I came across a fairly recent post on the internet entitled “You Lazy (Intellectual) African Scum!”  and it has inspired this particular article as it is a response to what that post had to say in places. The post is not an easy read, but narrates a Zambian’s encounter with a bald headed white gentleman called Walter who whilst on a plane lashes out and basically calls all Africans lazy, apathetic idiots (or at least that’s how the article makes you feel by the end).

I suggest you read it for yourself to get the context otherwise I shall not be going over its contents here as there isn’t nearly enough fabric in the space and time continuum to hold the torrents I would have to bellow.

I’ll start by saying I believe in being open to criticism, though I must say such antagonistic talk seldom makes people react in anyway but defensively. Imagine if someone shouted at this American on top of his lungs that the problem with you Americans is this that and the other, I am sure he would be defensive too. Even if what they said about Americans was painfully true. Personally I don’t think what he said was necessarily racist as I rarely do, but it is possible not to be racist in what you say and be racist in how you say it. The fact that he thinks it is ok to talk to another human being, any human being for that matter, in such a manner is testament to the extreme heights at which his arrogance and superiority complex extend. Not to make comparisons, but I don’t think I would have let him off so easy!

One of the greatest deceptions in Africa is the idea that we have had to endure the worst oppressions known to man. The plain truth is, as atrocious as the last however many years may have been, other human beings have also had to endure incredible, equally devastating and possibly worse oppressions. Jews and Native Americans come to mind. However as Prof Yanus Balaam puts it, “Africa’s oppression may not have been the worst, but most certainly was by far the most humiliating, and has had a perpetuation that has not yet seen its end. Whereas the oppression of many others subsided.”

Africa is like a nice guy, everyone appreciates his hospitality and spiritual depths, but no one really respects him enough to be scared of him. Committed to dignity, sentimental protocols, and values of modesty and humility it is guaranteed that he will always finish last, because he doesn’t really want to hurt anyone or to come across as putting himself first before others. A naivety that is really a kind of paradox that comes with having spiritual values in a world that cares not for them. In a world that has shown that it is absolutely willing in exploiting the weak and the dumb in order to meet its own ends.

It has been said a million times that it is better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission, and I fear Africa is asking nicely on the stoop of the world stage if everyone wouldn’t mind to open the door and  let us in. Suffices to say, power is seldom ever given and almost always taken from those who have it as people are not in the business of relinquishing it.

Africa thus has an unwillingness to kill others so to speak (except ourselves of course for we are martyrs in the name of Ubuntu and nobility). But in order to survive in the harsh confines of the real one must fight with a ferocity that knows no rules. One must be willing to attack anybody without fear, partiality or any holding back of punches just to keep up appearances. One must study them, steal their technology, adopt their jargon if one must in order to prevail. Any object is an acceptable weapon and any part of the human body is an acceptable target. Your attacks must be swift and must possess ample destructive power to deliver the intended damage to your opponent. I feel in this respect Africans may be recreational martial artists. Learning all the Kata and moves, but rarely sparring, competing or engaging in any actual combat. Just knowing that they have the “skills” is comforting enough it seems. It makes them feel as though in theory they are just as good as the other martial artists. Well, at least that is until they meet a Muay Thai fighter on the bare knuckle boxing grounds of real life. This part of Walter’s philosophy I concur with.

As far as psychology is concerned though, I would never down play or underestimate the role of implicit learning. That is the things we learn from others just by watching or being around them. Even a layman may benefit from the ideas of the great if he observes and learns how the application works. The intellectual blind spot it seems is that we imitate more effectively if we observe people who are a lot like us, unless we have trained ourselves to overlook physical and cultural differences and see the human being in others. Else such handicaps always prevail making it impossible sometimes to learn a thing well, simply because we are not inwardly at ease with copying someone who belongs to the out group or the ‘others’. The side effects of molestation I guess; a reluctance, at all costs, to being too much like your oppressors.

Simply put, innovation is hard here because there is a deficiency of people to imitate!

As hypocritical as it sounds, as I am a critic of African culture myself, I would like to say that we must be careful in our business of criticizing ourselves, because if we are not we may teach our kids and those around us that when it comes to criticizing ourselves and other Africans it is ok to speak with such harsh tones and condescension. And if there is anything I have learned about being treated well, is that you must teach others how to treat you, by treating and speaking to yourself with the highest esteem.  After all, do not all people with low self esteem have the following characteristics; letting yourself be talked down to, loving someone else more than you love yourself, believing that what you want is irrelevant or that your opinion on an issue doesn’t matter, but most importantly being too hard on yourself, feeling your not being good enough is a given in any circumstance and finding it hard to accept your flaws as your constant need to be more perfect destroys your inner peace and confidence. Are these not the characteristics of Africa if she were a personality? Kenneth Kaunda once asked an audience at an ex African presidents conference if an African president was caught receiving “massages” from a young member of staff would we have heard the end of it (from the western media as well as ourselves)? Not to justify the imperfections of African leaders, but it does strike me that Africans are conditioned to look at their own successes and failings with a greater degree of criticism and that of others with more favour and leniency.

