Culture

According to The Guardian Nigeria, the Netherlands has returned a 600-year-old artefact to Nigeria. This comes after the artefact was reportedly smuggled using fraudulent papers through Ghana to the Dutch country. Netherlands ambassador to Nigeria, Harry van Dijk, handed over the Ife Terracotta to Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Nigeria's Minister of Information and Culture. The repatriation of the small but "priceless" Ife Terracotta has been a long journey considering it was reportedly smuggled out of Nigeria in 2019. Read: Black Activists Attempt to Remove Congolese Statue from Dutch Museum According to Al Jazeera, the artefact was stolen from Nigeria's South Western city of Ile-Ife then smuggled into Ghana where the unnamed suspect then boarded a plane to the Netherlands. Africa CGTN reports th...

Sho Madjozi has released her latest mixtape titled What A Life. This is the second official release from the artist following her wildly successful 2018 debut album, Limpopo Champions League. The South African "John Cena" hitmaker has come back with a banging nine-track project. Sho Madjozi's What A Life which is a compilation of bangers with some of her own favourite South African artists. Manu WorldStar, Dr Thomas Chauke, Makhadzi, DJ Mfundhisi, Sunglen Chabalala and Russian Army feature on the mixtape. This mixtape drops just a few months after Sho Madjozi signed a major deal with American record label, Epic Records. Read: Sho Madjozi Shares Tracklist from New Mixtape 'What A Life'Shares The colourful mixtape cover for What A Life show off a collective party vibe and the songs are ...

According to The Citizen, Netflix has decided that Africa's first Original Series, Queen Sono, will not go ahead for a second season. This comes after initial reports in April of this year that Queen Sono had been given the thumbs-up for a second season. Speculations on the possible reasons for halting the show vary, according to IOL. However, Netflix cited difficulties in filming due to challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Read: 'Queen Sono' is the Bad-Ass Women-Led African Spy Thriller Like No Other: Here's What its Stars Have to Say About It. Queen Sono lead, Pearl Thusi, released a bittersweet statement to The Citizen in response to the news. "It's so incredible that we as a team got a lifetime opportunity to make history together as there will never be another 'first' Af...

ABC News reports that former Nigerien President Mamadou Tandja reportedly passed away this past Tuesday. The exact cause of death is unclear but reports indicate that the 82-year-old had been battling age-related illnesses for several years. The former head-of-state succumbed to his illness(s) in a hospital in Niamey, Niger. According to VoA, the Nigerien government officially called for the nation to enter into a three-day mourning period. READ: Former Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure Has Died Tandja was elected into Niger's presidency in 1999 and ruled for over a decade until 2010. Tandja was commended for bringing stability to the country when Niger had considerable religious conflicts and was subsequently re-elected in 2004. According to The Washington Post, Tandja attempted to...

Thebe Magugu has reportedly been announced as one of six finalists in the 2021 International Woolmark Prize, according to IOL. The multi award-winning fashion designer from South Africa is gunning for the annual prize which is reportedly worth over two million Rand (approximately USD 131 140). Magugu is contesting against five other finalists from around the world including Nigerian designer, Kenneth Ize. Magugu won the highly acclaimed 2019 LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy) award and made history as the first African to do so. This might just be another win for the young designer and we're certainly here for it. Read: South African Designer Thebe Magugu Won the Coveted LVMH Prize The International Woolmark Prize is the longest standing prestigious prize for emerging fashion designers...

The nominations for the 2021 Grammy Awards are in. The awards show, which will be hosted by Trevor Noah, will see some of the world's biggest artists up for categories like Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best New Artist. As we previously wrote about, the Grammys have renamed the international category of Best World Music Album to Best Global Music, in an effort to reportedly make it more modern and inclusive. In that new Best Global Music Category, Nigerian afro-fusion star Burna Boy is nominated alongside Tuareg desert rock group Tinariwen, NYC afrobeat outfit Antibalas, Brazilian-American Bebel Gilberto and British-Indian sitar player Anoushka Shankar. Speaking about the change of name to Global Music, the Grammys mentioned: "As we continue to embrace a t...

Movement is the crux of mau from nowhere's music—the hip-hop and afropop undertones that dominate his work present a well-traveled artist. Born in Kenya, Mau spent his life oscillating between the East African nation and England, followed by a short stint spent furthering his studies in New York. In a full-circle moment, mau uprooted his life in the big apple amidst the madness pandemic and made the move to Nairobi. Listening to the MFN EP feels like diving head first into a pool of Mau's consciousness. He once spoke about the conflict between telling his fans to share their grief while withholding his own, but his latest offering MFN is far from stoic. The project marks his evolution from Kamau Wainana, the soft spoken kid with loud ambitions to mau from nowhere, a trailblazer defining ...

According to the BBC, the UK government has deliberated implementing sanctions against Nigeria. This comes after parliament received a petition with over 220 000 signatures from #EndSARS protesters who have highlighted the major human rights violations that occurred over the past few weeks in Nigeria. Admittedly, more targeted sanctions against implicated Nigerian officials were debated after much condemnation of the idea of sanctions was also expressed by various parliamentary members. READ: #EndSARS: Nigeria is a Nation of Elites and 'Everyone Else' The debate commenced this past Monday evening with a live stream that lasted over an hour. According to Premium Times Nigeria, the debate was led by Theresa Villiers, a member of parliament and the petition committee. Villiers made remarks...

Zingah has come back just in time for December vibes with new album Sessions At The Crib. The 11-track album features AKA, Amanda Black, Emtee, KLY, YoungstaCPT and more. Sessions At The Crib is Zingah's second album in the rapper's decade-long career. His debut album, On a Different, was released earlier in the year and the For the Level EP was released in 2018. Zingah refreshingly plays around with alternative sounds in Sessions at the Crib. The project certainly deserves uninterrupted play with each track offering something new for the listener. "On My Own" featuring KLY is a heartbreaking song about drifting apart and deciding on whether or not to continue with a relationship. Zingah pours his heart out lyrically about the finality of being alone and being, well, very happy about i...

It's a big year for music, and in the midst of many good drops from the motherland and beyond, we caught up with Nigerian-Canadian singer/songwriter TOBi to discuss his recently released 10-track project ELEMENTS. ELEMENTS is a fusion of old-school soul, contemporary rap sequences, clever lyrical symbols & metaphors. and melancholic vibes which reference TOBi's Nigerian heritage through afrobeats, the reality of his life and the state of the world today. The compilation features production from Nigerian producer Juls on "Dollas and Cents" and "Made Me Everything and Shine." Below, we also discuss his creative process and passion for mental health with the announcement of an exciting collaboration. "I'm attracted and curious about so many things in life that I can't help but bring [th...