Feature

Explainers, analyses, and essays on government policies, and political trends and movements around the continent

“Starrgirl”: Ayra Starr Trades Becoming for Being

In Starrgirl, Ayra Starr does not ask you to reconsider Ayra Starr. She assumes you already know who she is and expects you to keep up. The title alone sends listeners a message before they press play. Her first two records were titled around age — 19 & Dangerous introduced a fearless, fast-talking teenager; The […]

Anjola Akinmade

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1 month ago

“Starrgirl”: Ayra Starr Trades Becoming for Being

Diamond Platnumz Needs His Own Show

What haven’t you heard of Diamond Platnumz? Since the third installment of Young, Famous & African premiered, his name has lingered ceaselessly on the lips of fans of the show. He’s been doted on and disparaged in equal measure. To his detractors, he’s a duplicitous, morally abhorrent, philandering character. His fans see him differently. To […]

Chibuzo Emmanuel

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2 years ago

Diamond Platnumz Needs His Own Show

The Grammys Still Has a Narrow-Minded View of African Music

In 2020, in an attempt to broaden the awards’ scope, The Recording Academy elected to overhaul the Best World Music Album category. The overhaul involved, amongst other things, changing the category’s name to Best Global Album. The motivations were to some degree cosmetic; the World Music tag had become mired in connotations of colonialism and […]

Chibuzo Emmanuel

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2 years ago

The Grammys Still Has a Narrow-Minded View of African Music

Wase Taiwo on Art’s Power For Self-Expression

To be an artist like Wase Taiwo, a multi-hyphenate who has become a formidable presence within Lagos’ rapidly expanding art scene, is to simultaneously straddle multiple realities. As an artist he leads an understated existence, ever lingering in the shadows, to allow his work to bask in the spotlight. His Instagram page, an eclectic collage, […]

Chibuzo Emmanuel

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2 years ago

Wase Taiwo on Art’s Power For Self-Expression

Dissecting Tems’ Clumsy Apology

At the heart of human existence is the desire and tendency to form relationships, to establish human connection, to bask in the splendor of another human soul, with all its convolutions and complexities. This tendency is so primal, so foundational to the very notion of humanity, that it forms the basis upon which families are […]

Chibuzo Emmanuel

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2 years ago

Dissecting Tems’ Clumsy Apology

The Ethics of Jungle Justice

On January 29th, 2025, Kenyan creator Azuka Bellah captured attention with her unconventional approach to exposing street crime. Rather than typical entertainment content, Bellah conducts social experiments that reveal the safety conditions of African streets.  Her method is simple: seated in the back of a car with tinted windows, she places her phone near the […]

Shalom Tewobola

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2 years ago

The Ethics of Jungle Justice

Five Things We Hope To See on Davido’s “5ive”

A month into the new year, Davido is already set for what will surely be one of its greatest musical talking points: the release of his fifth studio album. The album, 5ive, will hope to surpass its generic nomenclature when it releases in mid-March, and for Davido, it represents a very important pivot. At a […]

Patrick Ezema

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2 years ago

Five Things We Hope To See on Davido’s “5ive”

Four Things We Hope To See On Qing Madi’s Debut Album

Qing Madi’s debut album, I Am The Blueprint, debuts soon, and with it all the expectation of an artist who arrived on the scene as a teenager but almost fully formed. In two years she’s held her own in the industry. She’s enticed with her songwriting and mesmerized with her voice, while her seamless chemistry […]

Patrick Ezema

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2 years ago

Four Things We Hope To See On Qing Madi’s Debut Album
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