If you do not believe me or feel this is far too simple an explanation for the state of the nations consider this; would you not say that everywhere at every level within African leadership we suffer not from a lack of good governance, but an over abundance of “good enough” governance. That is say, the department of home affairs in whatever country you are in doesn’t quite work right, but it is just “good enough” for the country to claim it has one and to be content in that at least things are not falling apart. “At least we have something” is the poor people’s credo. We don’t have to give our people the best, as long as its “good enough” it will do is the unofficial modus operandi.  And like pretty girls in a small city, how much they are being short changed only becomes apparent when there is a new guy in town and he keeps treating them like royalty. I am arguing (if you would pardon my tendency for romance) Africa needs to be loved, otherwise she will remain uncomfortable with being seen or will never have enough confidence to be beautiful.

Valuing ourselves more, I feel is the fundamental needed in any approach to African issues. We must improve our living conditions not because we want to impress the world or because some people, that in truth don’t matter, want us to join the vanity of one-upping others in rank. We must change our conditions, because we feel we deserve better as people. We must first accept that the current conditions, no matter how convenient or familiar, are unacceptable for a human being to live in. Then I think we will stand a better chance with progress.

It is easy to be defined by what you are fighting against; colonialism, poverty, disease, illiteracy. But it is always better to be defined by what you are fight for (freedom -to be yourself, economic independence etc), because that vision when laid out right will always outlive you when you are gone. Psychologists and spiritual leaders through out history have shown that positive reinforcement works a lot better than negative reinforcement. Lets try to do more of that, Africa needs it.

These are my two cents and nothing more.

By Talumba Chirwa

If you didn’t know, now you certainly do. Malawi has a new funky fresh download site called One Malawi Music.net (1mwmusic.net). The site has been live for less than a month and already has gotten massive hits world wide as people are waking up to this new internet resource on free good quality content. The site features the very best of Malawian Gospel, Malawian hiphop, R&B, dancehall and alternative music such as traditional music.

The site is nicely laid out and easy to navigate, artist profiles appear as pictures making the site look flashy and aesthetically pleasing in contrast with a lot of other music download sites in general. Notably to avoid the saturation of substandard or redundant material the authors of the site have resolved to a process of removing any work that has no download traffic every three months. Meaning artists will have a fair amount of time to advertise their work and ensure downloads, but people will not be subjected to unpopular or mundane material, and hence can look forward to visiting a site that will consistently showcase the very best.

Most importantly the features on the site not only facilitate an easy download, but enable you to rate artists and to interact with others around the work of an artist through social network integration, making the 1mwmusic.net experience a unique one.

So if you are looking for new Malawian hits from your favourite Malawian artists based abroad or at home, you know exactly where to go!

Timve interviewed Malawian media personality Lomwe on his time spent in the Big Brother Amplified house and what his life has been like after the Big Brother experience. He shares moments he will remember, how the experience has changed him and his new project with former house mate from Botswana Zeus.

TM: Did representing Malawi in such a widely watched show make you feel differently about being a Malawian?

Lomwe: Not really, it just made me proud that I had the chance to alter any misconceptions that people from other countries have about Malawi.

TM: What was it like coming to terms with the fact that you were actually on big brother and you were being watched by your friends, family as well as millions of Africans?

Lomwe: It was more like, “it’s too late to go back now.” I had made a decision about it as soon as I got the application form, I was thinking if other people survived through it then am sure I can, if not do better.  I must admit at first the cameras were kinda intimidating and it was sort of an awakening that this is actually real. But after a while I got used to the environment, sometimes even forgetting there were so many people watching.

TM: When you agreed to participate in the Big brother reality show, what were your personal reasons for doing it?

Lomwe: Personally I wanted the exposure, I knew even if I didn’t win myentertainment background would benefit from the continental platform in so many ways.

TM: What were you hoping to gain besides the final prize and were you able to obtain it?

Lomwe: I got what I was looking for, the exposure has widened my fan base across many borders, and now I also have the opportunity to produce several spin-offs.

TM: What moment in the big brother house will stay with you forever?

Lomwe: That’s kinda hard coz there was so many moments; just stepping into the house for the first time was so memorable, the rap battle also, but I think celebrating my birthday was the most memorable. We had a ‘black and yellow’ theme party – the best birthday I ever had.

