South Africa’s hidden jazz history is being restored album by album
It’s fitting that Johannesburg is among 12 cities featured in the 2023 Unesco International Jazz Day, themed “jazz journey around the world”
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How Burna Boy set the world alight with his mixed brew of influences
Burna spent years experimenting with different sounds in London and South Africa and his ragga-inspired vocal style became distinctive.
From Nigeria to the world: Afrobeats is having a global moment
Another Grammy Awards season and there is a growing list of African nominees.
100 years of pop music in Nigeria: what shaped four eras
A music recording in London in 1922 by Rev Josiah Ransome-Kuti (grandfather of music icon Fela Kuti) is regarded as the first formal effort at commercialising and “popularising” Nigerian music.
Setting the record straight: Burna Boy didn’t create a music genre called Afrofusion
Burna Boy seems to be claiming to have created a new genre, Afrofusion, causing much debate.
Harry Belafonte: a singer and actor but an activist at heart
Belafonte led a life of tireless activism and was present at the many peaks of 20th-century civil and human rights struggles across the globe.
How hip-hop has enhanced American education over the past 50 years, from rec rooms to classrooms
Educators are not only remembering the obvious ways hip-hop has influenced language and fashion or provided the soundtrack to our study sessions and sports events, but we are also acknowledging how hip-hop has changed education.
The Era of Afrofuturism
Afrofuturism is a cultural trend that has gained popularity in recent decades. It is a future vision based on Black people’s experiences, traditions, and ambitions.
The legacy of iconic singer Miriam Makeba and her art of activism
South Africa’s world famous singer and activist Miriam Makeba (1932-2008) would have turned 90 on 4 March 2022.
Beyoncé is not the most commercially successful artist of our age but she might be one of the most culturally significant
In 2023, Beyoncé won the Grammy for best dance/electronic album and in the process became the Grammy’s most-awarded artist.