Yasiin Bey plays a mbira …
This was done for GQ Magazine. He also raps half-heartedly. I suppose, we should be “tril(led).”
392 Article(s) by:
Sean Henry Jacobs
Sean Henry Jacobs is the founder of Africa is a Country and Professor of International Affairs at The New School.
Il Manifesto
Africans can draw uninformed conclusions about what’s going on in their own backyards and on the continent.
On Safari
If you’re wondering where we are (if you don’t read through to the end of posts)
The Decade of Film
I participated in Sight & Sound's once-a-decade poll of the greatest films of all time. I included at least two African films: "Borom Sarrett" and "Mapantsula." Hopefully, they make the cut.
The United States of Africa
Yannick Létourneau talks about the genesis of his film about the Senegelese rapper, Awadi. Also, why so many political musicians come from West Africa.
Struggles over memory in South Africa
Revisionism pervades popular culture in South Africa now, coloring our perception of the past.
Nando’s Grilled Chicken Politics
We asked the Africa Is a Country "office" to comment on Nando's new ad that is supposedly a comment on the widespread antiblack xenophobia in South Africa.
Radio Freedom’s Afrikaans Service
Learning that Radio Freedom, the exiled ANC's radio service, broadcast in Afrikaans, further undermines the idea of the language as belonging to the oppressor.
The elephant in the room
The DJ's, Venus X and Boima, talk about their approach to music, but also about their run-ins with tastemaker Diplo, who has shaped popular music tastes globally.
The Passing of Ernest Cole
We don’t know why the South African photographer decided to apply to become "coloured" under Apartheid's racial classification laws.
In Praise of Jeffrey Gettleman’s Pulitzer
Pulitzer awarded Gettleman $10,000 for "his vivid reports, often at personal peril, on famine and conflict in East Africa."
Kony 2012 is a Parody
A number of comedy videos lampooning Kony 2012 are making the rounds on social media. Some are funny, some are asinine.
Soulja Boy takes on Joseph Kony
It has come to this. Musicians, especially rappers, had to wade in on the American social media campaign to "Make Kony Famous."
Casting Djimon Hounsou
Actor Djimon Hounsou doesn't take his own advice about the media he makes about Africa.
World famous in South Africa
Detriot singer Sixto Rodriguez’ albums are masterpieces - at times on par with some of Bob Dylan's work - but he was only famous in South Africa
Louis Moholo’s Drum
The drummer, Louis Moholo-Moholo, now 72 and the last surviving member of the famed jazz bands The Blue Notes and The Brotherhood of Breath, is still out there performing.
The Afrikaans Film Template
Feature films produced for the Afrikaans market in South Africa, have many distinctive characteristics, including that they're exclusively white.
The most influential African thinker
If we could ask our readers (and critics, and everyone else) to pick Africa's most insightful intellectual, who would they pick?
Serge Ibaka Has No Country
We don't blame people those who can't figure out their DRC from their ROC or their Kinshasa from their Brazzaville.
Everybody wants in on the final
Some coupe decale to warm you up for the African Cup of Nations final later today