ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT - The African Mirror

Mar

08

2022

Keyboard as art and saving the world

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

ANGE KUMASSI, BIRD STORY AGENCY ADMIRERS call him a "master in the art of electronic waste." Born in the city of Buyo, in the southwest of the Ivory Coast, Mounou Désiré Koffi has always had a passion for art. That passion - and his obvious skill, recognised throughout his school-going years and then through college - gave him what so many creatives on the continent dream of… professional training and then a career in visual art. "After my studies, I wanted to embark on a professional career; painting, trying to stand out, bringing creativity to my work," he told bird…

Dec

04

2021

By The African Mirror

More minority faces in film, TV, music as audiences demand diversity

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

RICHARD CHANG MORE minorities are showing up in mainstream U.S. entertainment, from films and TV to music, as audiences demand stories that reflect the world's diversity, showing that inclusion is good business, industry executives said. "Our industry has caught up with reality. The majority of the world is actually Asian," said Bing Chen, president of Gold House, a nonprofit collective that promotes Asian Pacific Islander voices, on a panel at  the  Reuters Next conference broadcast on Thursday.  "Audiences are craving things they've never seen, never heard of." "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings," the first Marvel movie to…

Dec

07

2021

By The African Mirror

Oscar winners assemble for climate warning comedy ‘Don’t Look Up’

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

ALICIA POWELL DIRECTOR Adam McKay has assembled an all-star cast brimming with Oscar winners to give a humorous warning about climate change in the new movie "Don't Look Up". In the Netflix film, Academy Award winners Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio play two astronomers who set out to warn the world of an approaching comet set to destroy the planet. But the message falls on deaf ears, starting with Meryl Streep's President Janie Orlean. "I think the big trick is we want you to laugh ... The great thing about test screening the movie was right, left-wing were all laughing,"…

Aug

01

2021

By The African Mirror

Ghana’s first openly trans musician fights homophobia with song

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

NITA BHALLA GHANA'S first openly transgender musician has released a song to boost the morale of the West African nation's LGBT+ community as it faces a crackdown by authorities and a rise in homophobic persecution. Hiplife and Afropop artist Angel Maxine said she wrote "Wo Fie", meaning "Your Home" in the Twi language, to comfort LGBT+ Ghanaians who were not only facing threats from authorities, but also a surge in verbal and physical attacks from the public. "The situation for the queer community in Ghana is very tense at the moment," Maxine, 35, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from…

Aug

03

2021

By The African Mirror

Nigeria makes an international statement with its first feature-length animated movie

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

SETH ONYANGO, BIRD NEWSROOM AFRO-URBAN entertainment powerhouse, Trace, has begun distributing "Lady Buckit and the Motley Mopsters" – a Nigerian feature-length 3D animated film - after inking a deal with Hot Ticket Productions to distribute the film globally. In May this year, Trace's distribution arm inked a deal with Hot Ticket Productions to distribute Nigeria’s first feature-length 3D animated film, "Lady Buckit and the Motley Mopsters" worldwide - opening the door to a potential global audience for an animation that was originally conceived in the home of a Nigerian geologist. The wide success of the movie is not only a…

Jan

02

2021

By The African Mirror

Hip-hop artist MF DOOM dead at 49

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

MPHO RANTAO AMERICAN-based rapper MF DOOM has died after a career spanning over two decades. View this post on Instagram A post shared by MF DOOM. ALL CAPS. (@mfdoom) The rapper’s wife Jasmine confirmed his death on his Instagram account. In a note addressed to the rapper, his wife paid tribute to "the greatest husband, father, teacher, student, business partner, lover and friend I could ever ask for". Tributes from the hip-hop fraternity have been pouring in for the innovative artist, including tributes from Tyler, The Creator, presenter Zane Lowe, A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip and Run The Jewels. The…

Jan

02

2021

By The African Mirror

Vanessa Mdee Rotimi ring in 2021 with engagement

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

MPHO RANTAO TWO of Africa’s biggest stars, Rotimi and Vanessa Mdee, entered the new year on a high, with the announcement of their engagement. The Atlanta-based couple have been together for over a year, having met at the 2019 Essence Festival in New Orleans where Rotimi was due to perform. The Nigerian-American actor (born Olurotimi Akinosho) dropped down on one knee in a ‘Coming 2 America’ setting on December 31, asking his Tanzanian singer girlfriend to marry him. Rotimi and Vanessa Mdee on video. Picture: Instagram The actor posted the video of the proposal on his Instagram page with the…

Jan

12

2021

By The African Mirror

Meghan Markle & Prince Harry abandon social media

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

MPHO RANTAO THE Duke and Duchess of Sussex have decided to step away from Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for good. Their decision was disclosed by a source close to the couple, who told The Times of London that it is "very unlikely" that the royal duo will not return to social media due to the immense amount of "hate" they have received from online users. The source also informed The Times of London that the couple had no plans to create social media profiles for their Archewell Foundation or return to their personal social profiles for the foreseeable future. The…

Jul

19

2022

By The African Mirror

Ladysmith Black Mambazo shrug off power cut to sing for Mandela

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

TIM COCKS LADYSMITH Black Mambazo sang their warm-hearted choral harmonies in honour of peace icon Nelson Mandela, with a 45-minute forced intermission caused by one of the power cuts that have become a part of daily life in South Africa. The concert in Johannesburg's main theatre, a day before U.N.-declared Mandela Day, his birthday, celebrated the life of the man who steered South Africa from the manacles of apartheid to multi-racial democracy while narrowly avoiding a civil war. "Madiba has been an inspiration for us," Sibongiseni Shabalala, band member and son of the band's late founder Joseph Shabalala, said, using…

Jul

19

2022

By The African Mirror

100 years of pop music in Nigeria: what shaped four eras

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

THE global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the early months of 2020 shut down nearly all physical and social human activities. For musical practice, this meant near death. Performing music is, after all, one of the oldest forms of social human engagement. In Nigeria, the shutdown of concerts and public music performances was swift. Not even the Nigerian–Biafran War of 1967 to 1970 could shut down all of Nigeria. In fact, popular music activities boomed in Lagos as bombs rained on Biafra. The pandemic was a watershed moment and offers a compelling reason to trace the trajectory and evolution…