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.
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 […]
1 month ago
If Nigeria is a country of good people, what does it take to build a great nation? Where does personal virtue end and collective responsibility begin? And what happens when goodness exists in a system that does not reward it?
2 months ago
Afrobeats’ global expansion has opened doors at an unprecedented pace. New artists are stepping onto festival stages, international showcases, and headline slots far earlier in their careers than was once possible. But with that access has come a noticeable erosion of standards — particularly when it comes to live performances. Increasingly, poor showings are being […]
2 months ago
Everyone has a podcast—or is about to launch one. From living rooms to YouTube studios, microphones are plugged in, ring lights are on, and conversations are being recorded at a dizzying pace. Podcasts flit from hot topic to hot topic, with a steady stream of camera ready guests lending instantly viral ‘insight’ to the increasingly […]
8 months ago
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has never shied away from political themes. Her first novel, Purple Hibiscus, narrated by a 13-year-old girl, is set during a military dictatorship. The protagonist’s father is vocal against the government of the day and faces dire consequences as a result. The stakes are even higher in Half of a Yellow Sun, […]
10 months ago
May is a month of fresh starts, shifting rhythms, and new stories to dive into. This carefully curated list centers Nigerian women at the heart of powerful narratives, tracing their journeys through love, tradition, resistance, and rebirth. Two books by the same author appear here intentionally, both are seminal classics that continue to shape conversations […]
10 months ago
Nigeria is no stranger to controversial and often inane rhetoric from its preachers. In 2020, whilst the entire country shuddered under the weight of an inscrutable pandemic whose full impacts were yet unknown, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, the founder and head pastor of Christ Embassy, took to the pulpit to echo some rabid conspiracy about the […]
10 months ago
The 17th edition of the Headies, Nigeria’s premier music award, was held on Sunday, and as usual, it was a festive music event, featuring both freshly minted stars and music legends alike vying for their own iconic Headies plaque. It also saw the return of the many drawbacks that we must now assume to be […]
10 months 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 […]
10 months ago
On April 19th, 2014, during the Easter celebrations, Nnamdi Kanaga received an invitation to grief after he got a call informing him that one of his brothers, Peter, a university freshman at the time, had drowned. Six years after his initial bereavement, Kanaga lost his father. The psychological impact of these experiences seem to weigh […]
10 months ago
The 17th edition of The Headies was held on Sunday night and it came complete with the standard fare of problems. The production was characteristically abysmal. The broadcast feed could as well have been from the 1980s. Tardiness was a problem, as usual. It’s almost like the entire concept of time was lost on the […]
10 months ago
The carnival tradition of the returnees evolved into the Lagos Fanti Carnival or Caretta Parade. The carnival inflects Brazilian carnival traditions with local Yoruba and Nigerian traditions, creating an event that feels authentic to Nigeria while celebrating the Brazilian heritage of the Agudas.
11 months ago