Beat Box: And the Grammy award winner is…

This year’s 56^th Grammy Awards ceremony saw some new entrants to the music and entertainment industry rule the stage and scoped top accolades. Hip hop duo Macklemore and Ryan Lewis muzzled some stiff competition in the rap categories which were fiercely contested by the likes of Jay-Z, Drake, Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar.

The duo were nominated for seven awards and walked out of the staple Centre with four Grammy Awards. In accepting the accolade for “Best New Artist” lead singer Macklemore gave thanks to fans and followers for their support.

The pair also took home “Rap Album of the Year” for their offering “The Heist”, “Rap Performance of the Year” and “Rap Song of the Year” for “The Thrift Shop”.

Jay-Z, who was nominated nine times for his “Magna Carter Holy Grail” album scoped the Grammy Award for “Best Collaboration” for “Holy Grail” which he featured Pop and RnB darling Justin Timberlake. Jay dedicated the award to his daughter Blue Ivy and his team.

Other winners were Daft Punk, New Zealand’s sensational songstress Lorde and country singer Kacey Musgrave, Ziggy Marley, Stephen Colbert, and Bruno Mars. The “Lifetime Achievement Award” was given to Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr for their stunning work with the Beatles.

Fellow British singer, Adele took the award for “Skyfall” theme song for the James Bond 23th film titled Skyfall. South African group Lady Smith Black Mambazo were awarded “World music Album Award”, which they were shared the award with Savor Flamenco and the Gypsy Kings    

The event was fuelled with great musical performances and stunning props and the lighting wasn’t shabby at all. The attendees were wished by performances by Daft Punk who performed “Get Lucky” featuring Pharrell Williams, Stevie Wonder and Nile Rodgers. Also performing on stage was winners Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Gary Clarke Jr, Black Sabbath, Zedd featuring Foxes.

Now that this year’s Grammy Awards have come and gone, it’s back to the studios for most artists to cook up new music.

Ashley Mokwena

Twitter: @ashley_mokwena

First Indian International Film Festival of South Africa hosted by Ster-Kinekor

Ster-Kinekor in partnership with Utkarsh Projects is hosting the first Indian International Film Festival of South Africa, show casing a variety of titles, languages and genres from the booming Indian film scene.

The festival provides a fantastic opportunity for both Indian and South African cultures and artistry to converge on the big screen. The Indian International film Festival of South Africa kicked off last week Friday at The Zone, Rosebank with film such as ‘Pied Piper’, ‘Paradesi’, and ‘Mithunam’ to name just a few. The festival will draw to a close this evening with several mouth-watering films.

The festival released 25 titles which are showcased at Ster-Kinekor cinemas, Cavendish Square in Cape Town, Gateway Mall in Durban, Brooklyn Mall in Pretoria and also The Zone at Rosebank, Johannesburg.  Both Ster-Kinekor and Utkarsh Projects representatives were quite delighted to be partnering and bring the innovative festival to our shores for the first time.

Ster-Kinekor Marketing Executive Doug Place said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Utkarsh Projects on this fantastic journey to bring the Indian International Film Festival of South Africa to local audiences.” Doug went on to say, “This is actually a great opportunity for Ster-Kinekor to further reach a wider consumer base and also to expose the local lover of films to new cultures.”

Utkarsh Projects director Rajiv Terwadkar commented: “Through IIFFSA and various other initiatives launched over the period of the festival, we aim to connect African and Indian cultures using cinema as the story teller.” “It’s also our intention to discover and train local actors and filmmakers, and to start community development projects both in Africa and India.

With the South African film industry transforming and showing good signs of fabulous content, this would be a great opportunity for both the Indian and South African film industries to collaborate and produce fine content for the big screen.

For more information and to bookings, visit www.sterkinekor.com or call the Ticketline on 082 16789.

Ashley Mokwena

Twitter: @ashley_mokwena

      

Sounds of the moment

“Drunk in Love” – Beyonce ft. Jay-Z

“Bed Peace” – Jhene Aiko ft. Childish Gambino

“Adore You” – Miley Cyrus

 

“Doc Shebeleza” – Cassper Nyovest

 

“Made it 23” – Mike Will ft. Juicy J, Miley Cyrus and Wiz Khalifa

Twitter: @DaStitchBlog

Welcome Note

YES! YES! We’re officially back for 2014… This year will be no different, @DaStitchBlog will continue doing what it does best, feeding the readers with lifestyle matters.

Over the next coming months we’ll be adding quite a few features to our content and also adding more “Man Power” to the fantastic young team.

This month our music feature is American singer and songwriter Jhene Aiko, the rising star who’s worked on songs with the likes of Kendrick Lamar, childish Gambino and Drake to list a few. Fashion features, Grooming, Techno trends, Literature, and Movies will be joined by Motoring. Inside City and Art will be back in February.

Enjoy what’s left of the first month of the year!

Ashley Mokwena

Twitter: @ashley_mokwena