music - The African Mirror

Apr

2022

Who is Nigerian music star Wizkid – and why is he taking over the world?

THE global appreciation of West Africa’s Afrobeats music has grown significantly in the last decade. Afrobeats stars are touring the world, racking up record sales, winning awards and collaborating with big-name international artists. In fact, seven of the nine African artists nominated for a 2022 Grammy Award – one of the world’s most sought after music awards – are West African. Most of these make music driven by Afrobeats sounds. Author SAMSON UCHENNA EZE, Lecturer, University of Nigeria Afrobeats is a broad, generic term for African contemporary popular music with rhythmic and harmonic influences of West Africa’s highlife and Afrobeat…

Dec

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…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Legendary US group Fugees to tour West Africa

NEWS

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER READY or not here come the Fugees. The popular American hip-hop group have announced that they will be hitting African shores for a small tour in December, performing in Ghana and Nigeria. The tour will be the Fugees’ first in 15 years, performing in a string of concerts across North America, Europe and West Africa. Wyclef Jean, Ms. Lauryn Hill and Pras Michel told fans that they will be reuniting after 15 years to celebrate the anniversary of their hit 1996 album The Score, by going on a 12-city global tour, which will see them concluding in…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

The Mayhem that is Drake’s CLB and Kanye West’s Donda

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

MPHO RANTAO Donda, Donda, Donda. I love you, i love you, i love you, until I — Two very different introductions belonging to two of hip-hop's biggest names; setting the tone for two very different moods. If you haven’t noticed by now, I’m talking about the week-apart releases of Kanye West’s DONDA, and Drake’s Certified Lover Boy. If there were artists akin to a holy grail, these two would come extremely close and with good reasons. They are the wordsmiths part of a generation that has continued to shift cultural views on music, fashion and art. The Donda album (left)…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Nigerian-born Tunji Balogun named Def Jam CEO & chairman

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER MUSIC Executive Tunji Balogun has a new title under his name. Universal Music Group (UMG) has announced that the media executive will be moving to the top role at Def Jam Recordings, the massively successful US recording label known for being the home to Jay-Z, Rihanna, Justin Bieber and many more. "I grew up on Def Jam's music – collecting, listening to and studying their albums and singles – those early moments as a young fan have had a lasting influence on who I am today," Balogun said. Balogun is currently the Executive Vice President of A&R…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Nigerian icon Fela is long overdue for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

SCROLLING through the comments made on YouTube on Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s music, one comes across remarks such as: “The greatest unknown musician who ever lived”, “Why isn’t Fela’s music more widely known?”, “His music beats everything I’ve ever heard before” and “Why am I so late to this?” SANYA OSHA, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Humanities in Africa, University of Cape Town The truth is that during Fela’s extraordinary lifetime, the Nigerian’s notoriety as an engaged citizen fighting for social justice was what usually attracted attention – and not his music. His public persona as a cultural renegade, an incorrigible iconoclast…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

‘We need each other’: Black classical musicians are building supportive communities

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

GLORIA BLIZZARD, MFA Candidate, University of King's College, Dalhousie University GILLIAN TURNBULL, Contract lecturer, Music section, Department of Philosophy, Ryerson University MUSIC has been significant for many during COVID-19 isolation, and in these same months, Black musicians have amplified the momentum of the Black Lives Matter movement. While pop or hip hop music are genres whose agility and responsiveness make them natural sites for popular commentary, this threatens to neglect other arenas of music making. Some arts organizations in Canada have pledged support for Black Lives Matter, turned their platforms over to Black artists or spotlighted their work. Recently a…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

What archaeology tells us about the music and sounds made by Africa’s ancestors

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

JOSHUA KUMBANI, PhD Candidate, University of the Witwatersrand MUSIC has been part and parcel of humanity for a long time. Not every sound is musical, but sound has meaning and sometimes the meaning of sound is specific to its context. But when it comes to archaeology there is scant evidence of music or sound producing artefacts from southern Africa. This is because of poor preservation of the mostly organic materials that were used to manufacture musical instruments. Rock art offers depictions of musical instruments as well as scenes of dancing that can be linked with music performance, but here only…

Jul

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

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…