With Africa on My Sleeve
A rough year has come and finally gone. We’re still in the middle of the pandemic, but we’re more hopeful than ever that things will get better. If I’ve learned anything from 2020, it was that we should savour any moment of reprieve and even celebrate the little things. Today is my birthday, and I...Continue reading
The idea behind ‘Teintée Africaine’ came about when I noticed a growing trend: European acts of African descent were increasingly tapping into the current popular African sounds and genres to innovate. The idea, then, was to pair those works with those made at the source. While the latter enjoyed less plaudits outside its locale, I...Continue reading
I have been looking forward to the video treatment of Samthing Soweto’s “Akulaleki” ever since his album came out. (Truth to be told, it might even be before that, when DJ Maphorisa “leaked” the song.) In any case, the honey-voiced crooner has come through along with the video of another Isphithiphithi notable, “AmaDM”. We start...Continue reading
The weekend is here! Yo, the weekend is here! You must not have hear me: the weekend is HERE! I’m ecstatic about spending the next couple of days sweating away the stresses of daily grind. (Somebody tell me where I can get a refund for this adulting thing, for real!) If you’re with me, let’s...Continue reading
Another one from the Wasafi Records hit factory! Behind Diamond Platnumz and Harmonize, Rayvanny has been a consistent hitmaking machine. He’s barely allowed us to take in “Vumbi” and “Girlfriend”, or allowed us to get tired of shaking it as instructed in “Tetema” (with its slew of remixes), that he’s reloading with “Chuchumaa”, another legwork...Continue reading
GIMS was widely known as a great rapper and made his bones within the super talented Sexion d’Assaut rap group. Nowadays, GIMS has been on a sustained assault at pop notoriety and having undoubtedly conquered the French (current and former) territories, his sights are firmly trained on the rest of the World. To that end,...Continue reading
High-profile relationships are always susceptible to fissure and break down under the constant glare of public whose opinion is steady-fed and informed by social and traditional media. Pressure can bust pipes, but it can also make diamonds. For Big Sean, it was much of both as he explains on his latest offering, “Single Again”, and...Continue reading
Over the past decade, Nigeria’s dominance in the arts has been on a steady rise. Today, Nigeria’s influence is simply undeniable. Look around you: more and more people are talking or trying to talk pidgin.
I recently spent a nice evening with good friends of mine. We were catching up and kicking it over good tunes. That’s where I drew the inspiration for this mix. And I was concocting it, I kept thinking of the magic of music… It relieves anxiety; it offsets the daily stresses; and it offers us...Continue reading
I guess that we should be grateful to the Bacardi brand here. Through their House Party sessions, they brought together the genius producer Heavy-K and the electro firecracker Moonchild Sanelly. Both artists have proven to be great ambassadors for South African music and, personally, I was always raving to see/hear such a collaboration. “Yebo Mama”...Continue reading