section of a womb from which the cycle human life begins. It was thought to be of universal meaning and significance of immortality or the immorality of life. 8: (Bottom Left) Sedge and the Bee, was a royal hieroglyphic title of ancient Nile Valley rulers representing the unity of the two lands in a royal prenomen similar to the sma-tawy concept. The Sedge was said to represent Upper Kmt and the Bee was said to represent Lower Kmt 9: (Top Left and Top Right) the artistic work sampled is from the: 'Ethiopian Icon, Christ in Glory with Symbols of the Four Evangelists', by Simachew Mesfin. Gallery of Icons. Which represents a tradition Ethiopian style of illuminated illustration going back as far as the Garima Gospels considered to be the world's oldest and most complete illustrated bible found in the ancient churches of Tigray region of Ethiopia ____________________________ #Albumcover #ancienthistory #africanhistory #nilevalley #graphicart #mixedmedia #collage #kmt #kush #cush #ethiopia #axum #meroe #halieselassie #africansymbols #ancientastronomy #cradleofcivilisation #reggea #dubwise #roots #judah #reasoning #africanart #artwork #africanmusic #rastafari ___________________________ ☥

The first track off the EP entitled 'Perennial River Resonance'. The video was taken at Monkey Bay, Malawi, January 2020. It features poetry and djembe drumming written and performed by ABA. ____________________________ #africanmusic #africa #malawi #monkeybay #lakemalawi #africanambient #spokenword #poetry #djembe #drumming #ancestral #lakemusic #roots

Video taken at Nkhata Bay, February 2021, Monkey Bay, Malawi. _ The accompanying song is 'Breathing Scrolls' by Midnite Band @akae_beka on their album Ainshant Maps (2004)

This was a collaborative creative work between Aba and the @afrikaufundicollective ____________________________ The album cover for 'i.ras sma.i tawy.i' features a set of historical references to ancient and significant monolithic sites which spans the entirety of the Nile Valley region beginning in Ethiopia, through South and North Sudan, and finally extending to its panoptic end in Northern Egypt where the river empties into the Mediterranean Sea. ____________________________ Sites: 1. (Centre Top) The Great Pyramid of Khufu, Cairo, Egypt (~2600 BC) 2. (Centre Bottom) The Pyramids of Meroë, Sudan (~800 BC - 100 AD) 3. (Top Left) Obelisk/Stellea/Hawilt of Ezana, Axum, Ethiopia (~300 AD) 4. (Mid Left) Nabta Playa Astronomical Stone Circle, Southern Egypt, Nubian Desert, (6500 BC) 5. (Mid Right) Tiya Monolith, Gurage Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region, Ethiopia (Date uncertain) 6. (Top Right) Obelisk/Tekhenu of Hatshepsut, Karnak, Egypt, (~1457 BC) _ Symbols: 7. (Centre Top) Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the symbol on the previous Ethiopian flag representing the continuity of descent from Solomon and Sheba's Menelik upheld by the former monarchs of this empire. The Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah was also the title of every Ethiopian emperor until H.I.M Emperor Halie Selassie. The crowned lion is said to represent Selassie himself. 8: (Centre Bottom) This was a political/philosophic motif used in Kmt (ancient Egypt) and was referred to as 'sema-tawy', the symbol of the unification of Kmt and its two major geopolitical divisions. The symbol is made of a windpipe (union) amid a lotus plant (Lower Kmt) and a papyrus plant (Upper Kmt), as well as floral symbols that represent Upper and Lower Egypt respectively. ____________________________ #albumcover #ancienthistory #africanhistory #nilevalley #graphicart #mixedmedia #collage #kmt #kush #cush #nabtaplaya #yam #punt #ethiopia #axum #meroe #monolith #africansymbols #ancientastronomy #cradleofcivilisation #reggea #dubwise #roots #judah #reasoning #africanart #artwork #albumart #africanmusic #rastafari ___________________________ ☥

Video taken at Nkhata Bay, One Love Restaurant and Beach Campsite, Malawi. _ The accompanying song is 'Southeastern Moon' by Midnite Band @akae_beka on their album Jubilees of Zion (2000)

Excerpt from article written for @about00time "Black always moves second in any game of chess. However, the game ‘chess’ as we know it, developed within a particular European historical genealogy, began with cultural contact with the Persians some 1400 years ago. There were also various permutations of the rules of chess that varied in the contexts that was played, while in the early modern period the power of the Queen, which was a secondary piece, was afforded along with the Bishop a wider spread of moves. This was not without the prevailing attitudes emerging in reference to the game as ‘Mad Queen’s Chess’ set within the backdrop of a century of some of Europe’s most powerful matriarchs. Nevertheless, this redacted story of the origins of chess often bound to humanistic and enlightenment ideals, played as a means of intellectual stimulus, diversion or strategic simulation. The anthropogenic dominance ended recently however as human beings ceded dominance of this invented game to another mechanisaton of modern human invention, artificial intelligence, although Kasparov beat the computer system a number of times. This brief history strangely situates us in our African present, at least from the perspective of a certain imperial and colonial genealogy, which raises once again, the pressing question of epistemic freedom in a game of cultural conventions..." ________________________________ ☥ ________________________________ Slides: 1. Mancala/bao board from the Luba, DRC 2. 'Mancala Memories' a collage designed by ABA ________________________________ #essays #africanphilosophy #africanhistory #mankala #bao #chess #culture #colonialism #zenat #africanarchive #history #panafricana #africana #historyofideas #abouttime

Fela Kuti: Future Legacies, Questions, African Youth and Bafuka Baba Fela Anikulapo Kuti needs no introduction. He stands almost peerless as a personage in African music for his blatant truthfulness of the state of Africa, its history and present. Fearlessly exposing the corruption implicit and explicit of many of the African government systems, colonial and neo-colonial institutions and politics as well as those intellectuals and 'useless chiefs' who have been the complicit and distinguished faces of national disaster. His acute awareness of the foundational issues on the continent as well as his unyielding de-colonial stance of cultural resistance provided an image of what resistance could look like through culture, art and pan-Africanism when applied alongside a honest and reflective meditation on the material and psychic condition of the microcosm of one’s community to the macrocosm of the continent and all of its descendants. We have indeed accepted the propaganda of modernity far too easily, to the point of being hoodwinked, and have thus wound ourselves up in contradiction after contradiction of the African 'Lady' or 'Gentleman'. [Read full article link in the description] ⁣ The Title slide: Fela Kuti, Black Salute ⁣ Slide 2-4: “Fela's Afrika Shrine”. /watch?v=VZ4NIUf0qp8.⁣ ⁣ 3-4th Slide: “Interview with the legend Fela Anikulapo Kuti, about Music, Politics and Freedom”. /watch?v=LtLJfKDN4x8 ⁣ 5-6th Slide: “Fela Kuti, Sorrow Tears and Blood”. /watch?v=F4ZUnPWxgvc ⁣ 7th Slide: Fela Kuti's Shuffering and Shmiling Album Art. 1978. By Lemi Ghariokwu. ⁣- - #Africaarchives #africamusicarchive #africanhistory #felakuti #felakutilegacy #felakutiandtheafrica70band #felakutiegypt80 #revisionaryhistory #Africanart #africanmusic #afrobeat #blackconsciousness #africaliberation #liberationphilosophy #watergetnoenemy #africanyouth #studentmovements #postcolonial #undergroundspiritualgame #neocolonialism #neoafrica #archive #revolutionary #ancestors #africanpioneers #nigerianhistory #panafricanism