FRENCHIE ALGERIAN POP SOUL SINGER, MISS MAYRINA CHEBEL!

Just discovered pop/soul Frenchie Algerian singer and as usual had to share this discovery with you all.

So she's just 26 years old, she comes from the Lyons , fell in love with music through Lauryn Hill.

When she moved to Paris , she was decided to make her dream come through, just like Awa Imani she worked with the gospel choir "We are one" , attended events, met her producer, met Disiz la Peste (Senegalo-French hip hop artist), met the legendary IAM rappers;Akhenaton and Shurik'n. They liked her vibe, decided to write her a song , ended up writing and working with her on an entire album called "Ailleurs". Despite her talent it's been difficult for her to break through the french radio market that finds soul too adult of a musical style for their audience..but she keeps pushing through. I like her...would def' listen to her on a sunday morning while relaxing:)

If I knew her personally I would tell her not to worry abt people comparing her to Amel Bent, they both do a popish/soulful style of music so of course they might remind people of each other, so push on through sista..let the haters hate and do u:)

Here's a live performance clip: HERE

Here's her webbie:http://mayrinachebel.artistes.universalmusic.fr/

Djaa my Algerian sistas sont dedans:)

Eyyee Wayee:)

FABULAFRICANAS OUT AND ABOUT IN DAKAR IN THEIR PERSONAL STYLE!

Jada- Student at BEM Dakar

Fabulafricana because she was just too cute in her sarouel/jumper and her little "Patra queen of the pack"braids and the missionaire sandals, loved it!

Anta- Model

Fabulafricana because I simply loved her little afro dress paired with a simple bronze necklace ..:)

Corinna- Italian British Council Coordinator in Senegal , MC & Singer

Fabulafricana one because she's in love with the motherland, two because she rocked feminine hills, summer dress and cowboy bandana..:)

Rokhaya- Designer and Model on her spare time

Fabulafrican because I liked her little black ensemble and the layers of black bangles with a touch of silver with her silver sandals.

Touty-Contemporary lyrical dancer

Fabulafricana because she was rocking classic old school Jordans, had a touch of rastafari vibe with the cap

Aight people I'm a huge Sartorialist and Garance Dore fan and so they inspired me to try to showcase Senegalese people's personal sense of styles , even though gotta admit that it's hard to convince them to let me take pics of them, don't know how Garance and Scott do it on the regular ..but anywhoo here are a few people who allowed me to showcase their styles, so you who may not live in Dakar have an idea of what my people look and dress like, enjoy:)

Djaa my people from Dakar sont dedans:)

Eyeee Wayee:)

SENEGALESE FURNITURE DESIGNER, OUSMANE M'BAYE!

Dem Dik Design by Ousmane M'Baye

Chair collection

Bed Collection

New Dezign collection

His work at Opium Restaurant/Dakar Senegal

Armchair collection

New Dezign collection

Okay born a November 26 just like me, did the furniture work at 2 of my fav'restaurants in Dakar: Opium and La Fourchette..oh boy there was no way I was not going to find out about Ousmane Mbaye's work.
This self -taught designer and "rude boy" from Medina is slowly but surely taking the world of furniture design by storm. Ousmane def' sees" la vie en rose" with his great use of all the rainbow warm colors. He uses mainly barrel and galvanise iron to create his work. He's currently showing his work at the Biennale du Design in St Etienne until november 30th..if you are in the area, go suppport him:)
For those of you living in Paris he'll be in the capitale des lumieres on December 8th at the Fondation GAIA.

His work def' put a smile on my face and when I'll go to these restaurants, I'll tell everyone oh it's by Ousmane M'baye:)
Here's his website:
http://www.coroflot.com/ousmane

Djaa my Senegalese brothas sont trop dedans:)
Eyee Wayee:)

PROFESSOR AMEENAH GURIB FAKIM THE GREATEST AMBASSADOR OF MAURITIUS ISLAND FLORA & TRADIONAL MEDECINE!