TM: What is the difference between the Lomwe who went into the Big brother House and the Lomwe who came out?

Lomwe: I am more driven and confident, because my Big brother experience showed me that you can achieve a lot when you believe you can.

TM: How has this experience changed your perspective of Africa in general?

Lomwe: It has shown me that even though we all come from different countries we are all really the same. We just have different variations of the same things. For example; Nsima is also there in Tanzania, in Zimbabwe they call it Sadza, in South Africa they call it Pap.

TM: Would you do it again?

Lomwe: Yes and no. Yes if I got paid to do it and I wasn’t too busy. Otherwise … no.

TM: If there was something you wanted to say to the nation at this point in your life what would it be?

Lomwe: In as few words as possible, thank you! I would also urge the government and the Malawian corporate world to be more patriotic towards their flag carriers.

TM:  If there was something you wanted to say to your friends or family looking back on this experience as well as your life in general, what would it be?

Lomwe: wowza, um… I would thank my family for the support, coz I hear at some point there were rumors going round that I didn’t have one. As far as looking back at my life, it’s been a rollercoaster ride and I am still on it. As they say death is certain, it’s all about the journey and I can’t wait for whatever’s next.

TM: Do you think Malawi can be capable of hosting a show like big brother?

Lomwe: No way! …wait okay, maybe in a very, very distant future.

TM: What now, where to from here? What does the future hold for Lomwe and all his new found fans and supporters?

Lomwe: After coming out of the Big Brother house I have been endorsed by the Malawi ministry of tourism as their ambassador and have also been endorsed by the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) as a goodwill ambassador. I have already been at work with the UNDP at numerous colleges and high schools talking to students, encouraging them to join the UNDP volunteer programme.

I have also teamed up with my friend and house mate from Botswana, Zeus, to release a joint CD titled ‘Double Wowza’. The title track has received great reviews by fans all over Africa and has thousands of downloads. The music video was shot in Botswana and will soon be on all popular music video channels such MTV Base and Channel O.

Lomwe says he looks forward to continuing his radio and music career and that he plans to also get into TV after the great response he received from Big Brother.

Well Lomwe, you did us proud and we were cheering for you all the way till the end. We are proud of you as your friends, fans and countrymen and we wish you all the best in everything you do moving forward.

In this instalment we conclude our interview with producer, entrepreneur and Deejay, Jobie One, who manages African hip-hop icon Proverb. In this finale, he lets us in on the One thousand fan theory, how it works and outlines the need for producers to stay sharp with help from content on the web.

TM: Ok, now specifically to my audience, what would you say to Malawian artists?

JBOne: Eish! I am sorry I don’t know anyone else from Malawi except Tay Grin… but look, I would say I think there is an obsession with trying to be big all over the world in general. And I think an artist can be big just in his hood and still make a killing. So do not be afraid to be focussed and committed to your own community –

Mokere:  – Oh, tell him about the One thousand fan theory!

TM: There is a One thousand fan theory?

JBOne: Oh yeah, there is a theory that says if you focus on only your core One thousand fans you could make R700,000 – R1million income in a year.

TM: Explain the theory.

JBOne: Well it’s not my theory I won’t take credit for it, it’s actually called the One thousand true fan theory if I recall. Essentially it goes like this; you need to have true fans, that is, the guys that will buy your album, your t-shirt and come to your concert. The guys who will come through if there is an after party. These are the people who talk back to you the most on Facebook, Twitter or email, you have to notice them and keep track of them and groom them. These are the people who get the word out, they know when your next project, video or single is coming out etc. These are the people who actually buy your products and are investing in you. So what you do to convert them into cash is; you focus pretty much all your marketing on that one thousand and no one else. Forget the rest, the one thousand will bring you the rest. In fact believe it or not, it is the model that Barak Obama used for his online campaign that put him into presidency.

TM: How would those few followers bring in the rest?

JBOne: Well there is a report on the Obama online campaign on the net, you could also google the One thousand true fan theory if you want the details. Basically though, the Obama team would check who was interacting with the campaign the most in each key geographic location and those people would receive the most calls from the campaign coordinators and would be invited to exclusive meetings etc. The campaign ignited those key followers in each location to create ripple effects for the whole movement. Just read the actual theory itself it will blow your mind!

TM: Have you ever used this theory yourself as Proverb’s manager?

JBOne: To an extent yeah. On our last project a week before the album released a couple of songs were emailed to a few subscribers of proverbmusic.net as a token of our appreciation for their ongoing support. All we asked was for them not to leak the tracks before the album was released. I think it makes people feel appreciated and it makes people feel special, when you can trust them with something like that, and they are sure to reciprocate as well as tell their friends about it.

