Sam Hilmer, my friend from the band Z’s, and who I met at the Beacon for Arts and Leadership in Bushwick, is having me down to Zebulon for the second time after XYZsmas. This time it’s for PRACTICE! his bi-weekly community music workshop/gig night.

Come thru! Tuesday January 31st. Facebook here.

I wanted to take a moment to point to a series of dispatches I did around my trip to West Africa this summer for The Cluster Mag, and cross-posted at This is Africa.

My first installment takes a brief glance at the Ghanian scene (which is currently “blowing up” in the U.K.), and then the following two go more in depth about the scene in Liberia, and my own experience in putting together a compilation of Liberian music with Akwaaba music for international distribution.

Read them here: Dispatch #1 Ghana, Dispatch #2 Liberia, Dispatch #3 Liberia

Also check out two radio interviews I did, one with Jake Heller from Colombia’s Journalism school and Klaus Frederking at Radio Globo in Hamburg.

The release date for my next project, African in New York will be February 21st. The Fader debuted one of the songs from the album yesterday, and it’s up for free download.

The track that they premiered is my remix of Sorie Kondi’s “Without Money, No Family” and coincidentally Sorie’s campaign to raise money to come to SXSW was funded today! (Congrats, and thanks to all!)

Check out the promotional information on the album here.

A small team of folks (including myself) are trying to help raise funds to get Sorie Kondi to SXSW in Austin, Texas this upcoming March. If you’re unfamiliar with Sorie, check out the many profiles done on him c/o Vickie Remoe, the BBC, and We Own TV.

His songs, like “Without Money No Family” tell stories of a tough life, so expectedly, Sorie would never be able to afford the ticket to come the U.S. on his own. We’re appealing for help to make it happen. Visit the Kickstarter page to make a donation. He’s got some great incentives up there too!

Also, look out for my own remix of “Without Money No Family” soon on my latest EP, African in NY.

Check out this Navidades compilation by Isa GT, featuring my remix of her song La Cumbia. It’s a Caribbean inspired soca/cumbia meant for all you warm weather holidays celebrators. You can download my remix for free:

Buy the comp as a holiday gift on all major digital stores, like iTunes, Beatport and Amazon and listen to it while you drink rum with your loved ones around the house:

Okay wrong season. But it’s a busy pre-holidays weekend for me in NY before a long break from the cold city. A couple club gigs, and a couple holiday parties including the always fun middle school dance (at the Beacon!). Then I’m headed to the Bay Area for the month of January, so California family see you soon!

Friday night is the regular Dutty Artz Sweat Lodge, this time with everybody’s favorite, prodigal NY DJ Jess Jubilee!

And then on Saturday Jess and I continue our marathon run at SOB’s for the 1st ever, Geko Jones organized Just the Tip of feminism Soundclash. The rules? Women artists only. You too can participate in the warm-up Twitter clash during tomorrow’s #YoutubeDivas hashtag marathon on Twitter!

Lastly, next Tuesday will be the Z’s Holiday party at Zebulon.

Tonight! at Bembe, DJ Eko, a fellow Bay Area to New Yorker, and I will be holding away the winter with some dancing heat.

If you’re unfamiliar with Eko, check her live mix from the last time we played together at The People Party in Oakland:

The People (djeko live) by djeko

Tracks of mine have been featured on a couple of recent mixes that I thought I should point to.

First, the Afrika 21 Mixtape project is a third in a serious for Soicety HAE. This instillation was taken on by Spoek Mathambo. Read about the project, including partner organizations (including Africulturban!) you can donate to here.

AFRIKA21 The Mixtape vol. 3 by AFRIKA21

2nd, my Brooklyn compatriots Old Money released a blazing mix that includes one of my tracks from the upcoming African in New York EP. If you haven’t checked Old Money yet, don’t sleep!

Vanity Jukebox Vol. 13 Pretty Danger Mixed by Old Money by sotrvanenyc

This Friday I’m DJing a fundraiser for the organization Families for Freedom. Check their mission statement: “Families for Freedom is a New York-based multi-ethnic defense network by and for immigrants facing and fighting deportation.”

Who wouldn’t want to come support that? All the info (including tickets) is here or on facebook.

New Akwaaba Single/Remix project. My version of Aunty Adoley, which appeared on a previous Akwaaba compilation, is on it. Check it all out below: