Connie Chiume: The Storyteller
Connie Chiume: The Storyteller It’s hard to imagine being dedicated to something for 45 years. Chadwick Boseman once said, “Purpose crosses disciplines. Purpose is an essential element of you. It is the reason you are on the planet at this particular time in history.” For Connie Chiume, she found her purpose in the arts, and […]
Minnie Dlamini – The Storyteller
Minnie Dlamini: The Storyteller Minnie Dlamini hasn’t given a detailed interview in three years. Deliberately so. Her brother Khosini died in September 2019 after having suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm and being on life support for 23 days before succumbing to his condition. “Devastating. Absolutely devastating,” she says of the ways in which his death […]
After 15 years Back to the City Festival is firmly rooted in SA’s hip hop heritage
On his aptly titled song “Nostalgia” off Marco Polo’s Port Authority album, legendary hip hop artist Masta Ace reminisces about the early days of hip hop, punctuating his second verse with the line “Hip hop used to be so thick in the air, when it was there, you ain’t even need a kick and snare…”. […]
Breaking Bread with Bea Theron
“Amapiano to the world” is a phrase we’ve been hearing consistently over the past year or so. South Africa’s greatest sonic export has come with a lot of opportunity for the artists championing the sound: it’s a tale of musicians from the hood making the most of their gifts and rising – like the tide […]
Inside Manthe Ribane’s Museum of Belief, Optimism, and Solidarity
There was a girl. Teal lipstick, fluorescent disco pants, and a sharp bowl cut, razored bald on the sides, with a waist-long braid at each temple framing her face. “I’m a cartoon character,” she tells one camera while the screen cuts to her dancing in a Johannesburg street. She’s practically bursting with a magnetic charm […]
Tony Gum: Find Your People and Move With Them
Being an artist is a lot like being a teenager. It’s a time of simultaneous omnipotence and powerlessness, according to Chris Kraus, as you live so intensely inside your own head that there isn’t a difference between reality and your imagination. You’re the master of your own universe, discovering and making the world all at […]
Manthe Ribane and Tony Gum: The Storytellers
Every story has a beginning. Our origins inform who we are and are at the heart of our identity. We are all storytellers, ultimately, and our stories play a definitive role in how we evolve as beings. Africa’s most loved storyteller, Multichoice, is passionate about showcasing them and the artists who create them. This September, […]
DBN Gogo: The Meister
In so far as music experiences go, you won’t easily forget one by DBN Gogo. I call it an experience because blithely labeling it a set doesn’t quite articulate the encounter. You see, Mandisa Radebe is intimately acquainted with music because she was student of groove. Her university days saw her attend to her law […]
The 2022 Met Gala: What is the Gilded Age and did attendees embody it?
The Met Gala took place last night in New York City, returning to its traditional first Monday in May slot. Hosted at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art, the gala is an annual celebration of fashion and a fundraiser for the the museum’s Costume Institute. Both the 2021 and 2022 exhibition themes were an exploration […]
Karabo Poppy: Walking Her Own Path
They say an artist’s greatest inspirations are found in their surroundings. Salvadore Dali needed the landscape, light, and ‘geological peacefulness’ of Port Lligat, his home, to create his finest works. Rich Mnisi credits the women in his family as his inspiration. Speaking of his great-grandmother, he said, “the stories about her and my understanding of […]
How The Soundtrack of Issa Rae’s Insecure Has Elevated the Artists On It
Since its debut in 2016, Issa Rae’s Insecure has been the visual diary of an awkward black girl. Whether you’re screaming with laughter or your jaw has dropped in shock at the dramatic scenes, one of the staples of the beautifully curated experience that is Insecure has been its soundtrack. We’re into the fifth and […]
Pouring Back Into Youth Empowerment: The Story of Galelo Africa
You’re in your first year of varsity with a head full of dreams. Your excitement for the future is palpable and you find yourself gravitating towards another first year with similar ideas and you become fast friends. Your name is Kamohelo Mothibedi, his is Buntu Mdaka and these are the origins of what would later […]