Fashioning Modern Africanism

The organisers of Mr Gay World™ are excited to announce that Mr Gay World™ 2022 will take place in Cape Town, South Africa from 9 to 16 October 2022.  In the wake of the lifting of international Covid-19 restrictions, this will be the first time in three years that Mr Gay World™ will be presented as an in-person event.  Delegates from around the globe will fly into one of Africa's most desirable tourist destinations to compete in the week-long contest. Only one will be crowned Mr Gay World™ 2022.  And in a major coup, the Grand Finale will be staged at the city’s sumptuous Arts Cape Opera House on 15 October 2022. Tickets for the spectacular event will become available via Computicket closer to the date.  This will be the seventh time that South Africa will host Mr Gay World™, although two of these contests were hosted virtually by the South African organisers to accommodate Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.  “We are so glad to be back doing the competition in person again, and there

  Multi award-winning South African entertainer J’Something today announced his upcoming INDOOR Tour, launching in Cape Town mid-September, before moving on to Durban and Johannesburg in the later part of the year. As many people were re-evaluating their purpose during the lockdown, J’Something turned to music to keep grounded and sane. For an artist who was accustomed to live performances and public interaction almost daily, staying home suddenly became everyone’s reality.   And so was born the beginnings of the INDOOR, a 10-track ‘Mixtape’ that he made together with some of his industry friends.   Drawing inspiration from some of the greats that have inspired & shaped him in various ways over the years, the project is a creative and emotional expression and interpretation of what he hears when listening to the iconic songs featured on the project.   Having finally completed the almost two-year-long project early this year, J decided to showcase the project live to an indoor audie

  NELSON MAKAMO PRESENTS 'BLUE' Globally recognised & collected, acclaimed South African artist Nelson Makamo this past weekend opened his first independent solo US exhibition, presenting a latest body of work  BLUE. In plans since 2017, the exhibition has been put together independently, and brought together an all female group of dynamic and progressive Black professionals who helped curate this landmark show. Due to the diversity in the contemporary art landscape in inner city Los Angeles, Nelson and his team ultimately selected this location earlier this year to showcase his first US solo exhibition. Currently one of the world’s most sought-after visual artists of our generation, this well celebrated 39 year old South African artist has managed to solidify his iconic artistic signature, steadily placed him on a global stage. Nelson Makamo's artwork has resonated with a global audience over the past decade, with his work featured in various prestigious public and pri

JozEEst, formerly known as JozEEst headcover designs introduced their sister brand with a new fashion capsule collection. JozEEst Fashion, owned by Zeliha Gultekin Karodia born and raised in Istanbul.  Zeliha studied fashion design at Mimar Sinan University. She worked as a fashion designer for 12 years in Istanbul and visited many International Fashion Trend Expos in Europe. Zeliha says creating this collection her inspiration was African Women's character traits. Bold, energetic, active, modern African women. JozEEst knitted garments are created using wool blended yarn to provide comfortable and high quality designs with South African fresh produced materials. JoZEEst style is comfortable, Trendy and versatile. "While designing this collection, I wanted people to experience knitwear in a very versatile way, because my designs are comfortable and can be worn all day long. Therefore, I designed ready to wear garments suitable for them to create different styles paired with Joz

Discovery launches The Man Who Walked Around the World, award-winning director Anthony Wonke’s new feature documentary about Scotch whisky brand Johnnie Walker. The independent film, created by Something™ Originals and produced by multi-award-winning production company Partizan, tells a powerful story of positivity and resilience - exploring how, over two centuries, the brand navigated floods, flu pandemics and World Wars, while making a stand on racial and gender inequality along the way. “This is the story of Johnnie Walker but it’s more than just a story about whisky, it’s about culture and the universal need to be able to look to the future with hope. That’s what makes it so powerful - it’s not a history lesson, it’s a story for where we are today and what we need to go forward”, says Wonke. The Academy Award-nominated, Emmy and BAFTA-winning director/producer, whose previous documentary subjects include Cristiano Ronaldo, Star Wars and AP McCoy, has spent a large part of his time

