M.I.A. is ready to take on the scene with her fourth highly-anticipated new album. The singer is on top with her collaboration with Madonna and this new track. The video treatment for “Bad Girls” was filmed in Morocco and is inspired by the Arab Spring. Lovely, we wonder if she is calling her new album after her child or a sibling…

1. Greetings from Kuwait! Loft965.com picked “Phakade”  and “Mali” as a “Sexy Tracks” of 2011! How do you feel about that and what do you think the rest of the year holds for you?

Amazing, I did not expect that the African songs would resonate but I think this is very exciting! Thank you! I’m going to spend the rest of the year taking advantage of Southern African Festival season so that I can reach more fans.

2. As of now, “Mali” is constantly on our stereos! Will it ever get released as a single?

It is currently one of our singles in South Africa.

3. You just released an EP for your American audience. Are you planning on launching your new album there and when will it be?

I’m planning to launch a full album  titled Rise Again in early 2012 and then follow it up with a tour from the end of January. The album is a combination of tracks from Feel Good, Soul in Mind but mainly containing new tracks from my Return to Love album.

4. Are you going on tour? What will be your next single?

Yes my tour will span over the entire North America and it will be 60 days long!

5. We love quotes, what is your favorite quote or motto?

I post so many on my twitter and facebook page periodically. My favourite one from this week is “Jealousy is the art of counting someone else’s blessings instead of your own.”

And we are off to Cape Town now! For reals!

• 1. Lucky Day – Nicola Roberts
• 2. Ouch That Hurt – Dionne Bromfield
• 3. Game Over – Daley
• 4. Moon – Bjork
• 5. Not My Daddy – Kelly Price
• 6. Jolene – Lay Low
• 7. So Into You – Ledisi
• 8. I – Nicola Roberts
• 9. Carry – Tori Amos
• 10. Mali – Lira

Fatoumata Diawara (aka Fatou) was born of Malian parents in the Ivory Coast in 1982. As a child she became a member of her father’s dance troupe and was a popular performer of the wildly flailing didadi dance from Wassoulou, her ancestral home in western Mali. She was an energetic and headstrong girl and at the age of twelve her refusal to go to school finally prompted her parents to send her to live and be disciplined by an aunt in Bamako. She was not to see her parents again for over a decade.

Her aunt was an actress, and a few years after arriving, Fatou found herself on a film set looking after her aunt’s infant child. The film’s director was captivated by Fatou’s adolescent beauty and she was given a one line part in the final scene of the film ‘Taafe Fangan’ (‘The Power of Women’). This led to her being given a lead role by the celebrated director Cheick Omar Sissoko in his 1999 film ‘La Genèse’ (Genesis).

At the age of eighteen Fatou travelled to Paris to perform the classical Greek role of Antigone on stage. After touring with the production she returned to Mali where she was given the lead in Dani Kouyaté’s popular 2001 film ‘Sia, The Dream of the Python’. The film tells the story of a West African legend called Sia, a young girl who defies tradition. To many in Mali, Guinea, Senegal and Burkina Faso, Fatou is Sia thanks to the film’s enormous success throughout the region.

Offers for further acting roles poured in but Fatou’s family wanted her to settle down and marry and forced her to announce, live on Malian television, that she was abandoning her career as an actress.

In 2002 Jean-Louis Courcoult, the director of the renowned French theatre company, Royale de Luxe, travelled to Bamako to offer Fatou a part in his new production. An unmarried woman is considered a minor in Malian society so her family’s permission was required. They refused. After much soul searching Fatou took the daring decision to run away and at Bamako airport she managed to board a plane for Paris, narrowly escaping the pursuit of the police who had been alerted to the girl’s ‘kidnapping’.

