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Chibuzo Emmanuel

Staff Writer

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Emmanuel Chibuzo is a staff writer for Culture Custodian. His intense, and oftentimes contemplative, writing confronts relevant questions within arts and culture, and how these seemingly grand issues touch on universal themes.

How 2016 Reshaped The Sound and Ambitions of Afrobeats

How 2016 Reshaped The Sound and Ambitions of Afrobeats

Days into 2026, quips about 2026 being the new 2016 began to circulate on social media. In a sense, this gestured at Gen Z’s relentless penchant for nostalgia, a phenomenon that’s as palpable in the music of the day as it is in fashion. It also doubles as a pun, or a meme, if you […]

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Chibuzo Emmanuel

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1 week ago

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How 2016 Reshaped The Sound and Ambitions of Afrobeats

Days into 2026, quips about 2026 being the new 2016 began to circulate on social media. In a sense, this gestured at Gen Z’s relentless penchant for nostalgia, a phenomenon that’s as palpable in the music of the day as it is in fashion. It also doubles as a pun, or a meme, if you […]

Chibuzo Emmanuel

•

1 week ago

How 2016 Reshaped The Sound and Ambitions of Afrobeats

Top Nigerian Music Trends To Watch in 2026

At the start of 2025, the biggest prediction was that the potpourri of sounds heralded by Rema’s seminal sophomore album, Heis, which interpreted American Trap music through a distinctively Nigerian lens, would flourish and take on a more refined shape in the new year. This prediction turned out to be eerily accurate but it would […]

Chibuzo Emmanuel

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2 weeks ago

Top Nigerian Music Trends To Watch in 2026

Is African Music’s Foremost Awards Show Playing it Safe?

Blame it on their intrinsic nature or the human tendency for spirited conversation, but awards shows have, over time, become sites of public debate. The winners in select categories are typically the main object of debate. Dissenters challenge the discernment of the awarding body, and those in favor of the decision scramble to defend the […]

Chibuzo Emmanuel

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4 weeks ago

Is African Music’s Foremost Awards Show Playing it Safe?

How “Money Constant” Became The Soundtrack Of Detty December

By 1am of December 27th, 2025, the outdoor space of Glitz Event Centre, was packed out with guests—some two thousand by my estimation—who had gathered for Wonderland, the Island Block Party headlined by Wale and supported by a glittering lineup including Lojay, Ladipoe, Mavo, Oxlade, and Fave, amongst others. The festival had been scheduled to […]

Chibuzo Emmanuel

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4 weeks ago

How “Money Constant” Became The Soundtrack Of Detty December

Best Afropop Songs of 2025

As last year ground to a halt, and music critics and fans of Afropop, in their usual fashion, began to take stock of the year, by way of tweets and essays and vociferous debates, a rare consensus emerged: the genre was in a state of flux; old, hackneyed sounds were giving way to more experimental, […]

Chibuzo Emmanuel

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2 months ago

Best Afropop Songs of 2025

 On His Sixth Album “Duplicity” BOJ Turns Inwards

In the heat of an argument with a romantic interest, as both parties fired off a salvo of words at the other, BOJ recalls being hit by a word with the forcefulness of revelation. So much so that it seemed to sear itself in his heart. The word? Duplicitous, which the Merriam-Webstar dictionary defines as […]

Chibuzo Emmanuel

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2 months ago

 On His Sixth Album “Duplicity” BOJ Turns Inwards
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