A new breed of an African maverick, Thaiwanda is a producer, songwriter and performer whose rich fusion of musical textures and sonics is set to win over a new global audience. Stream and listen to "Letter's"  Here His anticipated debut album on Paradise Sound System titled " Letters " is officially out now! Thaiwanda is a perfect fit with the new German-South African initiative taking independent African artists to the world. Thaiwanda reveals a sound that transcends genres, and that articulates and integrates African sounds and rhythms into a rich fusion of musical textures and sonics. The Zimbabwean-born Thaiwanda is known for his hitmaker status, having worked on chart-topping tracks with musical talent spanning the Africa continent. Among these are co-production and songwriting on “Phumakim” off South African Cassper Nyovest’s two time platinum-selling album "Tsholofelo", on production and a feature on “No Stress” off the award-winning A Few Good

The duo's hit single Ibhanoyi came out tops to take the prestigious Record of the Year award. This is one of the two public voted awards where music fans make their voice heard by choosing from the top 20 songs shortlisted. Last night, rapper AKA won the Music Video of the Year award for Jika featuring Yanga Chief. Dance music maestro Prince Kaybee made a clean sweep scoring major wins in the Album of the Year and Best Dance Album categories. He picked up the Male Artist of the Year earlier in the week to become one of the three most awarded artists of the 2020 edition of SAMA. With three awards, Prince Kaybee is tied with jazz newcomer Ndabo Zulu (& Umgidi Ensemble) who won the Duo/Group of the Year tonight, having already won Newcomer of the Year and Best Jazz Album awards earlier in the week. Gospel legend, Bishop Benjamin Dube also walked away with three gongs for Best Live Audio Visual, Best Contemporary Faith Album and Lifetime Achievement Award. Francois van Coke’s Dagdr

ON THAT NIGHT, M-NET WILL ALSO BE AVAILABLE TO DStv COMPACT PLUS, COMPACT PLUS, COMPACT AND FAMIILY VIEWERS! M-Net, the MultiChoice Group’s flagship channel on DStv Premium, has acquired the rights from The Walt Disney Company to screen Black Is King across Africa. The film by Beyoncé, is based on the music of The Lion King: The Gift from last year’s release of Disney’s The Lion King.  The teaser and trailer about this new visual album are already taking the world by storm. More good news is that M-Net will bring Black Is King to the continent within 24-hours of its debut on Disney+. The M-Net screening is scheduled for Saturday, 1 August at  20:00 CAT and 21:00 EAT/WAT.   And, DStv customers who don’t have access to M-Net can shrug off any FOMO (fear of missing out). As a special treat for those subscribing to other DStv packages, the MultiChoice Group will open M-Net to DStv Compact Plus, Compact and Family for two hours on the night that Black Is King arrives in Africa. Furthermore,

She’s the Queen of Afro House”  –  Rollingstone Magazine “The Afro House queen dives deep into Afrobeat history”  –  The Fader Magazine   “….the singer who has managed to carve her own lane in the bustling Nigerian music scene”   – Okay Africa              Johannesburg, South Africa  – Multi award winning Nigerian artiste Niniola is back with her new single  ADDICTED   which is already making waves on radio stations across the continent. Having organically shot to fame across the globe in 2017, with hit single Maradona from her debut album, Niniola Apata aka Niniola is a multi-talented Grammy nominated singer, songwriter, producer, philanthropist and entrepreneur is back. Her latest single titled  “ADDICTED”  from her much anticipated upcoming album ‘ Colours and Sounds ’ dropped last week, and already has great response globally with huge airplay on stations locally.   The single is a fun Afro House track, centred around lost love and finding your way back to it. Written as an ode to

GOGO Music proudly presents this exquisite single collaboration between Ralf GUM and Bongi Mvuyana who teamed up for a second time, after they presented their celebrated song "Used To Be" in 2019. With "Don't Let Them Love You" they now come up with another explosive, deep and sexy vocal house jam. Ralf GUM continues to effortlessly put out work that stands out, something which earned him titles like "influential", "inspiring" and "gamechanger" within the House Music community during his career, which already spans more than 3 decades. After his fourth full length album release "Progressions" in 2019, he dedicates 2020 towards single projects with artists he admires and continues exploring the meaning of "meeting" in a spiritual sense when collaborating with likeminded talent. Bongi Mvuyana is a South African singer and songwriter who was named the "Glamour Women of the Year Readers' Choice Award"