With Royal de Luxe Fatou performed a variety of roles around the world including tours in Vietnam, Mexico and throughout Europe. During rehearsals and quiet moments she took to singing backstage for her own amusement. She was overheard by the director and was soon singing solo during the company’s performances. Encouraged by the reception from audiences she began to sing in Parisian clubs and cafes during breaks from touring. Here she met Cheikh Tidiane Seck the celebrated Malian musician and producer who invited her to travel with him back to Mali to work on two projects as chorus vocalist; ‘Seya’ the GRAMMY nominated album by Mali’s star Oumou Sangaré and ‘Red Earth’ the GRAMMY winning Malian project by American jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater. When the albums were released Fatou toured worldwide as singer and dancer with both projects.

On her return to France Fatou took the role of Karaba in the popular touring musical ‘Kirikou and Karaba’. She was encouraged to take the role by her friend Rokia Traore who also inspired her to take up the guitar: “To me it was a wonderful and daring thing: a Malian girl with an acoustic guitar. Why should the guitar be only for men?” Fatou bought herself a guitar and started to teach herself, and at the same time began to write down her own compositions.

She made the decision to dedicate herself to her passion, music. She worked to complete an album’s worth of songs and started recording demos for which she composed and arranged all the titles, as well as playing guitar, percussion, bass and singing lead and harmony vocals. An introduction from Oumou Sangaré resulted in a record deal with World Circuit and the recording of her debut album.

Between recording sessions she found time to collaborate on Damon Albarn’s Africa Express and contribute vocals to albums by Cheikh Lô, AfroCubism, Herbie Hancock’s GRAMMY winning Imagine Project and Orchestra Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou.

Fatou’s EP ‘Kanou’ is released on 9 May, 2011 followed by her debut album ‘Fatou’ on 19 September, 2011

Lira’s fourth album Return To Love just made it to our desk last night and we are very excited to review this South African soultress’s latest.

Any new music from the lesser-known Knowles is wanted and needed. In our eyes, her sophomore album is one of the greatest pop-soul records on earth.  ”"Kenya” is a track created by Chris Taylor (CANT), Solange Knowles and Twin Shadow to raise money and awareness around the issue of access to water and sanitation as part of The Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN) founded by The Coca Cola Africa Foundation. RAIN brings together business, local government, NGO“s and committed individuals to tackle the problem of access to water and sanitation in Africa. All proceeds from ‘Kenya”, will be used to provide clean water and sanitation resources to Africa’s most needy. Whether that’s providing loos in Rwanda, rain harvesting roofs in Uganda or carrying containers in the Cameroon.”

Related Articles

• Solange Knowles keeps trying to be indie, writes song with Grizzly Bear + Twin Shadow (hipsterrunoff.com)
• Listen/Watch: Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor, Solange, Twin Shadow Collaborate on Benefit Track (pitchfork.com)
• Solange Knowles & Her Long Braids DJ At Macy’s Pop-Up Store Launch [PHOTOS] (hellobeautiful.com)
• Solange Knowles Attends Mechad Brooks’ Hennessy #Intime Dinner [PHOTOS] (hellobeautiful.com)
• Video | Of Montreal – “Sex Karma” feat. Solange Knowles (radiomilwaukee.org)
• Solange Knowles needs our help! (hointervention.com)
• Beyonce Celebrity Scrooge..Part 3: Solange (hointervention.com)
• Spotted: Solange Hits The Club In Las Vegas (crunktastical.net)
• Solange Knowles at the Gucci & RocNation Pre-Grammy Brunch (stylegurus.wordpress.com)
• Beyonce: Marquee Nightclub Opening with Solange! (justjared.buzznet.com)

We like it. It’s very summer-breezy, naked music kind tune. Click below to listen to a snippet.

We have been waiting for this for a long long time. It’s here and this is a condensed version. Lovely balladry that brings the African wind right back to our memories. Lira is on a roll and will not stop at anything, this is just breathtaking, too bad you can only purchases it in South Africa.

Loft965.com is very happy to be the first blog on earth to bring to your the cover of Lira’s new album.

