ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT - The African Mirror

Jul

09

2020

Big search for ‘Glee’ actress Naya Rivera, feared dead

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER https://twitter.com/VENTURASHERIFF/status/1281100742384685057 FANS of former “Glee” actress Naya Rivera, who is feared dead after a swimming accident, have taken to social media to express their shock and anxiety. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department in California had confirmed that they were searching for Rivera, 33, in Lake Piru after a swimming accident. Lake Piru is approximately 90 kilometers northwest of downtown Los Angeles. The American news station KNBC reported that Rivera had rented a pontoon boat at the Lake Piru reservoir yesterday for her and her four-year old son. The boy was found alone without a life vest on…

Jul

08

2020

By The African Mirror

‘Black Lives Matter’ movement stirs Ghanaian artist in COVID-19 limbo

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

A TEAR slipped down the cheek of Ghanaian-German artist Zohra Opoku as she recalled how the global Black Lives Matter had kindled her pain and anger while she was stranded away from home due to coronavirus lockdowns. After Senegal closed its borders in March, the internationally renowned visual artist had no option but to remain at a residency in Dakar, where she had been creating large textile collages to explore her self-image after a cancer diagnosis. When the death of George Floyd in U.S. police custody sparked a global reckoning over racial injustice and oppression, the 44-year-old stitched a new…

Jul

28

2020

By The African Mirror

Moroccan women break through in rap scene dominated by men

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

AHMED ELJECHTIMI IN a rap scene dominated by men, women's voices are starting to make waves in Morocco. Houda Abouz, a 24-year-old who majors in film studies at a university in the northern city of Tetouan, has long been fascinated by hip-hop, and, encouraged by friends, she picked up a mic and began to perform. In January she appeared in "Hors Serie", a song in which she performed alongside three big male rap stars in Morocco, Elgrande Toto, Don Bigg and Draganov. The video has been viewed around 16 million times on YouTube - a reflection of the popularity the…

Jul

26

2020

By The African Mirror

#Jerusalema reaches 50 million views!

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER #JERUSALEMA, the incredible musical phenomenon created by South African music producer, DJ and artist, Master KG, has continued to grow like wildfire and has reached 50-million views across the world. From monks, celebrities, chefs, wedding parties, to ordinary people, everyone is dancing to the hit song which, together with its maker, has become a global sensation. In the song Jerusalema, Master KG features Nomcebo Zikode. Master KG’s song, Jerusalema, has inspired the #JerusalemaDanceChallenge that has gone viral. The song also made it to the iTunes top charts in the USA, Italy and several other European countries. According…

Jul

26

2020

By The African Mirror

Gilbert Matthews – a pioneer and a visionary of South African jazz

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

GWEN ANSELL, Associate of the Gordon Institute for Business Science, University of Pretoria SOUTH Africa has done little to acknowledge the passing of a jazz great and titan of drums, Gilbert Matthews. For Bra Gil, who brought credit to South Africa from a host of international jazz stages, the official silence remains deafening. Matthews was a visionary of the South African jazz scene. Although his beginnings were on the conventional Cape Town club jazz circuit, his talent took him across the world – he was, for a time, Ray Charles’ regular drummer – and the music he was exposed to…

Jul

21

2020

By The African Mirror

Rapper Nicki Minaj expecting her first child

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER TRINIDADIAN rapper Nicki Minaj is expecting her first child. Minaj announced her pregnancy on Instagram. She is expecting her first child with her husband Kenneth Petty. The ‘Yikes’ singer posted four pictures of herself cradling her expectant belly taken by American photographer Dave LaChapelle, with the first caption written “#Preggers”, while wearing a two-piece with a jewelled bra and cradling her prominent baby bump. https://www.instagram.com/p/CC3ffwbDEM5/ In her second post, Minaj wore the same bra and wrote: “Love. Marriage. Baby carriage. Overflowing with excitement and gratitude. Thank you for all the well wishes”. Minaj married Kenneth Petty, a…

Aug

04

2020

By The African Mirror

Black is King: A modern love story of black identity

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

MPHO RANTAO BLACK is King, Beyonce’s much anticipated visual album which features a high number of Africans, is out to much acclaim and some criticism. Folajomi Akinmurele as Simba. Picture: Youtube On the evening of 1 August 2020, fans across the world saw the premiere of the long-awaited visual accompaniment of ‘The Lion King: The Gift’ - an audio album curated and produced by Beyoncé and popular black and brown voices all made into a 1 hour 30-minute long film titled “Black is King”. The late Mary Twala. Picture: Twitter Viewers on the streaming network Disney+ or on DSTV were…

Aug

02

2020

By The African Mirror

Somizi strips naked

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER IDOLS presenter, TV star and mega influencer Somizi Mhlongo-Motaung nearly brought social media platforms down when a video of him stripping naked on the Idols set went viral. Mhlongo-Motaung, a popular host on the M-net talent show, lost a bet and disrobed in front of his colleagues, cameras and ran across the Cape Town audition hall, to the amazement and the excitement of Idols contestants and fans. The streak was greeted with screams, whistles and huge laughs. His fans on social Twitter loved the moment and the enjoyment it provided. Some even suggested that he should consider…

Aug

12

2020

By The African Mirror

British music stars resurrect Rock Against Racism

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

EMMA BATHA MORE than 700 figures from Britain's music world, including pop star Rita Ora, One Direction singer Niall Horan and producer Nile Rodgers, united to "wipe out racism" declaring "silence is not an option" in response to discrimination and abuse. The pledge made in a letter published in Britain's Sunday Times newspaper comes four decades after British musicians banded together for Rock Against Racism - a cultural movement that emerged in 1976 in response to rising xenophobia. The letter comes amid a growing global movement to tackle racism following the death of George Floyd, a Black man, in police…

Aug

13

2020

By The African Mirror

Africa’s comic artists tell powerful stories in unique online exhibition

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

ZEENAT HANSROD Follow THE work of 16 comic artists from seven African nations is showcased in an online-only exhibition, Afropolitan Comics. The French initiative, which germinated in South Africa, aims to show “what Africans can do”, the curators say.ADVERTISING Afropolitan Comics is part of the Africa 2020 project and regroups comic authors from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Algeria. ‘Afropolitan’ is an amalgam of the words 'Africa' and 'cosmopolitan' in a reminder of the modernity and diversity that exists across the African continent. “We wanted to break away from the clichés and stereotypes about Africans. Also, inform people that comic authors in Africa do not…