Happy Birthday Miss Angelina!

Yup - today is the birthday of our very own ¡GLOBAILE! host - Miss Angelina!

You may know her as the host of the ¡GLOBAILE! webisodes, as well our series Around the World in 6 min! But before all the ¡GLOBAILE! fun began, Miss A broke into the scene as an emcee. She got her start in the underground Hip Hop scene in New York City. Miss A was crowned winner of NYC's "Battle of the Female Rappers" and of the "Most Skilled Female Emcee", and even made a cameo on VH1's short-lived series "The White Rapper Show". But it wasn't long until Miss Angelina began her journey into the realm of World music, right in NYC - the biggest melting pot on the globe.

Inspired by the multiculturalism that surrounded her, she began producing music, rapping over samples of Caribbean, African, Latino, Arabic and Indian rhythms fused with Hip Hop, House and Electronica to make hit songs that appeal to audiences across the globe. Pretty soon, she started choosing the Afro-Latin drum circles over the Hip Hop freestyle cyphers, and knew she had to do her part to promote World music as much as possible.

And so, ¡GLOBAILE! was born.

The show started out as a live event. Each party would feature a live performance from Miss A, as well as a drum circle, a capoeira roda, World music DJs and special guest performances including flamenco, belly dancing, salsa, reggae, and more...While the events were a huge success, Miss Angelina knew that she wanted to reach a global audience, and so ¡GLOBAILE! became a web show, so people around the world could have access to the global entertainment. She enlisted her friend and collaborator, Tony Touch, to take over the DJ duties, and together they filmed 8 feature length episodes for the web, as well as 2 nationwide TV appearances.

Now that ¡GLOBAILE! is up and running with a truly worldwide audience on the Internet, Miss Angelina is returning to her roots as an emcee and artist. She's working on a new EP that will be released on iTunes later this year. She's been working on the project with friend and collaborator Boddhi Satva over in Belgium, and now she's putting the finishing touches on the album here in Miami. You can expect more Hip Hop/House/Global fusion from Miss A on this one...pure fire!

In honor of her birthday, here's a throwback. It's Miss Angelina's first music video shot in Washington Heights NYC, and at her home, the Jersey Shore. Check out her shaved head (years before Amber Rose came along)!!!

Magic System - Feel Good Flavor from the Ivory Coast

From Abidjan, the former capital of the Ivory Coast, this dynamic quartet of singers has in infectious sound that has made them popular from Africa to the Caribbean to Europe.

Magic System specializes in the Zouglou dance style. Zouglou evolved from the university students, written in local languages and French street slang,and has parallels with the evolution of Rap in the States, as well as strong influences from Zouk, a music style from the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique. Magic System is credited with pioneering and popularizing the Zouglou sound in Africa and abroad, especially in France, Belgium, and Switzerland.

They have been featured in the charts throughout Africa (selling over 1.5 million CDs), the West Indies, and in France, where the band became one of the most popular modern African artists. In fact, their song Cherie Coco featuring the popluar French emcee Soprano, is currently #3 on the Urban Charts for Trace TV - a music channel in France similar to MTV.

Here is a music video for their song Zouglou Dance, showcasing their modern, more electronic take on African music...

Buraka Som Sistema - Portugal Gets Hype!

Buraka Som Sistema bring the HEAT! With a super hype fusion of electronic and African beats, these Portugese party animals will have you dancing, jumping and shaking right along with them.

Buraka Som Sistema was founded in 2006 by João Barbosa, Rui Pité, Andro Carvalho, and Kalaf Ângelo. Barbosa and Pité were producers from the Cool Train Crew collective, where Kalaf was a frequent vocal collaborator. They were interested in creating a kuduro project. Kuduro is a dance genre from Angola, born in the 1980s when local DJs started mixing African percussion samples with simple calypso and soca rhythms. The fellas met Carvalho, a hip-hop producer from Angola and member of the hip-hop band Conjunto Ngonguenha while he was in Portugal, and Buraka Som Sistema was born. Buraka is an area in Lisbon, and Sistem refers to a sound system.

Their first release, From Buraka to the World, included the single "Yah!", featuring vocals from Angolan hip-hop MC Petty. It was followed by another Petty track, "Wawaba", and a re-release of From Buraka to the World, which was expanded to a full album.

After touring in several European countries, including playing at the Glastonbury Festival and Roskilde Festival, the three producers released the single Sound of Kuduro in 2007, which features rapping by M.I.A., DJ Znobia, Saborosa and Puto Prata. The track was a precursor to their second album, Black Diamond, which was released in 2008 by Sony BMG. The release was followed by a new single, Kalemba (Wegue Wegue), with vocals by Pongolove.

Their sound is dope, fusing organic sounds from different cultures with hard electronic beats that bang! Here's the video for that track, Kalemba - this chick Pongolove is a BEAST! Crank this up and jump out yo seat! Wegue Wegue!!