When someone is close to heart, its never easy to forget them. This week on the 22nd of June late SA hip hop star "Pro Kid" would have been celebrating his 39th birthday. A number of musician have come together before this in honour of Linda "Pro" Mkhize's memory. The recent commemoration is not short of being honourary. Dj Citilyts who is the PRO's younger brother has teamed up with Bless and Blayze to bring a smash hit which features his  legendary late older brother Pro Kid. This collaboration comes not only as music shared by artist, but a reflection of how Pro Kid tared the road he had paved. Many artists across the fort still sing their praises of this Soweto born Icon. This collaboration of Dj Citilyts along with Bless and Blayze, is an emphasis of the growth and how far South African Hip Hop has come. With the combination of the old and new wave coming together, this is surely worth feeding the ear. Dj Citilyts features Bless, Blayze and "no. 1

Hey Bafwethu! The world is fast changing, a need to ameliorate the content is just inevitable. Coco V (covid19) has shifted things, and most people are becoming more woke as we tap into the new normal. La ekhaya, we have also decided to add book recommendations onto our list. Books are a great escape when you want to tap into a different world to give the mind some sort of adventure. Reading is more than just a hobby we enjoy when we run out of things to do, it is empowering, entertaining and adventurous. This Week's choice was an easy one but I challenge you to read this book. After all it's still Pride Month!  They Called Me Queer' is a collection written by Africans who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual. South Africa has become known for its tolerance towards the LGBTQIA+ community. However, we live in a devastatingly segregated and unequal society, where sexual identities still heavily impacts every part of our daily lives

Max-Hoba’s signature AfroSoul sound has already earned the singer, songwriter and performer a devoted following, both in South Africa and internationally. Now this versatile artist is set to broaden his audience through his work with Paradise Sound System, a German-South African project that is playing an instrumental role in taking independent African artists to the world.   Listen Here Max-Hoba’s ability to move across different languages (primarily IsiXhosa, Sesotho and English) and musical styles (including traditional South African roots music) gives his debut PSS release a broad appeal that is only enhanced by his rich, deep, velvety voice. Lyrically, too, this gifted artist easily moves between the universal themes of love and togetherness, and socially important subjects that soundtrack the times in which we live – unity, tolerance and more.    Born and raised in the Free State mining town of Welkom, South Africa, Max-Hoba – who is also known as The Traveling Man – is a highly

The Malawian Afrobeat superstar has done it again. With the official music video release of “Here With Me”.  The song in itself is uplifting and motivational. Onesimus takes on a beautiful virtual tour of Cameroon, Yaounde. The video is also built around an intense storyline that can be defined as “Action Cinematic”.  The video is nothing short of breathtaking. From a beautiful tropical scenery through flea markets and beach waters. To high speed car chases and the heroic escape. Onesimus’s full body of work, entitled Messenger. Was the pathway to his latest release “Here With Me”. Onesimus’s ability to move across different sounds (primarily Afrobeat, Gospel and House) and musical styles (including traditional South African roots music) gives his debut single release a broad appeal that is only enhanced by his rich, deep, velvety voice. Lyrically, too, this gifted artist easily moves between the universal themes of love and togetherness, and socially important subjects that soundtrack

South African alternative soul singer and songwriter, Bongi Mvuyana, is set to release her debut album, Dopamine, digitally on Friday, 22 May 2020, with a 3-song house remix package following closely after the album release, with remixes by acclaimed house DJs and Producers Culo De Song, Chymamusique and Kayrendasoul.   Bongi Mvuyana’s music off her highly anticipated album has garnered attraction as far as Nigeria and Norway. Her music has charted on stations such as Metro FM in South Africa and on Beat 99 FM in Nigeria which just goes to show how universal a language music truly is.   With Bongi Mvuyana’s global audience and latest releases with German-based distribution label, Paradise Sound System, releasing Dopamine digitally is a no-brainer, as her outlook is now to avail her music and message to the world.   “It has been a long journey creating this music and now the time has finally come to share it with the world. My music is influenced by genres spanning from South African an