August 11, 2022
Nigeria: How Burna Boy Set the World Alight With His Mixed Brew of Influences
Nigerian Afrobeats star Burna Boy burst onto the global stage in 2018 with a slew of irresistible hits on his third album, Outside, accompanied by mandatory fiendish good looks and… Read more »
August 07, 2022
South Africa: New Book On Mapungubwe Archive Contests History of South African World Heritage Site
Mapungubwe is a world heritage site and national park located on the border between South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana. From about 1000 AD the settlement there developed into a… Read more »
August 04, 2022
Africa: Beyoncé Has Helped Usher in a Renaissance for African Artists
Beyoncé has released her seventh solo studio album, titled Renaissance (2022). The album, an event in global popular culture, is the first of a three-part project by the US… Read more »
August 01, 2022
Africa: How Used Clothes Became Part of Africa's Creative Economy - and Fashion Sense
In recent years the global secondhand apparel market for clothing and shoes has grown exponentially. In 2002 used clothing exports were worth US$1.4 billion. Despite a slowdown… Read more »
July 28, 2022
South Africa: What the U.S. Can Learn From Apartheid-Era Book Bans in South Africa
"Beloved." "The Hate U Give." "Maus." "Burger's Daughter." Read more »
July 27, 2022
Zimbabwe: Noviolet Bulawayo's New Novel Is an Instant Zimbabwean Classic
In Zimbabwean author NoViolet Bulawayo's new novel Glory - longlisted for the Booker Prize 2022 - animals take on human characteristics. Through this she explores what happens when… Read more »
July 26, 2022
South Africa: Epitaph for a Baobab - Remembering South African Poet and Activist Don Mattera
The towering South African poet, activist and humanitarian Donato Francesco Mattera passed away on 18 July at the age of 86. What he represented to South Africa is far larger than… Read more »
July 25, 2022
Nigeria: Setting the Record Straight - Burna Boy Didn't Create a Music Genre Called Afrofusion
Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu was born in 1991 in Port Harcourt, the largest city in Rivers State in Nigeria. He would become known as Burna Boy, a singer, songwriter and record producer… Read more »
June 17, 2021
Africa: Banning African Films Like Rafiki and Inxeba Doesn't Diminish Their Influence
Social media and internet forums function as an important space of contestation for issues relating to queer identities. This is evident in reactions to two fairly recent… Read more »
May 06, 2018
Africa: Why Hip-Hop Needs to Be Taken More Seriously in Academic Circles
Jazz's current generation of stars grew up in these genre-fluid times with hip-hop. Concurrently, a significant number of hip-hop artists have been integrating jazz into their… Read more »