At the 41st Annual NAACP Image Awards on February 26, San Francisco ensemble Sila and the Afrofunk Experience won " Outstanding World Music Album " for their sophomore recording Black President (Visila Records, 5/26/09). In a category with such stellar nominees as Zap Mama and Omou Sangare , the win was a notable achievement and something of a surprise for Sila Matungi , who released the album independently on his own Visalia label. Other 2010 winners in the music categories include Wynton Marsalis, Mary J. Blige, Whitney Houston, the Black Eyed Peas, Maxwell and Keri Hilson. SILA will celebrate their award on Saturday, March 20 at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, CA, and will donate a portion of the proceeds to Chilean earthquake relief.

"This is beyond my wildest dreams," Sila said of his award. "As a boy growing up in Kenya, I could only imagine having a successful career in the music industry, and to win in this category over artists like Zap Mama and Omou Sangare, who have helped bring African music to American and international audiences for so many years, is something I will never forget." The Image Award caps an outpouring of critical acclaim for SILA and Black President . In addition to the band being named " 2009 Best International Act" by SF Weekly , the album was among the Top 5 African releases of 2009 , according to Afropop Worldwide .

Staying true to his mission to combine music with humanitarian efforts, Sila said in his acceptance speech: "In these times, music has to speak the truth more than ever. As musicians and artists, we have to promote social change all over the world." The co-founder of the Afrofunk Music Festival , an annual event benefiting educational and health-related efforts in Africa, Sila has also been at the forefront of the Bay Area's relief efforts for Haitian earthquake victims. He headlined " SF Hearts Haiti ," a sold-out show which raised $10,000 for disaster aid.

The band draws inspiration from Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti while distinguishing themselves by incorporating African genres such as zouk and soukous, as well as the music of Western artists including James Brown, Sly Stone and Funkadelic . Black President finds the ensemble moving further toward progress and change in both their lives and their music, with blossoming musical chemistry, deep funky Afro-grooves and strong socially-conscious, politically-aware lyrics.



If Joni Mitchell were East African and met Nina Simone for tea in San Francisco's Mission District, she might end up sounding like Meklit Hadero. Meklit is a true modern global artist: born in Ethiopia, raised in US and nurtured for the last several years in San Francisco's richly diverse arts scene. Add in a warm and luminous singing voice and lyrical songwriting that moves from the starkly personal to the poetically metaphoric, and you have her entrancing debut full-length recording, “On a Day Like This…”, to be released by Porto Franco Records in April 2010.

While Meklit's music is like a sponge soaking up influences from all over the world, in some ways she's the perfect embodiment of the City by the
Bay – cosmopolitan, striking and worldly, with an outlook that seems to change every few blocks or so.  In fact, it's tempting to tag Meklit
-with her jazzy but expansive vibe, moods that veer from the hushed to the impassioned, and a female voice so lushly spellbinding it draws you into its world – as San Francisco's answer to
Norah Jones.

"[Meklit] is an artistic giant in the early stages. She sings of fragility, hope and self-empowerment, and exudes all three. What's irresistible, above all, is her cradling, sensuous, gentle sound. She is
stunning." -San Francisco Chronicle