No gossip or gimmicks here. Culture Custodian provides African Pop Culture coverage like none other with a focus on breaking down the stories that are important and relevant from an informative standpoint.
Despite his embattled situation, writing Wizkid off is a bit premature, he still has a huge fanbase and the talent to command rave reviews from critics.
3 weeks ago
To open 5ive, the poet Alhanislam recites a spoken-word commentary on the album and the man behind it. It feels a little pretentious, rooted in the same idea that drives artists to label every new project their deepest and most personal work yet. Yet some of it does have grounding in real-life events. Alhanislam hails […]
1 month ago
Last weekend, the youngest of the Uzama brothers, Osahan Uzama, more known by his moniker, Famous Pluto, joined the ranks of his brothers—Shallipopi, and Zerry DL, both fierce advocates of Benin Street Pop—with the release of his feverishly anticipated single Na Scra. Before its official release, the song had been making the rounds on TikTok, […]
3 months ago
The wooden chair wobbled as seven-year-old Jola Ayeye hunched over a page, pencil gripped tight, tongue peeking out in concentration. Around her, the floor was a patchwork of unfinished stories, half-colored sketches, and a notebook filled with lyrics to songs no one else knew. “What do you want to be when you grow up, Jola?” […]
3 months ago
Fela remains the loudest figure against government oppression and corruption in our music history, but a lot of others have lent a voice to the struggles of Nigerians through the years. Daddy Showkey, an indigene of the backward Lagos slum of Ajegunle, pioneered Galala music, which often took aim at the government in power and detailed the poverty in his hometown.
3 months ago
After the long stretch of May, June arrives with a breath of fresh air. African literature continues to thrive, even as it mourns the loss of Kenyan literary giant Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, who passed away on May 28, 2025. Still, one imagines the revered author would want us to keep turning the pages of African […]
3 days ago
The past few months have seen Burna Boy steadily ramp up the roll out of his imminent eighth album, No Sign of Weakness, and with four singles leading up to its release, the album feels tangibly close. In the case of albums without sufficient lead singles, speculating about the artist’s direction with the project usually […]
4 days ago
On the 26th of May, South African popstar Tyla beat an all-Nigerian lineup, including Wizkid, Asake, Tems, and Rema, to win the Favorite Afrobeats Artist category at the 51st edition of the American Music Awards. Her win has expectedly stirred a maelstrom of debates and public discourse about her deservedness given that Tyla, while being […]
4 days ago
Irrepressible force in Kenya and Africa’s literary community, Ngugi wa Thiong’o has died at 87. His work spanned roughly six decades, primarily documenting the transformation of his country – Kenya – from a colonial subject to a democracy. From his debut novel, Weep Not, Child (published May 1964) to his final works, Ngugi maintained a […]
1 week ago
Sniip3r always shone behind the scenes, his excellence earning him perks without seeking the spotlight. His work and name wear a remote familiarity that many people can’t yet place a face to. But now, still in his prime, in his mid-twenties, he feels ready to step forward on favorable terms. After a late night of […]
1 week ago
“Love is the only reality, and it’s not a mere sentiment. It’s the ultimate truth that lies at the heart of creation.” This beautiful quote by the vaunted Bengali playwright and poet Rabindranath Tagore puts forward a weighted cosmological argument for love. Love, Tagore contends, is more than a feeling, it’s instead the upholstery upon […]
2 weeks ago
The average Afrobeats enthusiast is all too familiar with the narrative of an artist pushing back against industry gatekeepers. It’s one of the most popular tropes of the genre. In Rema’s Ozeba, he sings “Shey you wan gatekeep who sabi jump fence?” It’s cheeky and whimsical but also bristling with a cavalier tenor. You can […]
2 weeks ago
After a protracted silence interspersed with tacit gaslighting, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, the organization tasked with organizing the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Exam, UTME, has finally admitted culpability in the widespread complaints from students and guardians across the country of inscrutably low scores. Previously, the organization had hailed the just-concluded exams as one […]
3 weeks ago
