For the first time in four years, Senegalese vocalist and guitar virtuoso Baaba Maal will return to North America for a full, month-long tour that will take him through the Mexico, the U.S., Canada, and back to Mexico. Baaba is touring in support of his new album, 'Television,' a collaboration with vocalist Sabina Sciubba and keyboardist Didi Gutman, both members of New York's Brazilian Girls. He'll be touring with Aliou Diouf on drums, Massamba Diop on talking drum, Mbara Cisse on bass, Ibrahima Cissokho on electric guitar, Hilaire Felicien Chaby Hary on keys, Cire Sall on hoddu and Mouhamadou Lamine Sarr on percussion.

As previously reported, Baaba Maal will also be appearing at Bonnaroo 2010, as well as a handful of other festivals, including Mexico's Zacatecas Fest, in Zacatecas City, the Lake Eden Festival in Black Mountain, North Carolina, the World State Houston International Festival, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Check out Baaba Maal's full tour schedule after the jump.

The South African Music Awards have announced its list of nominees this week. In their 16th year running, the annual awards show have pit old South African legends against newbies in its Album of the Year category, with jazz guitarist Selaelo Selota and traditional singer Busi Mhlongo both vying for the prize alongside newcomers like kwaito duo Big Nuz and BLK JKS' hybrid of traditional music and rock. Overall, the list reflects the vast range of South African musics, with over 50 awards and hundreds of nominees, ranging everywhere from traditional Afrikaans music to kwaito, rap, rock, tsonga, and beyond.

See the full list of nominees after the jump.

Filipina pop star Charice has released her first official Stateside single with 'Pyramid.' Written by Swedish songwriter/producer David Jassy, 'Pyramid' features British Virgin Islands-born reggae star Iyaz.

Charice has already had her share of U.S. promotion, having enjoyed appearances on 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' and 'Oprah,' not to mention sharing the stage with Celine Dion at Madison Square Garden. And she's no stranger to the world of pop, with her two highly successful Philippine-released albums, 2009's 'My Inspiration' and her 2008 self-titled release.

Watch the video for the album version of 'Pyramid' after the jump.

Afropop Worldwide, on the vanguard of covering African music in America since it began as a radio show in 1988, began a "series within a series" when it started 'Hip Deep,' a radio special that traces the roots of African music both at home and through its global diaspora. Or in their own words:

"A media project dedicated to the idea that music is a key to understanding everything: History, religion, cultures, political and social realities, science, families, and even human nature itself."

That mission has translated into countless commercial-free segments that delve into a specific artist, genre, culture, whether it be New Orleans jazz, musíca tropical in Colombia, or a brief history in Mali's music. Now, Hip Deep is live and online, with 60 hours of radio programming available for listening, and it's quite pretty. The site stands out as one of the few design-savvy online hubs for African music, and it does so with a caliber that's perhaps unmatched, providing top-notch academic and journalistic looks into music from the African continent, and beyond.

With the upcoming release of 'Rise & Shine' slated for March 23 on Cumbancha Records, Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars will embark on a 20-date American tour that will take them on a massive swing through nearly every corner of the country.

'Rise &Shine' was recorded last summer in Freetown, Sierra Leon and New Orleans, with producer Steve Berlin (Los Lobos), and includes cameos from many of the city's jazz luminaries including Trombone Shorty, Washboard Chaz and the unfortunately named, but ever-impressive trombone orchestra, Bonerama.

The group's blend of West African music and roots reggae won international recognition with the 2006 documentary by Zach Niles and Banker White, which charted the birth of the group in Sierra Leone's refugee camps during the country's violent conflicts.

See a trailer for the documentary along with their full tour schedule after the jump.

A second artist has fired volleys at the process behind the Ghana Music Awards, which announced the list of nominees last week.

While earlier this week Kwaw Kesse cried foul at the ties between industry management and panel judges in charge of the nomination process, Ghana reggae artist Blakk Rasta takes on a much more concrete and problematic issue: one of the songs nominated for the awards was released nearly five years ago.

The artist who shot to fame on the merit of his single, 'Barack Obama' explained that "'Mama Africa' by Black Prophet has been nominated two times. I was one of the first DJs that played the song five years ago. They did another error last year by nominating two songs of Black Prophet titled 'Doubting Me' and 'Mama Africa' and didn't know which title went to which song." Ghanamusic.com has confirmed Blakk Rasta's claims.

Blakk Rasta makes other, more nebulous claims that other reggae songs on the list were far too obscure to justify a nomination.

Turkish pop star Tarkan Tevetoğlu was released from prison after spending the weekend in jail and undergoing a 45-minute testimony, where he admitted to drug use, but denied acting as a supplier to others. He also vowed to check himself into rehab after his release.

The arrests occurred last week, when Tarkan's house was raided by narcotics officers who had been conducting a six-month long investigation into his possible ties to drug dealers. Tarkan turned over 12.5 grams of cannabis to the police, who consequently arrested a slew of prominent young Turks, including sons of he former president of the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges, two newspaper reporters, a bar owner, and two drug dealers.

"I apologize to my fans the most. I hope no one will begin using narcotics because of my bad example," he stated at the time.

So far details on the severity of the pop singer's charges, as well as the defense, are sparse. Tarkan's attorney Yunus Egemenoglu said only that "the truth will be revealed at the end of the trial."

Turkey is not a place one wants to be caught with narcotics. Fellow pop star Deniz Seki was recently arrested for suspected cocaine use, and faces a possible eight year prison sentence.