TM: Ok. So in a nutshell though, what are we doing wrong?

Mokere: If you are not making money you are doing something wrong. There is money in everything. Quite literary you can make money from anything if you are serious about making it.

JBOne:  Just stop and think for a second, someone actually thought of ‘bottled water’. People have water in their tap at home, but will still go out to buy bottled water. Even if the guy took it from the same tap they took it from and just bottled it. If someone can do that and make millions, I am pretty sure that you can make money from anything.

Mokere: Convenience can do a lot for you. People are willing to pay so that things can be a lot more convenient for them.

TM: Very true I guess.

JBOne: Look, at the end of the day, your video or you mix might not be the reason you make money. It might not even be your music or your lyrics. As much as that is important, entrepreneurship is figuring out a way to get money out of some else’s wallet into yours period. It may sound a little contradictory to what I said earlier, but get to the money as straight forward as possible. Don’t spend too much time trying to make everything pretty if that won’t guarantee returns.

TM: Alright then, a final word on production in Africa.

JBOne: I think locally as well as artists up and down the African coasts need to work harder on their mixing. There are some guys who are mixing really well, but when I talk to them like, “yo who mixed your album?” It turns out that they sent it to France or to New York to get mixed. I have come across this a bit with some cats from West Africa whose stuff is being sent to a friend who is abroad where it is mixed, then sent back. This seems more prevalent in the hiphop scene too. I am not saying you should go for training, but when big time producers like Justin blaze are sitting in their studio giving free tutorials on YouTube, I feel like there is no excuse. In fact this is true of most things nowadays, go to an internet cafe if you must, but if you have internet access you really don’t have an excuse as to not having access to things any more.

A special thanks on behalf of the Timve team and our readers to Jobie One and Mokere for doing this very insightful interview. Bros it has been much appreciated, and like many people we look forward to another interview in the near future. keep doing your thing. God bless.

The existence of God remains a matter of faith and for that reason, I have found it extremely difficult to prove Him to people who do not believe. When someone opposes even the possibility of there being a God, then any evidence you present to them will be rationalized or explained away. It’s like if they refuse to believe that people have walked on the moon, then no amount of information is going to change their thinking. Photographs of astronauts walking on the moon, interviews with the astronauts, moon rocks…all the evidence would be worthless, because they have already concluded that man just cannot go to the moon. But if only they could interpret science like I and a billion others do – through the lens of the word of God which presupposes the truth of Genesis 1-3.

Study science deep and long enough and it will force you to believe in God; the Alpha and Omega – because in my humblest of opinions, science can only go so far, and then of course, there is God – always has been. Even before I refer to the Good Book or science itself, it has always been as obvious as there being a designer behind every design – simple logical Maths; Full Stop!! Surely in its entirety – and in its orderly form might I add – the Oxford Dictionary wasn’t the result of some mysterious explosion in some print shop somewhere, was it now? Of course NOT!!! Even the electronic gadget you are reading this from is a result of some very well put together designs.

There is just too much evidence in the world (to include the actual creation of the world) to deny and ask if there is a God. Without God there is no adequate explanation of how the universe was created or to explain our purpose in life.

It’s impossible for evolution to account for the fact that a single cell could carry more data than all of the Encyclopaedia Britannica put together. An accidental creation being born with an accidental ability to overcome an unforeseeable predicament is evidence of a plan because such an arrangement would have to have involved a considerable, if not, vast amount of prior information. Look at the earth’s location; just the right distance from the sun. Talk about the temperature swings we encounter. If the earth were any further away from the sun, we’d all freeze. Any closer and we would all burn up. Even a fractional variance in its position to the sun would make life impossible. And then of course, there is the moon, its garavitational pull and ocean currents. If the moon were any closer to earth, it would exert a much stronger pull and we would get very extreme and stronger tides – not a good look at all.

How could all this be just a chance occurrence? Surely all this evidence (and so much more) points towards a supreme, supernatural and intelligent being – GOD!!!

It’s amazing however, just how many people are convinced that God is merely a fable and the lengths they will go to disprove that He is there. In the final analysis though, people deny God so that they can put their interests above Him, their Creator. Only a supernatural force such as God can explain the supernatural act of creation. Only a supernatural person such as God can make something out of nothing. Only God can breathe life to create life and be the creator of our own souls.

So next time you ask me; “Dude, SO YOU STILL THINK GOD IS REAL?” My answer will be the same as always; “Oh! yes dude; my God, THE ONE TRUE GOD, is very very real.” Happy New Year.