Professor Ameenah Gurib Fakim is the first female professor at the University of l'Ile Maurice. This beautiful mother of 2 wears so many hats : she's a writer, a researcher, a scientist, a wife and a mother.
This chemist's work centers around the medicinal and pharmacological properties of local Mauritius plants.
In fact with her team counted 50 000 medecinal plants on her island, they also spoke to the elders of the island who knew and shared some of the secrets of these plants.
I love Ameenah's mission, she wants her people to know that tradional medecine could be a great economical booster of the Island. If it was recognized, farmers could increase the production of those plants, medicinal licenses could be obtained through the official validaton of herbal extracts.
Among some of the plants she's been working with is "le melon amer" which fights diabetes among other things.
This UNESCO prize winner & African Union Women Scientist Regional winner 2009 is truly a fabulafricana.
Reading about her inspired me to respect the african flora and to find out more about the secrets of african plants. In the little video doc' that follows , she explains that on her island there are some plants that can't be found in the rest of the world, only on Mauritius island..waouh!
I also learned that intellectual properties doesn't just pertain to creative work but also to scientific work.

Check her out on this video:
http://www.terre.tv/#/fr/sante-et-environnement/entretien/1934_ecoforum--ameenah-gurib-fakim
Here's a great interview:
http://ww.ipsnews.org/news.asp?idnews=48529

Djaa our sistas from Mauritius Island are unstoppable:)
Eyeee Wayee:)

OUR AFRICAN PEOPLE AT PARIS FASHION WEEK/SPRING SUMMER 2010!

a

Ayo & Sonia Rolland

Farida

Leila Ben Khalifa

Miss Ayo


This past october, Paris was the place to be for our fashionistas and african celebs.
Ayo , Sonia Rolland, Leila Ben Khalifa as well as Farida Khelfa were some of the familiar faces seen.
Djaa our African peeps are doing their thing:)
Eyee Wayee:)

TANZANIAN SCULPTOR DOING IT FOR THE WOMEN, MWANDALE MWANYEKWA!

Self Portrait

Envious Monkey

"Dream"

"Passion"

Pic courtesy of the Sojourner's Truth

I haven't focused on my African sistas "doing it"in the sculpture world in a minute.
Mwandale Mwanyekwa is a great female tanzanian sculptor in a mainly male dominated art sector.
"Big Mama "as she likes to be called has been expressing herself through this art form for the past + 10 years. As any intelligent professional, she realized quite early that she had to aquire training. She attended several local and international schools, workshops, exhibits.
She was invited to showcase her work in Sweden, Toledo Ohio, South Africa ect
This stylish woman and mother, is a self proclaimed lover of herself, it shows through her self portraits carved in woods. She also takes her inspirations from her personal beliefs, nature, animals ect.
Here's her personal site:
www.mwandale.blogspot.com

Djaa my Tanzanian sistas sont trop dedans:)
Eyeee Waye:)

MAROCCAN DESIGNER, LAILA AZHAR!

Lovely orange number

Like the cut of the jacket

Grey Asymetric dress

Love the jaune citron and the corbeau black mix

I'm huge in the little details, les petits plis ect..j'adore

Laila Azhar is a Maroccan born designer who designs modern and romantic pieces for the urban young femme.
Before pursuing design at the prestigious Parsons school of design, while residing in Canada she studied biology at McGill University. Doing modelling jobs on the side , her desire to become a designer grew more apparent to her and as they say the rest is now history.

Here's her site:
http://www.lailaazhar.com

Djaa our Maroccan sistas sont trop dedans:)
Eyee Wayee:)

THE INCREDIBLE YEAR OF A NOT "SO RANDOM GIRL", MISS GABOUREY SIDIBE!

One of my fav' pics of her, because her confidence shines through

Gabby all dressed up for the Cannes Festival

Gabby doing the "relax yet sexy" style for Dave Letterman

Gabby and her mama at one of the many premieres

Gabby doing the black & silver style

Gabby receiving the New Hollywod Award from Oscar nominated Tara J Henson

Gabby w/Sapphire the author of the book, and Lee Daniels the director of the movie

Work it out sista

Looking beautiful

Gabby & Latifah

Gabby & the Thicke

Gabby & Mo'nique

Gabby at the Glamour Awards this past week

Gabby & her mentor Lee Daniels

If Oprah likes it, America likes it

Beautiful color on her

Nice dress


" I am just a random girl from Harlem"

said Gabby when she received the New Hollywood Award, well not anymore..

