Apply For Red Bull Music Academy Tokyo 2011

I participated in the academy when it was in Melbourne, Australia back in 2006. It was a life changing experience, apply HERE

About the academy (Taken from redmusicacademy.com)

The Red Bull Music Academy is a series of music workshops, a platform for those who shape our musical future. Every year, two groups of 30 selected participants - producers, vocalists, DJs, instrumentalists, and allround musical mavericks from all around the globe - come together for two fortnight-long 'terms'.

At the Academy you will hear lectures both from pioneering mavericks of old and trailblazing sound rebels of the present, followed by late-night recording sessions putting that breadth of knowledge and inspiration into practice in ten custom-made studios. Then there’s the chance to perform in some of the host city’s most iconic clubs and concert halls. And there's still plenty of time to check gear, chat on tunes, jump on live radio broadcasts, get a glimpse into local musical hybrids, and ask the questions you were always keen on asking, as well... If you ever chat with any past alumni, they often describe the experience as a game changer.

Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story

Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.

Why you should listen to her:

In Nigeria, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel Half of a Yellow Sun has helped inspire new, cross-generational communication about the Biafran war. In this and in her other works, she seeks to instill dignity into the finest details of each character, whether poor, middle class or rich, exposing along the way the deep scars of colonialism in the African landscape.

Adichie's newest book, The Thing Around Your Neck, is a brilliant collection of stories about Nigerians struggling to cope with a corrupted context in their home country, and about the Nigerian immigrant experience.

Adichie builds on the literary tradition of Igbo literary giant Chinua Achebe—and when she found out that Achebe liked Half of a Yellow Sun, she says she cried for a whole day. What he said about her rings true: “We do not usually associate wisdom with beginners, but here is a new writer endowed with the gift of ancient storytellers.”

"When she turned 10 and read Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, about the clash between Igbo tradition and the British colonial way of life, everything changed: ‘I realized that people who looked like me could live in books.’ She has been writing about Africa ever since." -Washington Post