I wasn’t sure of how to react when I opened the Youtube link to Kwality’s “Official Lion King.” video, first uploaded on May 17. What is this, and who is he, I wondered. While waiting for the video to buffer, I read the comments, nine in total at that time. (The video had 87 comments and 6,567 […]
Lamu Old Town is an ancient, bustling city of palm trees and artisans and stories, where trades and traditions are passed down from generation to generation largely unchanged. Acting as a trading hub for centuries, the archipelago’s food, architecture, religions, dress, music, and language are indicative of African, Arab, Persian, Indian, Asian and European influences, […]
Cape Town singer Crosby is about to release his new album “Better Place.” Since I was in Cape Town for a few months, he asked me to direct the music video for his single, “Heart of a Lion” off the new album. “Heart of a Lion” has already made its way to many listeners in South […]
Does the graphic novel, 'Aya of Yop City', retain its texture in its transformation to the screen?
A short profile of the music scene in Cape Town is dominated by white shows – with a lot of electrocentric music and flashy strobe lights.
Forced conversion as a strategy exclusive is not to Islamist terrorism in northern Nigeria. Everyone's been in on the act.
I arrive in Braamfontein twenty minutes early, at 6pm, for a meeting with Sebastiano Zenasi (or Seb), Luc Vermeer, and their manager Aaron Peters. It’s the night of their album launch, their second since 2012’s Third Floor landed them in the electronic music spotlight and enabled them to get book at nearly every major music festival […]
"... I do not tweet, blog or whatever goes on in this increasingly promiscuous medium"
Came across this nice little disco edit of Toto’s “Africa.” Since we have a running series going, thought it would be nice to add it to the bunch. So deeejay! Take us awaaaay to Aaaaaafrica!
Brazilians may have produced the first ever afrobeat.
The illustrators Fuzzy Slipperz and Skubalisto and the photographer Mooki Mooks on being an artist in present-day South Africa.
Workers in the Western Cape's wine district describe a place where bosses engage in a reign of force and aggression, and where workers are “afraid to die too soon.”
I got the chance to be part of the Redbull Basscamp in Johannesburg during October 2013. For six days, a unique cross-section of hand picked South African musicians holed up in central Johannesburg for lectures from music industry heavyweights in the morning (Hugh Masekela stopped by), followed in the afternoon by studio sessions which would, at times, stretch […]
Peter Clarke (84), who passed away on April 13, 2014, was an elder statesman of South Africa's arts community.
Two weeks ago, Club Zen in downtown Johannesburg got packed to its rafters with hip-hop afficionados who came by the carloads to support Scrambles4Money, a South African battle rap circuit established in 2012. The auspicious Talk is Cheap event, now in its second installment, had Johannesburg’s Tumi Molekane and Atlanta’s Ness Lee as headliners. Tumi, a […]
For many white French, and including African immigrants in France, watching movies like 'Phone Swap,' 'Tango with Me,' 'Last Flight to Abuja' and 'Maami,' is an eye-opener.
An extract from Mahmood Mamdani's seminal study, 'When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism, and the Genocide in Rwanda."
The second in a series of four posts to commemorate James Baldwin's 90th birthday.
Why you've got to love the way the South African tabloid newspaper Daily Sun reported Caster Semenya's marriage to her girlfriend
The Cape Town suburb of Observatory is known for being a small bohemian enclave, providing low cost housing for students, artists and ‘free spirits’ of all sorts. Walk down Lower Main Road past the quaint mini-Victorian houses and sushi restaurants, and you’ll find all the familiar student-town tropes: aging hippies, overpriced vintage clothing, and laptop-ridden […]