Gabourey Sidibe who is half American on her mother side and Senegalese on her father's side plays the role of an obese illiterate abused young girl of the age of 16 called Precious. Mo'nique plays the role of her monstruous mother Mary who both abuses her verbally and mollests her. As if that was not enough for a young girl , her father also rapes her and even manages to impregnate her twice.

Very raw script based on "Push " the novel written by american author Sapphire. There are several noted celebrities playing in this movie: Lenny Kravitz, Mariah Carey, Paula Patton..ect

but her performance is said to outstanding

Gabby and Sidibe are rumored to probably receive Oscar nominations for their roles in this movie directed by Lee Daniels.

Gabby was chosen after 350 girls auditioned, she never ever pictured herself being an actress rather thought she would pursue a degree in psychology,but in my eyes there's no accident Gabby was born to play Precious.

Everything she's lived in her personal life, the beautiful body frame she's living in, the people she met in her life, the way people treated her in personal life probably shaped her to embody this character with a lot of warmth.

I think that the reason why this movie resonates so much with people, is that everyone can see themselves in it, for example the majority of people who are in some ways racist towards obese people as Lee Daniels describes himself can face their own prejudice their own shame and change it to something more positive. Young obese girls who are dealing with rejection daily can also see in Precious hope.

Parents who are too weak and too caught up in their own"s.." to treat their children as their own blood can see the consequences of their actions on their own kin. Young kids who are ashamed of being illiterate can also see hope in Precious.

I def' hope to catch this movie soon on one those internet sites lol (hey im dakar what do u want me to do)

Congrats to miss Gabby, wanted to also salute her intelligence, the beautiful and proud way she carries herself through this process..it's def' been a "hella" of a year for this young lady between movie premieres, Q&A's, interviews, the public scrunity, ect, the Oscar buzz ..you def' have to know who you are in that exciting environment.

Keep your eyes open for her, she's also set to play in the upcoming 2010 Tyler Perry movie called "What would you do".

Here's Gabourey dancing and having fun on Ellen , HERE

Here's another good interview of miss Sidibe, HERE

Here's of course the official trailer, HERE

Djaaa our African /American sistas are doing their thang in Hollywood:)

Eyeee Waye:)

A SINGER'S SANGER, LA JOLIE GO AWA IMANI!

La jolie go
She reminds of Ciara for some reason


For once I can talk about a real modern soul sanger that actually really touches me.. ahhh it was about time, I know a lot of soul R&B african/french female artists but there was no one until miss Awa that blew my mind..this girl can singgggggg
A lot of times french lyrics and R&B don't mix very well in my opinion, it seems as if it's not natural..they oversing or undersing it..
Her manager was absolutely right to encourage her to join a prestigious french gospel choir"We are one", those sessions def' paid off. Not only that she was able to network withYanick Noah , Corneille and many more..
Awa Imani is Senegalo/Guinean, her parents are both into the arts, her dad is a Guinean singer and her mum a, dancer/actor/choreographer.
As a young'un Awa Imani took african dance classes, hip hop ect, vocal classes, today she's ready to fly solo..I see big things for this beautiful, gorgeous young lady...:)
If she looks and sounds familiar it may be because you may have heard along the sides of Dizziz la Peste, Awilo Longomba, 113 ect, Kerry James...

Here's a cool interview of the sista, HERE
You can see her with Awilo Longomba , HERE
You can also see her with Djamel and 113, HERE
Si tu dois partir(audio video), HERE

Djaa my Senegalo/Guinean sistas don't play:)
Eyee Waye:)

NIGERIAN BRITISH TEXTILE&MATERIAL DESIGNER, THE FABULOUS YEMI AWISOLE!

Yemi Awisole

Is there one thing we fabulafricana women can't do kayaaaa:) loves it..

Miss Yemi Awisole is just 24 years old, yep just 24 years old...

She's already been seriously noticed and noted by her peers and professionals within her

industry.

