Sisters Keepers

Last updated
Sisters Keepers in 2001 Sisters Keepers.jpg
Sisters Keepers in 2001

Sisters Keepers were initially a subset of the band Brothers Keepers, formed in the autumn of 2001 in Germany, joined a compilation album Lightkultur (WEA) by the Brothers Keepers. [1] Appealing against racism, famous female and mainly Afro-German singers joined with reggae, Soul music and Hip-Hop background.

Contents

Initial members

Among others for the members of the original Sisters Keepers were Nadja Benaissa, Ayọ, Kaye, Nicole Hadfield (Groove Guerrilla  [ de ]), and Tamika, along with Tesiree, Lisa, Mamadee, Pat and Meli (Skills en Masse, Ischen Impossible) with Onejiru (Pielina Schindler). "Liebe Und Verstand" was their largest hit on chart in Germany, Switzerland and Austria between December 2001 to February 2002, as many African artists joined to form a musical statement. With two songs, both released on the album Lightkultur by Brothers Keepers (WEA), they took a stand against racism and violence.

"Sisters eV" against racism and violence

Actually, the members held positions among loose circle of network of female singers, or sisters.

Starting in 2004, the "Sisters eV" functioned with emphasis on activities for gender equality as well as protest against violence and racism, and environmental issues that Onejiru and Mamadee took the initiative. Among the list of female singers they worked with, Ngosi Madubuko and Angela Ordu are from Siberian music, who were two of the supporters close to the group. [1]

In 2005, Sisters Keepers was renamed to "Sisters", and acted independent from Brothers Keepers there on. The Sisters [2] started with Onejiru, Mamadee, Meli, Namusoke, Tamika and Nicole Hadfield (Groove Guerilla) and Lisa Cash coming in and out, and they represented North Rhine-Westphalia at the Bundesvision Song Contest 2008 to claim he fourteenth place with "Unite". In September 2008, they toured Germany, produced by Matthias Arfmann  [ de ] (Turtle Bay Country Club.) The same year, the first album Gender Riot was released. [3]

Role models for girls and women

Since 2010, Onejiru, Meli and Nicole Hadfield have been the core of the group with Mamadee, Tamika and Namusoke extending the act, and altogether they were black German female singers involved and supporting social and educational causes at schools. [4] With Plan to empower girls and young women, Sisters participated in the "Because I am a Girl". [5] project, and have been the ambassadors for the campaign since 2010. It was extended in the summer of 2011, when they toured Brazil, Ghana, Togo, as well as cities in Germany for "Girls go for Goals". They celebrated the first inaugural United Nations International Day of the Girl with Plan International on October 11, 2012, when Onejiru, Melanie Wharton and Nicole Hadfield performed in New York City singing the song "Because I am a Girl". realizing UN World Girls Day is a campaign to have equal rights for girls and boys. During their visit to NYC, the Sisters performed at the B. B. King Blues Club in NY. [6]

Brothers Keepers and Sisters Keepers

It is evident that there is an absence of female musicians in most music videos by the Sisters' brother band, Brothers Keepers. Many saw this as an absence from Afro-German volk envisioned by the Brothers and as drawing attention to the constitutive female outside of this mode of racial unity. The Brothers success and overbearing presence in music videos authorizes this female version of Afro-Germaness, forcefully visually transforming to hegemonic codes of femininity. Within it, there is a strong desire to envisage collectivity beyond peoplehood and the simultaneous failure to do so in Afro-German pop music and diaspora discourse underlines the nagging pervasiveness of this category and pressing need for alternatives.

Discography

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanita Tikaram</span> British pop/folk singer-songwriter (born 1969)

Tanita Tikaram is a British pop/folk singer-songwriter. She achieved chart success with the singles "Twist in My Sobriety" and "Good Tradition" from her 1988 debut album, Ancient Heart.

An all-female band is a musical group in popular music that is exclusively composed of female musicians. This is distinct from a girl group, in which the female members are solely vocalists, though this terminology is not universally followed. While all-male bands are common in many rock and pop scenes, all-female bands are less common.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brothers Keepers</span>

Brothers Keepers is a German-based transnational anti-racism project, bringing together hip hop, reggae and soul musicians, headed primarily by Afro-Germans. Their debut single, "Adriano-Letzte Warnung", was written in response to the murder of Alberto Adriano by Neo-Nazis. It remains their most popular release, with more than 6 million views on YouTube.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caterina Valente</span> Italian-French singer and dancer (1931–2024)

Caterina Valente was an Italian-French-German multilingual singer, guitarist, and dancer. She spoke six languages and sang in 13. While she was best known as a performer in Europe, Valente spent part of her career in the United States, where she performed alongside Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Perry Como, and Ella Fitzgerald, among others.

Gisela Bock is a German historian. She studied in Freiburg, Berlin, Paris and Rome. She took her doctorate at the Free University Berlin in 1971 and her Habilitation at Technische Universität Berlin in 1984. She has taught at the Free University Berlin (1971–1983) and was professor at the European University Institute (1985–1989) in Florence, Italy, at the University of Bielefeld (1989–1997) and then at the Free University Berlin. She retired in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nadja Benaissa</span> German singer

Nadja Benaissa is a German singer and television personality. She rose to fame in late 2000 when she auditioned for the German adaption of the reality television show Popstars and became a member of the girl group No Angels, one of the best-selling girl groups of European origin of all time. During their hiatus, Benaissa released her solo album, Schritt für Schritt (2007), which produced the single "Ich hab dich", and represented Hesse in the Bundesvision Song Contest 2006 with the song, finishing in fourth place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marianne Rosenberg</span> German singer

