Kenna.i.love: Grammy Nominee EthioAmericans!
4 December, 2008 | 1 comment | Category: madness!, musiqa, thinking...
This is way beyond surreal! I was writing up this post last nite before going to sleep-- and this morning I woke up to an alert on facebook: Two Ethiopian American Musicians have been nominated for Grammys!! Way to PUSH the envelope! CONGRATULATIONS- Way proud of you guys!
Best Urban/Alternative Performance
Wanna Be -- Maiysha
Be OK -- Chrisette Michele Featuring will.i.am
Many Moons -- Janelle Monae
Lovin You (Music) -- Wayna Featuring Kokayi
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Kenna.i.love?
such love!
its inexplicable! wheew!
its beyond the realm of words i tell ya….
it’s a feeling located in a place only music can reach.
Kenna Zemedkun, is an Ethiopian-born American musician- a rocker…
i didn’t like his music just a year ago…i thought it sounded like empty ruckus muckus suckus. tehehe i know, so harsh right?
but now--NOW i hear him and i quickly connect…he is like a genre of his own which u acquire a taste for. his voice is so singular, so clear…so confident. his style is so unapologetic…which i just love. His artistry is like he has a little caption under his music: this is me *shrug*. that’s kinda deep… that’s a lot deep…!
yes, part of his stuff sounded/s kinda the same…but thinking more about it, to me, he’s kinda like gnarls barkely in that -- his distinction and sometimes sublime lyrics have an enthralling clarity. hmm…his stuff is always so recognizable, and catchy…great ‘on the move’ music.
what i am in love with the most tho is that …from his work i sense he’s a creator…a musician who flows passion into his work, pours it all right out, splatters it onto the guitar strings, sound mixer and keyboards from his heart. exhaling ‘there!‘ An artist friend of mine once said to me “creativity comes from the heart” and i was like …hu? the heart spits out innovative cartoon thought-clouds? sawweet …it’s all subjective anyway, i guess…
been looking @ some stuff on creativity. The “creative personality” article on Psychology Today was an especially intriguing commentary on creative people’s personalities… had some fascinating observations including -- ‘creative people are more like ‘multitudes’ rather than ‘individuals.’ ‘one word what makes their personalities different from others, it’s complexity.’ Here are some more abstractions from the article…
- great deal of physical energy, but they’re also often quiet and at rest
- smart yet naive
- combine playfulness and discipline, or responsibility and irresponsibility
- alternate between imagination and fantasy, and a rooted sense of reality
- tend to be both extroverted and introverted
- humble and proud at the same time
- escape rigid gender role stereotyping
- both rebellious and conservative
- very passionate about their work, yet they can be extremely objective about it as well
- openness and sensitivity often exposes them to suffering and pain, yet also to a great deal of enjoyment
Well i don’t know how this all sounds to anyone else but, to me, these descriptions paint portraits of people who are full of contradictions and frankly speaking- plain ol CONfuSION…I think it’s like they’re comfortable with the confusion and ambiguity…they choose to be at that itchy middle point, the interface, on the edge. They are comfortable with discomfort because they know the Brink is where they can push themselves off the edge into something new. after all…one wise dude once said ‘necessity is the mother of innovation’. out of a survival instinct standing at a void-at emptiness and a lack of fulfillment of what is humanly necessary or comfortable, these creative minds make do and use what is available to create…
ok enough philosophizing for one sitting. handing it over to a queen of creativity herself…
lo and behold the world-renown ‘Joy Luck Club’ author Amy Tran asking where Creativity Hides. Quite the edgy, quirky, rambilicous talk seeped with sarcastic humor. video again courtesy of Nani
Possibly Related Posts:
- The Graying of these here Pink Shades
- The Uncomfortable Truth: Nneka
- Flattery: Fast-tracking Success?
- Murky
- Dark Spirits
1 comment to “Kenna.i.love: Grammy Nominee EthioAmericans!”
mimi, December 4th, 2008 at 9:37 pm:
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more on the nomination
http://jimmatimes.com/article.cfm?articleID=31561