Lira had an exceptional 2010 – becoming the first South African artist to release a live music concert on Blu-ray and selling multi-platinum numbers of her live DVD.

Now, early 2011, sees the multi-award winning artist return with a brand new studio album that’s nothing short of extraordinary – and a fitting calling card for Lira’s much-anticipated breakthrough onto the global music stage.

Titled Return To Love – Lira’s fourth studio album is a masterful record that draws together everything that Lira has worked for since she first embarked on her music career – at first tentatively with her 2003 debut and, from 2006’s Feel Good onwards, with mounting confidence in her singular abilities.

Lira’s triumph at the 2009 South African Music Awards, where she won Album of the Year and Best Female Artist for the 2008 record, SOUL IN MIND, and subsequent multi-platinum sales of her second two records and her LIVE IN CONCERT – A CELEBRATION DVD (2009) proved she had the voice, the songs, and the performing ability to strike into the hearts of South African music fans.

But one listen to RETURN TO LOVE and it’s clear that over the course of her first trio of albums, Lira was only just beginning to reveal her musical gifts.

“I was very focused on defining the ‘Lira’ sound even more, with this album,” Lira says of the vision behind possibly the classiest – yet infinitely accessible – record to come out of South Africa in a long while. “I wanted to send this out into the greater musical world with a real solid, really refined sound that is unmistakably my own.”

In this quest, Lira, and her producer as well as primary co-songwriter, Robin Kohl, have succeeded handsomely.

If comparisons are to be made, there’s a real feel of Sade’s earlier work, in Lira’s scorching, soul-filled vocals. And yet the subtle sense of her South African roots that flickers throughout the material, along with Lira’s unique vocal stylings mean there is nothing copycat about RETURN TO LOVE.

“It was always my feeling that I don’t want to be boxed into being a particular kind of artist,” Lira says with the quiet emphasis of someone who knows precisely what they desire. “On this album, too I didn’t want to be restrained in what sounds we included on the album so there is some funk, ragga, urban, traditional African sounds, and, of course, plenty of soul.”

At 11-tracks, the album finds its lyrical footing in all the things that Lira loves – from dancing to singing, being introspective, loving others, philosophising, and stirring people’s consciousness. “I love to dance. I love to love! I’m a romantic. But I also like to be contemplative,” she says.

Standout tracks are hard to pin down.

Whether she’s writing about the relentless tug of heartache on ‘Call Me’, or the plaintive plea for answers in a world that’s lost its way (“Money and greed cast a shadow on the sun/Yes, I see it burning up the skies”) on ‘Abba’ or the need for individuals to take charge of their live on ‘Get Into Action’, Lira’s words have a force that few can match. Other album highlights include ‘Mali’, with its Bossa and Mbaqanga mix, as well as ‘Phakade’, which has all the hallmarks of a wedding song, along with the more somber, ‘Be My Friend’.

With a lineup of live shows that will keep her calendar full throughout the coming year, significant international interest in her work, and an album that’s as good as anything released internationally, Lira’s ready to deliver yet again to her loyal fanbase – and take on the world.

Lira has just tweeted that her new single from her fourth full-length album is going to be titled “Phakade.” Sony Music Africa is readying it up. Let’s hope that it gets a great video treatment, which is what we are used to from our South African export. For those of you who do not know this great chanteuse, she is probably one of the greatest vocalists of our time and has a brand of music that will put you in a lovely mood instantly. Last April we stopped by South Africa on our way to Zambia only to find out that her live CD/DVD was sold out from all stores. It’s been a while since we heard of a music release that has been sold out in its physical form. Check her out, you won’t be disappointed.  Also, we need some Sesotho translators to tell us what the title means.

Not big fans of Ida Maria, mostly because we think she verges on noise more than music. But her song “Keep Me Warm” is beautiful tune ad if this is any indication to what direction she is heading to on her new album Katla then it’s all good.

