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Why Grammy win marks ‘big moment’ for African music

Why Grammy win marks ‘big moment’ for African music

ALEXIS AKWAGYIRAM and ANGELA UKOMADU MODERN African music is altering perceptions of the continent as part of a global cultural shift that marks a "big moment", Nigerian music artist Burna Boy told Reuters after hailing his first Grammy award. Burna Boy was awarded a Grammy for the Best Global Music Album this month for 'Twice As Tall' which was released last year. He is part of a generation of Nigerian music artists, which include Wizkid and Davido, that has enjoyed global success in recent years as proponents of the Afrobeats sound. The African genre is now almost as likely to…
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Usher’s moves to amapiano drives fans crazy

Usher’s moves to amapiano drives fans crazy

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER USHER has lit up social media with his crazy dance moves to amapiano.  The 'Yeah' singer went viral on Twitter and Instagram when South African fans noticed that the singer’s post on Instagram featured a popular amapiano song called ‘Sponono’ by DJs Kabza De Small and Maphorisa.  The video showed Usher dressed in a vibrant Versace outfit while dancing to ‘Sponono’ for a magazine shoot for European fashion magazine L’Officiel Hommes Italia.  Amapiano is a hybrid of deep house, jazz and lounge music characterized by high-pitched piano melodies, percussions, Kwaito bassline and low tempo 90s South African…
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Artist tackles politics, pandemic with paint

Artist tackles politics, pandemic with paint

NELLIE PEYTON and NGOUDA DIONE WHEN Senegal erupted in violent protests this month over perceived injustice and inequality, artist Omar Ba was tackling the issues in his own way, with paint on canvas. "What the youth are doing in the streets is the same thing I'm doing in my studio," said Ba, stepping in black paint and making footprints on a new canvas in his airy workspace outside the capital, Dakar. Ba, one of Senegal's best-known contemporary artists, has often used his art to make political statements. A current exhibit at the Galerie Templon in Brussels, 'Anomalies', critiques power-hungry leaders…
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Linton Kwesi Johnson gave poetry back to the people

Linton Kwesi Johnson gave poetry back to the people

PERCY ZVOMUYA The dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, this year’s recipient of the PEN Pinter Prize, is the third consecutive black winner of the gong instituted in memory of Nobel-winning playwright Harold Pinter. Johnson, popularly known as LKJ, follows in the wake of British poet Lemn Sissay (2019) and Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2018).   It’s no exaggeration that LKJ, who went to Britain from Jamaica at the age of 11 to follow his mother, part of the Windrush generation, did more than most to make black “cool” in Britain and beyond. In his music and poetry, he not only…
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Body of missing ‘Glee’ actress Naya Rivera found

Body of missing ‘Glee’ actress Naya Rivera found

A BODY recovered from a lake in California is that of missing "Glee" actress Naya Rivera, officials have confirmed. "We are confident the body we found is that of Naya Rivera," Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub told a news conference on the shore of Lake Piru near Los Angeles. Rivera, 33, was presumed drowned after going missing on Wednesday. She had rented a boat on Lake Piru with her four-year-old son, Josey, who was found unharmed. Her body was recovered early on Monday near the surface of the water in an area where the boat had gone missing that was…
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Actress Kelly Preston dies of breast cancer at 57

Actress Kelly Preston dies of breast cancer at 57

AMERICAN actress Kelly Preston who has appeared in films including "Jerry Maguire" and "Twins", has died aged 57 after battling breast cancer for nearly two years, her husband, John Travolta, announced in an Instagram. "It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you that my beautiful wife Kelly has lost her two-year battle with breast cancer," the 66-year-old "Grease" actor said in his post. "Kelly's love and life will always be remembered. I will be taking some time to be there for my children who have lost their mother, so forgive me in advance if you don't hear…
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Will Smith’s f…k you to 50 Cents over Jada comment

Will Smith’s f…k you to 50 Cents over Jada comment

 OWN CORRESPONDENT WHAT started as a cordial and brotherly text exchange between two Hollywood stars - Will Smith and 50 Cent - did not end well, their conversation suggests. Will, in the news after his wife Jada Pinkett Smith (48) confessed to an affair with R&B singer August Alsina (27), appeared to lose his cool and used an expletive. According to the post shared by 50 Cent, he started by asking: “Yo Will you alright over there?” Will replied: 'Yes, I'm cool. I appreciate your support brother.'  50 Cent asked: 'But why did she tell you that s**t on a…
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Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan tests positive for coronavirus

Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan tests positive for coronavirus

BOLLYWOOD actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and her daughter have tested positive for the new coronavirus, a day after her father-in-law and top Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan and her husband and actor Abhishek said they were infected with the virus. Maharastra state health minister Rajesh Tope said in a tweet Aishwarya and her daughter had tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. It was not clear whether they had been admitted to hospital, as Amitabh and Abhishek were on Saturday when they said they had mild symptoms. - Thomson Reuters Foundation. #AishwaryaRaiBachchan and #Aaradhya also test positive for #Covid19 after…
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Actress Jada Pinkett-Smith reveals she DID have a relationship with August Alsina

Actress Jada Pinkett-Smith reveals she DID have a relationship with August Alsina

ACTRESS Jada Pinket -Smith has confessed to a romantic relationship with singer August Alsina, after first denying it. However, Jada revealed that the affair happened while she and husband Wil Smith were on a temporary separation. The confession came during the actress Facebook Watch show Red Table Talk to discuss Alsina's allegations they had a romance. She was joined by Will for the bombshell episode. The couple has two children Jaden (21) and Willow (19). Jada 48) explained that she had met August (27), who was really sick, through their son Jaden. She and Will then spoke about the time…
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Rapper AKA tests positive for COVID-19

Rapper AKA tests positive for COVID-19

STAFF REPORTER SOUTH Africa’s multi award winning rapper AKA  has tested positive for COVID-19. AKA joints a list of South African celebrities and high profile politicians who have tested positive for the deadly virus. The rapper, whose real name is Jarryd Forbes, has gone into self-isolation and would use the time to document his experience. He said he had made his COVID-19 results public in an attempt to create awareness around the virus and caution citizens to be more careful in their daily interactions with others. “AKA pleaded with everyone to adhere to social distancing guidelines, to wear masks and…
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