ONE Act a Week

ONE Act a Week:

Give Baloji a listen, then tell him what you think

Sep 9th, 2011 4:22 PM UTC
By Malaka Gharib

Action: 11. Time: 5 minutes. Level of difficulty: Easy

I have a fun assignment for this week’s ONE Act: Expand your music horizons and listen to the music of Baloji, an up-and-coming artist from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He sings about democracy, freedom and justice for all in a global fusion of jazz, hip hop and traditional African music.

After you listen to his music, leave a message for Baloji in the form below. Send him your love, show your support, give him some props, whatever — it’s totally up to you. Then, we’ll gather them up and tweet it to Baloji and MTV Iggy (MTV’s global music channel) at the end of the week.

“Nazongi” by Baloji:

MTV Iggy’s interview with Baloji. Learn where he gets his musical influences from, why he thinks African music is a lot like punk rock, and how his mom affects his music:

Click on THIS LINK to go to the ONE blog, where the reply form is and tell him what you think. You can also learn about ONE.org and the people behind it - does Bono ring a bell?