Music Store on Benson

There are many music stores in Monrovia. This one was on Benson Street at the time of the photo; the background gives a glimpse down the street. At any time, a popular track will be playing through the megaphone.



























It's also the store from which I bought the CD Belleh (right in the centre), from which excerpts are posted here and here.

More music

Here's another cut from a song, Belleh by Friday "The Cell Phone Man" from his album also entitled Belleh - the first was posted on 30 November, here.

I bought the album from one of Monrovia's mobile music shops, a special trolley with stacks of CDs and DVDS on the top and sides, and a megaphone in the front for playing samples of the merchandise.

Our friend Mohamed explained that it is a Bassa tradition to name children for the day on which they were born. As for Friday's nick-name, I'm still trying to find out where that's from.

Reading List 1

There are some great reads relating to Liberia: some online, some quite easy to buy/order. In this and some more posts to follow, I'll share what I've found.

First, the Liberian Seabreeze Journal of Contemporary Liberian Writings. It's as wonderful than the title suggests, and includes quality fiction, non-fiction, poems and even some art and photos. Each edition has a different theme.

In the current issue (Volume 5/issue2), I've so far read the poetry, have a look at the first five poets they are brilliant.

Exhibition at JFK

Organised public expressions of culture, ideas and concerns are fairly rare in Monrovia. This rather beautiful exhibition has appeared in front of JFK Medical Centre, the main government hospital. The star design and colours are a reference to Liberia's flag. A message against abuse of women, or supporting women's rights, has been written on each star; most or maybe all of them by men.

These include: Become a feminist; Stop raping women; It's not too late to send your girls to school; I promise to protect women rights; I will be a caring and loving husband; Send rapists to jail; It's not her fault she got violated...

Liberian music & rap 1

Here is a cut from a Big Mama's Business by Friday "The Cell Phone Man", from his album Belleh, my current favourite.

If you listen to the lyrics you'll hear the names of Monrovia's most popular streets and markets: Broad Street, Randall Street, Centre Street, Red Light Market, Duala Market....

I love Friday's sound and will post another cut from one of his songs a few posts down - that way the two tracks won't play at the same time. Let me know if you'd like me to bring you a copy of the album in December.



If you're interested in what's popular here, a good place to look is this site:
http://www.tlcafrica.com/Music.htm. Most of the music you hear at parties etc is either from neighbouring countries - Ghana, Sierra Leone, Nigeria - or the States.

I like "This Country That Technique" buy Bone Dust, and Mzbel from Ghana is fun too.

Our first experience of live Liberian rap came recently, out of the blue. We recently went camping in Robertsport and had some fun with a group of local boys Sam & Tumi's age. After barbequeing some marshmellows around the fire, we got into telling stories, jokes and the next thing they were doing these long and brilliant raps from L.I.B. Records.

If you read the article about L.I.B. Records, you'll see their music is actually called hip-co, which is derived from hip-hop and colloqua, or Liberian English as spoken on the street. So far I can't find any to listen to on the web, but will try and find a CD to bring home.

Well, more to follow on this subject...

Technical note:
The only way I could find so far to get an audio clip onto this blog is to turn it into a video that can be uploaded by Blogger - do let me know if you are aware of a better, free way that works?