Nakhane Touré’s itching to make some noise. His acoustic guitar-strumming fingers are ready to shred some shrewd chords on the electric. He wants to scare sixteen year olds and piss off conservatives who use “authenticity” as a cubicle for their ignorance. He wants to forge forward, not so much a revolution, but a rebellion against any (pre-)conceptions of what his ‘sound’ is.

Nakhane’s ready for a change.

The immediate plan is to release an EP, Violent Measures. It’s a collection of songs which riff off of Frantz Fanon’s pages, using the seminal Afro-French thinker’s seminal essay Concerning Violence as a sparring partner. “The first song on the EP is called ‘Violent Measures.’ When I was listening to a demo version of the EP I realized that each song concerns itself – partially or wholly – with some act of violence. Whether it’s physical or psychological, it has many different facets – positive or negative. Some violence is good, some isn’t,” he says. Then, with a cheeky streak, adds: “You’ll just have to find out when you listen to the EP whether it is good or not!”

Before a live show at the Bannister Hotel in Braamfontein, Johannesburg recently — where he called kindred Eastern Cape spirit Bongeziwe Mabandla along for the ride — Nakhane set aside a few moments to break bread regarding the way forward. He was quick to clarify that the EP’s no less important than the album; that it serves as a bridge between Brave Confusion, the debut LP which won him a SAMA award in 2014, and his currently untitled sophomore release.

Describing Nakhane as a “SAMA Award-Winning” artist feels like a cop-out; like one is giving in to laziness and refusing to engage with the person by treading well-worn tropes instead of being the vessel through which the music, Nakhane’s music, reverberates. With Violent Measures, Nakhane seems hopeful to make enough noise to turn even the emptiest of vessels into agents of change. His change!

*This article first appeared here. Nakhane Touré plays a show with Nomisupasta on Thursday in Johannesburg. Go here for details, and check out our video profile on Nomisupasta here.

Further Reading

The General sleeps

As former Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari’s death is mourned with official reverence, a generation remembers the eight years that drove them out.

The grift tank

In Washington’s think tank ecosystem, Africa is treated as a low-stakes arena where performance substitutes for knowledge. The result: unqualified actors shaping policy on behalf of militarists, lobbyists, and frauds.

Kagame’s hidden war

Rwanda’s military deployments in Mozambique and its shadowy ties to M23 rebels in eastern Congo are not isolated interventions, rather part of a broader geopolitical strategy to expand its regional influence.

After the coups

Without institutional foundations or credible partners, the Alliance of Sahel States risks becoming the latest failed experiment in regional integration.

Whose game is remembered?

The Women’s Africa Cup of Nations opens in Morocco amid growing calls to preserve the stories, players, and legacy of the women who built the game—before they’re lost to erasure and algorithm alike.

Sovereignty or supremacy?

As far-right politics gain traction across the globe, some South Africans are embracing Trumpism not out of policy conviction but out of a deeper, more troubling identification.