Cape Town hip-hop got interesting again
The difference between Isaac Mutant and Die Antwoord is that Mutant is the real deal.
43 Article(s) by:
Dylan Valley
Dylan Valley was an editorial board member of Africa is a Country. He is a filmmaker and on the University of Cape Town faculty.
Mulatu Astatke is a legend
When the author heard Astatke’s music, it was like listening to hip-hop for the first time.
Cape Town goes Electronic
This weekend marks the 2nd year of the Cape Town Electronic Music Festival, an event that
Key and Peele Unchained
Sean has blogged here before about the American sketch comedy duo Key and Peele. Around the same time
Winter List: Festivals in Southern Africa
While some in the virtual AIAC office have been putting together their summer lists, I thought
Desmond Tutu, the Patron Saint of Longboard Skateboarders
Shameless self-promotion: "Board Games" is a short documentary video I did for my friend Kent Lingeveldt
Somewhere between folklore, memoir and modern fiction
Reading Yewande Omotoso’s novel “Bom Boy,” just when you think you’ve figured the characters out, the author opens them up a little more, and our perceptions change.
Fighting Pop
Congolese/South African (via Belgium) musician Yannick Ilunga, AKA Iamwaves, has been rather busy lately. His group Popskarr, a new ‘electronic/Nu Disco/Misty Pop’ outfit, has just released a stylish single called Fighter; and as his alter ego Petite Noir he has released a mixtape for Okayafrica’s ‘Africa in Your Earbuds’ series (which earned him a tweet shout out from Questlove of The Roots) and a new video for his song 'Till We Ghosts.'
Cape Town African Swag
Youngsta built a reputation on doing “straight up Cape Town hip hop,” but his recent output suggests he is now appealing to mainstream audiences.
The Jazz of Samuel Yirga Mitiku
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zATN60yiVyo I was in Dubai recently, working on a documentary, and on the way back to
Shit (some) South Africans say
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80_BugBDym4&w=640&h=360] When the ubiquitous "Shit (People) Say" meme was still popular, and after seeing the
How to make a movie about Muslims
The South African comedy drama, “Material,” portrays Muslims and Islam without resorting to the regular comedic clichés and slapstick.
Cape Town’s make-believe politics
Cape Town remains one of the most racially and economically segregated cities in South Africa, and there aren’t many signs of things getting better.
Dubai could do with a lot more of this
Dubai can actually be a city of gems that might surprise you. Like soul musician Hamdan Al-Abri, who is of Zanzibari descent.
Tunisian Coca Cola
Corporations have tried and succeeded in cashing in on the political revolutions known as the “Arab Spring.” Tunisia is the latest victim.
Benetton Politics
South Africa's Democratic Alliance, usually very slick and media savvy, have really outdone themselves with a
Mixtapes and Megaupload
I was going to post the link to Das Racist's latest offering, a funny, irreverent and poignant mixtape by Heems AKA Himanshi Suri, unofficial leader of the NYC rap group, but the FBI has just shut down the file sharing site Megaupload, which Heems used to post his free mixtape, "Nehru jackets." Apparently Megaupload has been accused of pursuing a business model based on copyright infringement. This comes after a week of high profile protests against the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA). Interesting times indeed.
Denzel Washington is a Cape Town cop
When Hollywood comes to our doorstep they use Cape Town as a cheap stand in for somewhere else. We don’t get to see our city on screen; represented authentically.
Viva Kinshasa
One of the most exciting films to come out of the continent recently is the
Holland is Kaaps
Afrikaans has its roots as a Dutch Creole, spoken by slaves, slave masters and workers of the Dutch East India Company at the Cape. A South African theater company took the play to The Netherlands.