For those of you going to South Africa for the World Cup, you’ll have some choices to make. You can spend the entire time hanging out at spots listening to U2 and drum and bass and feel as if you’ve never left home, or you can seek out some spots that will play some kwaito, which shouldn’t be hard to find.
Kwaito is a style of South African music that emerged in the early 1990s that sounds like someone threw some hip-hop, house, and and a touch of South African seasoning into a blender. (more…)
A few days ago we gave you a post on football-inspired music, paying tribute to the golden voice of Diego Maradona, Manu Chao, and Jorge Ben. Now we’ve got some more for you. Who’s fatherly, was previously named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people, has two thumbs, and just released a football song? Wrong. It’s Daddy Yankee. If you looked at the picture before answering the question, you cheated. No reggaeton for you. (Video after the break) (more…)
So you’ve been asking around for new music? Well these aren’t exactly new, but here are a few fantastic songs from South America that highlight the intersection of music and football. First up — the great Manu Chao (I know he’s French). The song is called La Vida Tombola, and as you can tell from the video, it’s about that lovable pudgy guy, Diego Maradona. There’s some quality early footage of young Maradona. Check it out after the jump. (more…)
U.S. international DaMarcus Beasley’s BMW 6-Series was torched outside his home in the West End of Glasgow, Scotland a week ago. Although the midfielder was unhurt and is taking the event in stride, his club team, Rangers, have issued a statement describing the event as a “disturbing and deplorable incident.”
Some fans suspect that the Rangers midfielder is not without blame. These fans believe that the fire bombing of the midfielder’s car may be meant as a form of retribution. It is reported that DaMarcus may have inadvertently stoked the flames of the Old Firm rivalry when he posted the following joke on Twitter: (more…)
With so much attention on what might be going wrong with the build up to the World Cup in South Africa (and there have been legitimate concerns), we would like to devote some time and energy to some of the things that are being done right.
The 2010 Fine Art project, created by Managing Director, Craig Mark, combines art and football into two powerful projects, the 2010 African Fine Art Collection and the 2010 International Fine Art Collection. The 2010 African Fine Art Collection is positioned to use the World Cup as a way to introduce the world to African art, and more specifically to provide artists from Africa with a global platform to exhibit, market, and sell their works to international clients that were previously difficult to reach. (more…)
I saw a screening of Sons of Sakhnin United in Washington, DC at Busboys & Poet s as part of the Kicking & Screening International Film Festival. The documentary takes you behind the scenes of B’nei Sakhnin, the only Israeli Arab team in the Israeli Premier League, during 2003-2004 when the team achieved promotion into the Israeli Premier League. Shocking observers with low expectations for the team, B’nei Sakhnin won the Israeli State Cup, which entered them into the UEFA Cup. This would be a dramatic story based on these accomplishments alone. However, when one adds the context and complication of Arab-Israeli relations, we again gain some insight into what makes football more than a game. B’nei Sakhnin was the first Arab team to qualify for Europe. Their historic journey is a testament to how football can become a vehicle for a team and its followers to express many of the same things that people use football for around the world – to express the joy, sadness, perspectives and challenges of daily life.
If you love perms or Didier Drogba, you’ll love the Les Éléphants shirt …
Spain is trying to conquer the world again. This time, they might succeed.
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