One of our last face to face interviews pre-travel restrictions, was with critically acclaimed Nigerian international singer, songwriter, guitar virtuoso, and Globetrotter feature alum Keziah Jones.

Blackup Jakarta by Globetrotter lab. 

⁣On Saturday, June 27th, Globetrotter Lab hosted a virtual conversation on the global state of black affairs and assembled some brilliant minds to share their perspectives on current happenings regarding the black lives matter protests, its history, cultural context, and why it's important for Asians, especially Indonesians, to engage.⁣⁣⁣⠀⠀

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Despite Jakarta's proximity to the center of the Black Lives Matter movement that continues to reverberate around the world, Indonesians also resonate with the issue of colorism. Cities across the world continue to stand together in solidarity against global systematic racism ⠀⠀⠀

⁣𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐘⁣⁣⁣⠀⠀

Kennedy Ashinze⁣⁣⁣ - @kennedyash_

Founder - Globetrotter Lab ⁣⁣⁣⠀⠀

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𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐓𝗘𝗗 𝗕𝗬⠀⠀

Arief Aziz⁣⁣⁣⠀- @arief_aziz

Country Director - Change.org Indonesia ⠀⠀

Cofounder - TedxJakarta ⁣⁣⁣⠀⠀

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𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐒⁣⁣⠀⠀

⁣⁣Barbara Allen⁣⁣⁣ - @ba1245

Emmy-award winning filmmaker / Producer⁣⁣⁣⠀⠀

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Hadi Ismanto⁣⁣⁣ - @hadiismanto__

Founder Manual Jakarta⁣⁣⁣⠀⠀

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Eric Williams⁣⁣⁣ - @i_know_eric

Entrepreneur / Community Leader⁣⁣⁣⠀⠀

The Silver Room - Chicago ⁣⁣⁣⠀⠀

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Curtis Johnson⁣⁣⁣⠀⠀

Fmr Senior Manager ATAMERICA ⁣⁣⁣⠀

Michael Jakarimilena - @michaeljakarimilena

Musician

Watch the full conversation on YouTube  here

Follow us on Instagram  @globetrotterlab here 

Follow us on Facebook here   

Website: http://www.globetrottermag.com

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In Globetrotter Originals’ “People & Spaces”, we go behind the doors of Z Kitchen in Lagos, Nigeria.

To know Z Kitchen is to know the human behind the restaurant: Executive chef and owner Ziad Beydoun. “This space is basically our personality fitted into a space,” he told Globetrotter. By “our,” Ziad was referring to himself and his wife, with whom he founded the restaurant together.

Originally from Lebanon, the couple made a life-changing decision to move to Africa in search of new opportunities. “It was the scariest move in my life,” Ziad said. “My wife and I put every single dime we had, and snatched a few dollars and cents from friends, and built this space from the ground up.”

They set their eyes on Lagos, a city with a “diverse market.” Ziad responds to the diversity with a similarly varied and evolving menu. He takes inspirations from different countries he and his wife have lived in, from Vietnam all the way to Spain.

Listen to our conversation!

Nigerian fashion brand GËTO is barely one-year old, but we can already predict a very bright future ahead for the label and its founder, Samantha Adebayo.

Since the day GËTO was launched, the word “quirky” has always been mentioned in the same breath as the brand’s name. Samantha’s designs are casual, colorful and expressive, so it’s no wonder if fashion enthusiasts in Nigeria, who are used to couture or high-end offerings, find GËTO fresh or, as they call it, quirky.

At its core, GËTO was born from Samantha’s longing for something relatable. “The idea of the brand is just to be yourself, feel free,” she explained. It also explains why GËTO’s pieces are made to be “breathable in this country” and, most importantly, body-inclusive.

It’s the same desire to connect that has inspired Samantha to stick with the name “GËTO”. Taken from the American hip-hop group Geto Boys, "GËTO” represents not only Samantha’s Ghetto Fabulous personal style, but also the late 1990s to early 2000s era in America, which played a big influence on Nigerians growing up. In “GËTO”, there’s a concept of linking people across different countries and cultures. “It reminded me of a quote by Method Man, and it’s ‘No matter where you from, there’s Ghettos all over the place,’” she said. “That’s the idea of the brand, it’s just bringing everyone together.”

Listen to our conversation here!

In "Switch," a Globetrotter Original, we catch up with Soliat Bada, the dancer-turned-chef who's not afraid to take on new challenges.   

Soliat started out as one-third of CEO Dancers, a group of all-female dancers who rose to stardom after reaching the semi-finals at Britain's Got Talent 2013.   

Following the group's disintegration, Soliat switched her focus to cooking and traded in her dancing shoes for an apron. "I thought, like, I needed something to focus on, I needed something that I could be creative in. And cooking was just an easy transition for me, because it was something I was always doing, anyway."   

In addition to establishing Nula's Kicthen and a cool chicken eatery, Byrd, Soliat is currently the host of Accelerate TV's "Off the Menu with Soliat Bada." Not only does the cooking show allow her to share recipes and cooking methods to the viewers, but it also lets her showcase her quirky humor and personality.   