Femi Kuti - Africa for Africa

Femi Kuti continues to carry the torch that his father blazed for Afrobeat music.

Femi Kuti is a Nigerian musician and the eldest son of the famous Afrobeat pioneer, Fela Kuti, the subject of the popular recent Broadway play, Fela!

Femi was born in London and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. After his parents split, Femi chose to stay with his father, and joined his band. Femi achieved his own recognition when he appeared at the Hollywood Bowl in replace of his father. Fela had failed to make it onto the plane, having been arrested at Lagos airport and jailed on a trumped-up fraud charge. Femi, already a member of his father’s band, came to the rescue that night, giving a show that brought the audience at the packed Bowl to its feet.

And so, after years of playing his father, Femi started his own band, Positive Force. From there Femi has had a successful musical career in his own right. He's played internationally around the world, received 2 Grammy nominations, and collaborated with such artists as Common, Mos Def, D'Angelo, Macy Gray and Roy Hargrove.

The family's musical tradition lives on, and Femi's son plays alto sax in his band as well. And now, Femi has returned to Lagos, to the studio where he recorded with his father, to record his new album. The project, Africa for Africa, was just released with a full US tour that kicked off earlier this week. Femi captures the raw energy of Africa - the upheaval, the madness, the aggression, and above all, the deep soulfulness that arises out of such conflict.

Here is the video for Beng Beng, the song Femi sang in Johannesburg at the opening ceremony for the World Cup.

Radio Days - Italy's Charming Powerpop

Radio Days is like a new millenium redux of the melodic Beatles sound with a dash of punk and a heavy dose of Italian charisma...buonissimo!

Made up of four Italiani, Radio Days came to be in 2003 as a side project of the Retarded - a popular Italian punk rock band. They were immediately hailed as the premier Powerpop group of Italy, renowned for an energetic and entertaining live show.

They had crossover success with their release of the Midnight Cemetery Rendezvous EP with Insubordination Records of Baltimore, USA. The EP was critically acclaimed and gave Radio Days the chance to play 70 shows around Italy and Europe, playing internationally at big festivals such as Purple Weekend in Leòn, Spain, International Pop Overthrow in Liverpool, UK, Lee Rocks in Firenze and Pop Circus in Milano in Italy.

In march 2010 Radio Days hit the studio to record their second album C'est La Vie, and released the project in Italy and the US later that year, both digitally and on vinyl.

Here is the latest music video from that album...it's hard not to love these guys with their sweet melodies, charming personality, and next-level creativity. Check it out...

Collie Buddz - Happy 4/20

There are few things that bring people of all races, all nationalities, all cultures, together. Music is one. Another is marijuana. (Just sayin...it IS!) And so, in honor of 4/20, the international Ganja Holiday, we bring you our favorite MaryJane track...

Yup, it's Come Around from Collie Budz - the New Orleans born, Bermuda raised, white boy Reggae singer. That's right. Colin Harper was born in New Orleans, but moved to his mother's home of Bermuda at the age 0f 5. After growing up on the island with all its musical influences, Collie Budz the Reggae singer was born, and he defied all racial barriers with a slew of big hits. With his debut album in 2007, he became an international star, hitting the top of every chart from Japan to Germany.

And of course, the breakout hit from this album was...Come Around. Source Magazine described the phenomenal hit saying, “This 24 year old shotta has got an anthem spreading across the seas.”

Later that year, Collie Buddz was nominated for "Top International Artist of the Year", by the 4th Annual Excellence in Music and Entertainment (EME), which is an "award to an artist whose solo or collaborative release(s) allowed for greater penetration of the international marketplace". (Wikipedia) That's so GLOBAILE!

And so...no matter your race, your native tongue, your age, or your nation - sit back, put one in the air, and turn this track UP!

Les Nubians - New Video, New Album!

You already know...we LOVE Les Nubians.

We've already featured them on this blog, and on the GLOBAILE Podcast. They bring an international, multilingual, positive vibe to soul music that has brought them worldwide recognition over the years.

Well, now the Afropean soul sisters are BACK with new music and a new video! Woo hoo!

The new album, Nü Revolution does not disappoint! Featuring special guests ranging from African music legend Manu Dibango (also featured on the GLOBAILE Podcast), to American soul singer Eric Roberson, to South African pop stars Freshly Ground, to Ghanian-American MC Blitz The Ambassador and Polish MC John Banzaï. Wow - so international, so multicultural, so GLOBAILE!

The first video release off the new album is for their song Veuillez Veiller Sur Vos Reves (Don't Let Your Dreams Fall Asleep). The video is shot in our old stomping grounds - Brooklyn, NY - where the duo now resides. Check out the funky, soulful style of these sisters that we just can't get enough of!