Related Articles

• 5 reviews of Fortress Round My Heart (Ida Maria) (rateitall.com)
• Terrific Twitter Trio of the Week (spin.com)
• Rock Band 3 Teaches You To Rock With Real Guitars & Keyboards [Rock Band] (kotaku.com)
• Find out why Rock Band 3 is the only game you’ll ever need! (bluearchipelagoreviews.com)
• This Week Friday! (sistertime.wordpress.com)
• IDAs help teach Oregonians good savings habits (oregonlive.com)
• Ida Chong Recall Party (current.com)
• IDA: The ‘glue’ to development assistance in Africa (one.org)
• IDA gets historic boost in funding (one.org)
• (Late) Wednesday Whatzits: Hawaiian lava flows, more Katla mongering and a possible eruption at Ruiz? [Eruptions] (scienceblogs.com)

“There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.”

- Nelson Mandela

This was the only thing we were looking forward to about the whole opening ceremony. The performance by Johannesburg native  and personal favorite Lira. We love her and we hop she gets more exposure because she is one of the best artists in South Africa right now.

They had to pick Shakira to represent Africa? Why? is Africa short of beautiful women with great voices? Lira should have done this and if she doesn’t open the games then this is just an African event by name, at least for us music fans who don’t give two shits about football.

“All who live under the sky are woven together like one big mat.”

- Malagasy proverb

For the next couple of weeks, I will live in the middle of the jungle with no electricity, no phone service, minimal contact and camp in a tent eating rice and beans everyday. So, I will not have internet service. Meanwhile, the blog will be maintained with timed posts and a contributor has offered to take care of it. The blog might not be the same for a few, but bear with us until we finish enjoying this adventure. Who knows, it could be better than when I ran it!

Once this alleged Ashely Cole divorce is finalized, we recommend that Cheryl Cole get into a relationship with Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas because no one loves her as much as he does. Not only has he completely cultivated her solo career and appeared a couple of times on her album 3 Words, but he also is willing to give her a chance of a lifetime and duet with her in the ceremonial festivities of the World Cup in South Africa. Yes, she’s duetting with BEP even when she can not sing. Fergie might just pull her hair out!

It’s not the same Aya that we’ve grown to love with her breezy beats and lounge aura, but it’s a new jazzy Aya fro South Africa. She just released her debut album A State Of Aya and it’s sounding good right about now. South Africa seems to have a great niche for jazzy wander. We’ll keep an eye out for her.

South African chanteuse and one of Loft965.com favorite artists at the moment – Lira – is about to release a a live album titled Live In Concert: A Celebration on October 5th.  The live album is to be followed with a DVD sometime  in December. The album is bound to include raw renditions of her greatest songs. Click here to purchase it. If you pre-order the DVD now, it will be personally autographed by Lira herself.

Don’t know about you but this ancient Egyptian statue looks like the legend himself!

Overpopulation is single-handedly overcrowding this earth, exploiting its resources and, as a result, polluting it. And no credible governmental figure is saying anything about it. Maybe if schools had family planning lessons instead of classes about myths and dogmas of the abyss, then people will realize what impact they are putting on this earth every time they think it’s cute to have a child. There is a correlation between the lack of education to rate of childbirth. Uneducated persons tend to have more children. Why is that? You’d think that people, like the Swedes, who have great standards of living that allow them to have an abundance of children would do so. But, it’s quite the opposite. The birthrate is African countries is the highest. In any case, awareness about overpopulation is still at its infantile stages. And it’s not looking any better.

This is the same establishment that was involved in the African slave trade, inactivity during the Holocaust, violation of ethnics during colonization and only did it concede to the fact that the earth is not stationary in 1992 by apologizing to Galileo centuries after his death. What an impressive resume. Surely, they must have some sort of issue with progression. I just hope that Africa disregards his statements in memory of the horror the last pope bought to the continent and the world.