Mike Simpson » School

The World Comes Home to Africa – FIFA World Cup 2010 – A Musical Perspective

Mike — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:40:52 +0000

The opening ceremony of the 2010 World Cup is taking place right now, and it’s reminiscent of the large-scale ceremonies I remember from the Vancouver and Beijing games. The stadium is ginormous and hundreds of Africans, primarily women, are performing synchronized dancing as performers do songs blended together in medleys.

I just saw the singer of a classic Ghanaian group called Osibisa perform “Sunshine Day.” I still remember this first time I heard that incredible positive funky rock song. It reminded me of the anthem quality in the positive rock/reggae crossover songs by Bob Marley. One of the astonishing images from the first part of the ceremony was the giant patchwork quilt that spread out on the floor of the stadium – in the shape of the African continent. And then slowly the other continents slowly formed around Africa as the participants roamed the floor. The quilt was a beautiful metaphor and a stunning visual. Watch for it in highlights on TV and video.

One of the amazing things that I just discovered is that K’Naan’s “Wavin’ Flag” is apparently NOT an official song for the World Cup. I think the Canadian media and World Cup sponsor Coca Cola have slid this in by the backdoor. In fact, if you look at the Wikipedia page and read some news stories on World Cup music, you’ll discover that the official song is called “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” and it will be performed by Colombia’s Shakira, with a South African group called Freshlyground at the closing ceremony. Even the official “anthem” is by R. Kelly.

Interesting. Seems somehow the hype machine of both Coca-Cola and the music business have blended fact and fiction, and as is very common these days — often a commercial branding initiative with TV commercials and catchy music will blend the line between culture and commerce. Have we been duped? Or are we just dumb consumers? Many reputable publications, including Exclaim Magazine, and the NME from Britain, misreported this story.

I really like K’Naan’s “Wavin’ Flag,” and I had the pleasure of teaching it to a group of LINC ESL students a week ago. It really is an amazing song – capturing a certain momentum that K’Naan has been building for the last few years. I downloaded “Soapbox” and a half dozen other songs from eMusic about 3 years ago. The kid from the rugged Somalian capital Mogadishu whose family now calls Toronto home, has crafted a truly epic, anthemic song. the song however is Coke’s official song, and I’ve just witnessed it in the background of commercial spot on the CBC broadcast.

I have to admit I’m mildly disappointed. YouTube has a video labelled “Official World Cup theme song” and the buzz has all been building toward K’Naan = World Cup 2010. I thought it was a great fit. Apparently, Coca Cola did too but even asked K’Naan to modify his lyrics, which they found to be dark and dour (and which I celebrated as an echo of the beautiful but plain-spoken lyrics of Bob Marley, see “Buffalo Soldier” which K’Naan references in his song).

This is the latest from Exclaim‘s website (other sites including Dose are reporting this too so hopefully it’s factual):

In a recent interview with Billboard, it was revealed that before the song could be used by the soft drink giant, Coke asked K’naan to rewrite the lyrics, which called Somalia “a violent prone, poor people zone,” referring to its people “struggling, fighting to eat.” K’naan complied, and in the interview, defended his choice before anyone could cry “sellout.”

“I saw it as an opportunity to reach more people,” he said. “I don’t work for Coke or anything; what I do is my music. This was a really great opportunity for them to use my song, without compromising my integrity as a musician. This is what I write, these are the songs I make. I’m happy about it.”

What about the games and the sport you ask?

Well, as you may know this blog is about people, culture, language and arts. So, in short, I am not a huge soccer fan, but I will tune in to a few World Cup games. Like most things in my life these days, I’d rather play and participate than watch. As a spectator I hope to catch some of the magic of South Africa, from the people to the music to the other aspects of African culture which hopefully will shine and benefit from this spectacle.I with the people of South Africa well and hope this World Cup is truly on the positive side of the boon/bust ledger. I also hope the platinum selling “Wavin’ Flag” will be a boon to K’Naan and remain an inspiration and beacon of hope, and not just a mass-marketed jingle for a soft drink multinational.

Recommended Viewing:

Look up the CBC “Q” video on YouTube for an excellent acoustic “unplugged” style rendition of K’naan performing “Wavin’ Flag.”

iDIY – iCan and uCan too – Getting Stuff Done Yourself

Mike — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:01:42 +0000

Once upon a time, in the days of university when I was going to school, and playing in a rock band, and booking shows, and doing some fanzines and graphics work, I bumped into a friend of a friend. We exchanged laughs and email addresses. His email address was unforgettable. It was “ican@ucant.com”. I had a good chuckle over that one.

I was just thinking about that because I was recalling a moment in class the other day when the instructor was describing some aspect of corporate workplaces, and she remarked that filing trademarks was work for lawyers / specialists, and something “we don’t do.” I didn’t hesitate to speak up. I replied that I had traveled to Ottawa once and filed 3 trademarks. Strangely, without seeming to really hear me, she said something like “That’s nice” and continued talking.

This kind of thinking is everywhere. It’s as prevalent today as anytime before. We are convinced that we should bow to experts and that DIY is a home decorating concept invented by Home Depot. Another instructor laughed and said “Don’t waste your time,” when asked if a class magazine project required an accompanying article. The importance of writing skills and text in the age of databases, web 2.0 and other text-based information technologies makes her remark laughable (and narrowly ignorant).

This is the day and age when all workers in all industries need to have a firm grasp of multiple skills. And there’s plenty of software and Internet resources that are easily learned. It is commonly remarked that you can do a lot with a picture if you only know 10% of Photoshop. I believe that’s true. and I believe that iCan and uCan too.

Back to School – Interior Design and Furniture College Toronto (IDFC)

Mike — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:22:10 +0000

"Cat-iture" by Strongandfree.ca

Well, it seems a good time to let everybody know that I’m going back to school. I’ve been accepted to the IDFC campus and I look forward to designing for modern interiors and creating some future furniture. As some remember, I got my start in design doing t-shirts and rock band art, and in high school I founded a club devoted to industrial design and architecture. Over the years I’ve been leaning most toward taking up a college diploma and so here we are! Above, you’ll see an example of Cat-iture – Cat furniture by Simpson. It’s a small piece – one of my first. I now have distribution in about 5 stores around the Greater Toronto Area. Not! Just kidding folks.

Actually this is my announcement that I am going back to school. In fact, I’m enrolled in a two-year program and will study Graphic Design – Media at Centennial College. I get to co mbine my interest in graphics with some foundation style studies in typography, illustration and new technologies like web design, and motion / interactive (animation, video etc). I’m really stoked. I’ve got some projects in mind for real-world business and I’ll be using those ideas for portfolio building. 20 years ago I applied to Ryerson to study Journalism and never got in. I ended up studying geography which I never regretted – I focused on urban geography and really did study architecture, urban planning and city issues. But I’ve always been passionate about computers and art and now I have a great opportunity to really engage with both.