She attended the London Royal College of art where she received a travel bursary which allowed

her to go all the way to Portugal to learn more about cork production. In fact Yemi bases most of

her current work on cork , she has produced upholstery fabric for interior design.
While in Portugal, Yemi networked her way to meet aclaimed portuguese designer Anna Mestre, the organizer of the Dutch design cork event, of course she was one of the winners.
I admire Yemi's drive , it takes her places. For example when she came back to London, after

she completed her Master's ,the school offered her fellowship as the Royal College of art's first

ever material research fellow...

In the futre she would like to set up a cork working studio in order to bring more interest to it in London..

I'm amazed that at such a young age, she's done so much and knows where she wants to go..u go

girl, work it:)
Here's her webbie:www. yemiawosile.co.uk

Djaa our Naija sistas don't play:)
Eyee Wayee:)

TANZANIAN SONGSTRESS, MISS RAY C!

The Pretty Ray C

I've been meaning to write a post about this spicy tanzanian singer. Ray C started out her career as a popular radion DJ in Dar Es Salaam before becoming one of East Africa's top singers. She won the Kilimandjaro music award for the year 2006-2007 among many other awards. Ray C also understood that to be a great performer one has to learn her craft over and over again, she took belly dance classes and vocal lessons. The 25 years old also had 3 of her albums that went platinum, def' a young woman to watch.

I personally like her voice and her music, she reminds me a young Tshalla Muena even though they are two very different music artists..

I also think that she's a beautiful woman and my only thing would be to tone down a bit her imag and the skin lightning..she doensn't need that she's already beautiful:)

Here's her webbie:

http://www.myspace.com/rehemachalamila

You can see some of her videos below:

Wanifautia nini (my fav' song of hers)

Mez B & Ray C -Kama Vipi

Djaa my gals from Tanzania sont dedans:)

Eyeee Wayee:)

SOUTH AFRICAN GRAPHIC ARTIST, ZWELETHU GAMEDE AKA ZWELE2!

Courtesy of Zwele 2

Courtesy of Zwele2

Courtesy of Zwele2

Courtesy of Zwele2

Courtesy of Zwele2

Had a "coup de corazon" for Zwele2's work and just couldn't wait to share some of his beautiful art work with you my fabulafrican people. This hip hop head is into in graphic print work for teeshirts, book illustration, photograhy work, mangas, caricature work..bref all the graphic jazz.

If you would like to get in touch with him, here's his email:

zwele2@live.co.za

You can see his work here:

http://zwele2.deviantart.com/

Djaa my South African people sont trop dedans:)

Eyeee Wayee:)

GABONESE FRENCHIE SINGER, MISS ILIONA BLANC THE SWEET AMBASSADOR OF LA CHIPIEMANIA!

Miss Iliona Blanc

Rockeuse en sucre

Angelic la chipie?

Love a girl who's not afraid to say that she likes pink , that yes she has dieted for a man once in her life, love a girl who says '"t''es pas beau"= u ain't cute", "ur feet stink" lol basically someone who's not afraid to say in her lyrics some of the things we've all said...in a very sweet tone though lol

Iliona is a proud member of the chipiemania (I didn't say it , she did lol) chipie is a cute word in french which means brat..so there u go.. While she was in college she taught herself how to use a guitar, she's a classically trained pianist, she took dance classes in LA, (I see a lot of emphasis on that by french journaliststs lol) she writes her own songs..

I like her music it's cheesy, it's cute, her lyrics are things I can relate to on those days when I don't want to care about what's politcally correct lol, she's a "femme/enfant"a "child /woman"' and a lot of women I know are like that..it would be interesting to see how as she evolves as a woman, her image, her music and lyrics will evolve..def'curious about that:)

Maxime Leforestier, one of france's greatest songwriter and singer invited her to play with her during his french tour...so see lyrics about cake, ugly boyfriends, cheating men can def'get you somewhere lol...non seriously I like her music it's light and fun:)

Here's her webbie:

http://ilionablanc.artistes.universalmusic.fr/

Here's a cool interview, HERE

U can view the video for""Tes pas bo", HERE

Djaa les gos du Gabon sont trop dedans:)

Eyeee Wayeee:)

PULLITZER WINNER PLAY "RUINED"CELEBRATES THE COURAGE OF CONGOLESE WOMEN!