Marianne Rosenberg is a German Schlager music singer and songwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sister</span> Female sibling

A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familial relationships. A full sister is a first-degree relative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Schneider</span> American singer and actress

Helen Schneider is an American singer and actress working mainly in Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schrei nach Liebe</span> 1993 single by Die Ärzte

"Schrei nach Liebe" is a punk rock song by German band Die Ärzte. It is the second track and the first single from their 1993 album Die Bestie in Menschengestalt. It is one of the best known political anthems and anti-fascist songs in Germany and was made in the context of the Hoyerswerda riots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mandy Capristo</span> German pop singer

Mandy Grace Capristo, also known mononymously as Mandy, is a German singer and songwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xavier Naidoo discography</span>

German singer Xavier Naidoo began his music career in the early 1990s. His debut studio album, Seeing Is Believing, was released in 1994, consisting mostly of cover versions of traditional tracks and soul songs from the 1960s and 1970s. Released in the United States only, it failed to chart on the Billboard 200 and thus, was never released in Europe. Following a fall-out with main producer Nicole Dürr, he signed with Frankfurt am Main-based Pelham Power Productions (3P) and began appearing as a background vocalist on several of his label-mates' albums. Naidoo's second studio album Nicht von dieser Welt, produced unter the guidance of Moses Pelham and Martin Haas, was released in May 1998. The album peaked at number one on the German Albums Chart and sold more than a million copies. Its singles included his debut single "20.000 Meilen", the top twenty entries "Nicht von dieser Welt" and "Seine Straßen" as well as top five hit "Sie sieht mich nicht", which served as the theme song for the feature film Asterix & Obelix Take On Caesar (1999). A gold-certified live album of his first concert tour, simply titled Live (1999), reached the top ten in Germany the following year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michelle (German singer)</span> German schlager singer

Tanja Gisela Hewer, known by the stage name Michelle, is a German schlager singer. She represented Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 with the song Wer Liebe lebt, which placed eighth from 23 participating countries with 66 points. Since her debut in 1992 she has won numerous awards, including two Echo awards, two Goldene Stimmgabeln and two Amadeus Austria awards. She sold more than 6,2 Million Copies in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adé Bantu</span> Nigerian-German musician, producer and social activist

Adegoke Odukoya, better known as Adé Bantu, is a Nigerian-German musician, producer and social activist who is the front man of the 13 piece band BANTU and the creator of the monthly concert series and music Festival Afropolitan Vibes which holds in Lagos, Nigeria. Adé Bantu is also the founder of the Afro-German musical collective Brothers Keepers. His band BANTU received the Kora Award for their album Fuji Satisfaction in 2005.

Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington, and the greater Pacific Northwest, and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. A subcultural movement that combines feminism, punk music, and politics, it is often associated with third-wave feminism, which is sometimes seen as having grown out of the riot grrrl movement and has recently been seen in fourth-wave feminist punk music that rose in the 2010s. The genre has also been described as coming out of indie rock, with the punk scene serving as an inspiration for a movement in which women could express anger, rage, and frustration, emotions considered socially acceptable for male songwriters but less commonly for women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mamadee</span> German reggae singer (born 1979)

Mamadie Wappler, known professionally as Mamadee, is a German reggae singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in music</span>

Women in Music play many roles and are responsible for a broad range of contributions in the industry. Women continue to shape movements, genres, and trends as composers, songwriters, instrumental performers, singers, conductors, and music educators. Women's music, which is created by and for women, can explore women's rights and feminism. Women in music impact and influence creativity, activism, and culture.

Abiodun Odukoya, better known as Abiodun, is a Nigerian-German singer, songwriter, producer and music arranger. Abiodun's name is of Yoruba origin and means "he who is born on a day of festivity". He is better known as the co founder of the Afro German music collective Brothers Keepers and as one of the pioneers of the German reggae, afro and soul music scene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Onejiru</span>

Onejiru is a contemporary Germany-based jazz singer. She was born in Kenya and moved to Germany when she was a teenager. Her real name is Pielina Wanjiru Schindler, with stage names Onejiru and Onejiro Schindler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Veronika Fischer</span> German singer

Veronika Fischer, also called Vroni, is a German singer.

References

  1. 1 2 "Starke schwestern gegen rassismus und gewalt" (in German). Melodiva. 2008-04-10. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  2. "Sisters official site" . Retrieved 2016-10-26.
  3. S.Eismann. "Sisters' debut album" (in German). Retrieved 2016-10-26.
  4. "Sisters Workshop at DB Kids Camp— Stiftung lesen" [Sisters Workshop at DB Kids Camp for Reading Foundation].{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  5. Tim Butcher; Xiaolu Guo; Joanne Harris; Kathy Lette; Henning Mankell; Deborah Moggach; Marie Phillips; Irvine Welsh; Plan International (2010). Because I am a Girl. Vintage.
  6. "Sisters bei der UN in NEW YORK" [Sisters at the UN in New York] (in German). October 8, 2012. Retrieved 2016-10-21.
  7. "Sisters Keepers lyrics Liebe und Verstand".
  8. Brothers Keepers, Sisters Keepers. Sister. Lightkultur by Brothers Keepers (CD). ASIN   B01KAWL89E.
  9. Nicole Hadfield, Namusoke, Onejiru, Mamadee. Gender Riots by Sisters (CD). ASIN   B01AXLAZEG.
  10. Because I Am A Girl – Sisters feat. Because I Am A Girl Allstars. SistersCampaign. Retrieved 2016-10-26 via YouTube.