Shout out to all my Dominicans out there (not The Dominican Republic, but Dominica)! Here is an artist from my father’s island, British-Dominican Tam Joseph, who is best known for his 1982 “Spirit of the Carnival (The British forces of law and order in confrontation with an ancient African Spirit)” painting, which he talks about […]
Read More Art of This World: Tam JosephSeveral months ago, I wrote a post about the mask as technology, but after reading Louis Chude-Sokei’s essay about PT Barnum and Joice Heth, I want to think further about saying that the mask is technology, specifically in reference to German producer Frank Farian and the groups Boney M and Milli Vanilli. Most people know […]
Read More The My-Stery: Revisiting The Mask as TechnologyFor an afrofuturist artist in jazz, you may think of Sun Ra, in funk, Parliament Funakdelic, and in reggae/dub, “Scratch” Lee Perry. But for calypso, it is probably singer The Mighty Shadow, or Shadow. Born Winston Anthony Bailey and originally from Trinidad and Tobago, Shadow is known for his 1974 mythic song “Bassman,” about a […]
Read More Modern Griots: The Mighty Shadow’s Musical JumbieProgram interruption: This is my entry for Blogging While Brown scholarship. My blog, Futuristically Ancient, has been running for a little over two years. I started blogging a couple of years before that as another way to express myself, since I am not much of a talker. As for this blog, I started it after […]
Read More Blogging While Brown EntryIf you title your album, All The Things You Know to Be True? (hmm, why the question mark?), and start with a song titled, “Sin and Shame,” featuring spoken word artist Leanne Stoddart and her risque joke, you will have turning heads. But it’s singer-songwriter and musician Rob Carvalho‘s smooth 90’s R&B tenor voice and […]
Read More Modern Griots Reviews: CarvalhoCaptain T and T Written, directed and produced by married duo Christopher and Leizell Guiness, this short film is about a Trinidadian man who recalls his younger days as six-year-old “Thin Foot” when he experimented to find what kind of superhero powers he had. Learning through these trials gives him a chance to “become” who […]
Read More Otherworldy Videos: Captain T and T“Aranguez” from The African Origins of UFOs While looking for Caribbean afrofuturists, I found this poet, novelist and musician, Anthony Joseph. Joseph, who has been featured in the anthology Dark Matter, is Trinidadian-British man and has written three books of poetry as well as an experimental novel, The African Origins of UFOs (click on link […]
Read More Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth: Anthony JosephSince I am doing a Caribbean focus, here is my interview with Tiffany Rhodes, designer of Butch Diva, whose first major patron model for her fashion line (and one of my favorite artists, too) was dancehall queen, Patra. Rhodes’ designs are vibrant and colorful, and look as much fun to be in as it is […]
Read More Behind the Mask Interview: Butch DivaTake some mysticism and some social realities mixed with some humor and Brooklyn-by way of the Caribbean-flava and you have Old Money‘s debut mixtape, Fire in the Dark. Their album released on Dutty Artz records, the group consists of Afro-Caribbean-American (Jamaica and Guyana) duo, Ahmad Julian and Andre Oswald. The mixtape uses references familiar afrofuturist themes, like […]
Read More Modern Griots Reviews: Old MoneyI found this post via the Canadian afrofuturist website Outterregion: (Note: I edited some of it) Justice, truth be ours forever Jamaica land we love – Excerpt from Jamaican National Anthem The media has been showing only stories of violence from Jamaica for some time now due to unrest in West Kingston. It was very […]
Read More Art of This World: Ebony G. Patterson, and The Grand Rue Sculptors
Sherese Francis 