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Website: http://www.globetrottermag.com

In 2013, Globetrotter witnessed the birth of a galaxy; Ageless Galaxy, that is. As a lifestyle brand, Ageless Galaxy encompasses a clothing label, design work, brand development and  event management.  Based in Jakarta, Indonesia, it's founded by Tamish Aswani and Giorgi Krisno.

When the two friends paid us a visit, our own Kennedy Ashinze sat down with them to chat about their brand's origin and the mark they wish to leave in the world.

For both Tamish and Giorgi, Ageless Galaxy is not just about pasting space-inspired visuals on the back of their T-shirts; it's about leaving a legacy in this never-ending galaxy. "In a nutshell, Ageless Galaxy is about how much awesome can you do in your lifetime and be remembered for it," Tamish said. "Because the galaxy will continue to live forever, but you have a very short life span."

In the last six years, Ageless Galaxy has been striving to achieve that by collaborating with some of the best global brands out there, from Patta (the Netherlands), Burnt Ends (Singapore), Main Source (UK) and Pestle & Mortar (Malaysia), among some others.

Locally, the brand recently teamed up with the iconic Bakmi GM restaurant to launch a capsule collection. Being a heritage brand, Ageless Galaxy has been gradually and steadily attracted quite a following in their base city of Jakarta. "I think it was only around last year and this year, we started to notice when we were out in the mall, and you were out, you know, just traveling around the city, and you saw, 'Oh my God, that's an Ageless shirt!'" said Tamish.

Listen to the interview!

It’s not every day that you get to meet pioneering musicians, but that’s exactly what happened to us when we sat down with Show Dem Camp (SDC) in their hometown, Lagos.

It won’t be an exaggeration to say that the rap duo is responsible in defining the music industry in Nigeria today. The Nigeria-born members Ghost (Olumide Ayeni) & Tec (Wale Davies) have dome that by embracing and popularizing the palm-wine music genre, which originated in West Africa. 

Palm wine is essentially African, and so is palmwine music. As Tec mentioned in the interview with Globetrotter, it’s “what is organic, what is originally ours.” Through their Clone Wars series, for example, they’re offering “a snapshot of who [they] are“ as Nigerians. Tec continued, “Nigeria is a place where we were  born with frustration. We learn to continue to live and adapt with frustration.“ In their music there’s an honest take about young guys trying to make it in this present-time Nigeria. 

SDC brings palmwine music to a higher level with Palmwine Music Fest. The festival was founded in 2017 to celebrate African music and introduce West African music to the continent. Ghost and Tec, though, also want the festival to go beyond that and turn it into a platform for up-and-coming African musicians “with the hope that those people, when they’re in that position, they’ll be able to bring up other people as well.“

Listen to our conversation!

PRODUCER & DIRECTOR Kennedy Ashinze

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Website: http://www.globetrottermag.com

 When Globetrotter met Nigerian illustrator and graphic designer Lemi Ghariokwu in Lagos, he described his legendary collaboration with the Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti as “preordained.”   

Lemi’s fateful journey into becoming the creator of dozens of Fela’s iconic album covers began with a chance meeting. The two hit it off right away, and it isn’t hard to see why; to Globetrotter, he talked about being proud to be an African, one of the similarities he shared with Fela. Lemi’s fateful journey into becoming the creator of dozens of Fela’s iconic album covers began with a chance meeting. The two hit it off right away, and it isn’t hard to see why; to Globetrotter, he talked about being proud to be an African, one of the similarities he shared with Fela.  

We didn’t just reminisce about the past. In our conversation, Lemi also talked to Globetrotter about discovering Childish Gambino through YouTube and continuing to create artwork for contemporary artists.   

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 Website: http://www.globetrottermag.com

Globetrotter met director Reema Sengupta from India during the course of Asia Africa Film Festival (AAFF), which was held on April 24-28, 2019 at Silver Screen, Jakarta. Following the screening of her short film "Counterfeit Kunkoo" at the second day of AAFF, Reema talked more about the film at the Director's Q&A session, where she revealed that the movie, which follows a divorced Indian woman as she struggles to find a home, was actually inspired by her mother’s real-life experiences. 

“Because if you don’t tell your story, who’s going to?“ she reasons in an interview with Globetrotter. She also encouraged her fellow female filmmakers, especially in Asia, to be brave despite the blatant sexism in the industry. “I’m here to tell you that things are changing in a big, big way,” she says. “And the more of us that are around, the safer and more conducive the environment is, for more of us to come in in the future as well. So it’s really important that we take our steps.“

We last saw Natasha Diggs at G360 Live in Jakarta in August 2018, but earlier in March, she visited the New Delhi to perform at HG Street, the country’s first ever premium street and sneaker culture festival. While she was there, she also had the chance to meet up with the city’s creative community such as the founders of fashion label NORBLACK NORWHITE as well as sit down for an interview with Globetrotter.    

To Globetrotter, Natasha talks about the excitement of sharing the energy of “Mobile Mondays” and “Soul in the Horn” to the emerging street culture in India. “A lot of people came to me and [were, like,] ‘We don’t get what you do here that much. This is special for us,’” she says.

Website: www.globetrottermag.com