Courtesy of Joan Marcus

Saidah Ekulona as Mama Nandi

Courtesy of Joan Marcus

Courtesy of Joan Marcus

Courtesy of Joan Marcus

Condola Rashad and our tv mum, Phylicia Rashad

Part of the cast


Sometimes I miss New York, I miss being able to attend plays and other artisitc events, it's sad to say that very often "'the african scene " happens in the West but Inch'Allah one day it will start in our continent..

Ruined is one of those plays I would love to see, it's written by Pullitzer prize winner Lynn Nottage who went to Uganda to meet some of these war refugee women from Congo.

The play centers around the character of Mama Nandi a war survivor and bar owner who uses female young war victims ; one of them Salima was gang raped for a few months and rejected by her husband, another Sophie is so physically damaged and ill that the only thing she can do to support herself within that environment is to sing for the soldiers.

Mama Nandi the bar owner and "pimp'" is played by Saidah Arrika Ekulona, her role is difficult because she is both a victim of war a survivor and an abuser. She wants to survive and will do at all cost even if it means exploiting these young girls. At the same time she gives them a roof, security, food and is capable of compassion.

Condola Rashad (the daugther of our fav tv mum -Phylicial Rashad) , Quincy Bernstine, Russel Gebert Jones, Cherise Booth, Chike Johnson and so many other talented theater actors pay homage to the suffering, the courage, and determination of these congolese women..
You can see a clip of the show, HERE

Djaa we need to see more plays illustrating our courage as african women:)

Eyee Wayee:)

CHIWETEL EJIOFOR AND THANDIE NEWTON AT THE PREMIERE OF "2012"!

2012-The End of the World


The Beautiful Thandie Newton at the Premiere

Love her lipstick, it suits her nicely

Kenyan American actor, Edi Gathegi at the premiere

Chiwetel & Danny Glover

Chiwetel E. looking dapper and chic in his little suit
Wish I could be in the US on November 13th to experience this film at the movie theater, ain't nothing like going to the movies the night of a premiere , experiencing a new flick with strangers...(ok I stop ..I miss NY today)

So Thandie Newton, Chiwetel Ejiofor play the roles of the first daughter and a scientist/advisor to the president in the disaster movie 2012.

The movie is centered around the end of the Mayan Long Count calendar which concides with globab disaster. Other great actors such as John Cusak, Amanda Peets, Danny Glover play characters trying to escape this global cataclysm.

You can see the trailer, HERE

Here's the official movie website:

http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/2012/

Djaa our African movie stars are doing their thang:)

Eyeee Wayee:)

MISS AURELIE KONATE IN THE MUSICAL "TISMEE"!

Aurelie, Felix & Khalil

Tismee in urban french language means mixed, I'm sure Aurelie could relate to one of the lead roles she's playing in the show since she is half French and half Guinean.

This talented actress and singer plays along the side of Felix Sabal Leco and Khalil Maoune in this show. It's

about that eternal question of dual identity , the marriage between the western world and mama Africa. Aurelie plays the role of a young woman who returns to her father's african homecountry where she encounters discrimination, rejection, confusion. During that journey she encounters the 2 characters played by Felix and Khalil who help her find some of the answers she's been looking for regarding her identity.

For those of you living in France rush, rush the play ends its run on November 21st at Theatre la Reine Blanche.
In other news Aurelie is hard at work on a new album, will keep you posted:)

Here a few useful links:

http://www.reineblanche.com/ (the theater where it's playing)

http://www.aurelie-konate.com/ (Aurelie's official site)

www.myspace.com/tismeeofficiel (the show's official page)

Watch a clip of the show , HERE

Here's Mama Africa by the cast of Tismee , HERE

I have to add that after watching the clip and hearing the music , I def' wish I could see the show..so go go go my Fabulafricanas in France

Djaa les gos de Guinee sont dedans :)

Eyee Wayee:)