I was drawn into this multi-platinum selling British rock group called Skunk Anansie first because of the name & then by the breath taking beautiful African features of the lead singer known as Skin, AKA Deborah Dyer.

Kweku Ananse as some of you may know is by far one of the most well known West African folklore tales originating in the Akan, Ghana, West African oral tradition of storytelling that has become global folklore. Ananse literally means spider in the Ashanti language of Akan. Kweku Ananse was the witty, deceitful spider trickster that appeared in man formation with many stories of his masterful trickery passed down from generation to generation from Africa to the rest of the world.

The group Skunk Anansie which I guess would translate into a stinky spider since skunk is often used colloquially as meaning “stinky”, whether you are referring to skunk weed or skunk breath-LOL! There’s nothing stinky about Skunk Anansie except the fact that they make some great funky music. Skunk Anansie is a great rock n roll band that can & has rolled with the best of them, showing lead singer, Skin’s diversity & versatility from performances with Bjork to Pavoratti.

Skin brings a powerful blend of feminine, exotic intensity with a rock n roll edge packaged in strong African features a la Grace Jones, backed by an intoxicating soulfully rock n roll band a la British greats like Sweetback, the Eurythmics, Led Zepplin & the Police. When you listen to songs like “Because of You”, “I Can Dream” , “Lately” & “Milk Is My Sugar” there is no doubt that Skin is the epitome of a Black girl that rocks; while songs like “Pickin On Me”, “You Follow Me Down”, “Secretly”, “Weak” & one of my all time favorites, “Squander”, shows the vulnerability of her sweet soulfulness. Skin’s androgynous beauty & effortless avant garde fashion style embodies the great juxtaposition of fashion & music that can easily take her from belting out rock n roll tunes to walking down the runways of London. Skunk Anansie is definitely a group that a true Global Fusionist would be into. I say “grazie amore” to my girl, Barbara Di Tullio from Rome, Italy for reminding me just how much Skunk Anansie Rocks!