Tag: African Artists
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Rwanda to France
For the blog post, I was told to find an African artist based outside of Africa. For Rwandan artists, the artist pool was huge. There were so many stories of Rwandan artist who had to flee and went to their respective country. But Gaël Faye stuck out. He was born in Burundi to a Rwandan…
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Out with the old, in with the New
The artist Stormzy originally named Michael Omari was born in London but his parents are originally from Ghana. His song Rainfall speaks to those who look down on him and those who he considers “enemies” by saying, “Lord let the rainfall on my enemies.” Looking at the video I do not see much connection to…
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Diaspora through a Different Lens: Stormzy’s incredible lyricism and visual imagery in “Superheroes”
Whether in the continent or afar, the rhythm of African music lives through every African person. The impact of African music is prodigious and influences every culture worldwide. A multitude of African hip-hop artists bring the influences of their culture and lived experiences into their music outside Africa. They share the beauty of African beats…
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Confronting The Representation of African women- 3 Artists Changing the Narrative through song
African women are often grossly misrepresented by the media and pop culture, the narratives established since colonialism often find their way into the way African women are portrayed to the world. This is why it is so important for artists like Enny, Dope Saint Jude, and Sampa the Great to be recognized and celebrated for…
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Slap Dee Pays Homage To Zambia in “Mother Tongue”
Zambian hip-hop artist Slap Dee’s newest album “Mother Tongue” celebrates women, love, Zambian culture and Zambian languages. It was released in 2020. Slap Dee glorifies Africa in the song “mother tongue” featuring Daev. He raps, “I rise in an African song/sleeping in an African moon.” These lyrics insinuate the African ‘song’ and ‘moon’ are remarkable.…
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Accidentally Fighting Beauty Standards?
I came across Ish Kevin’s Toto Mtosso and began to vibe with the music. I, then, decided to look at the music video just to get a vibe of what the music was supposed to be showing me. The music video is the way an artist expresses their music through vision. But something stuck out…
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Bad Energy (Stay Far Away) -Chief Skepta the Grime MC
“Skepta” Joseph Junior Adenuga is a popular Grime rapper, songwriter, record producer and music video director based in London and originating from Nigeria. He is one of Grime’s biggest artists whose most recent album Konnichiwa became the genre’s highest charting album, peaking at number 2 on the UK music charts. Konnichiwa was his fourth studio…
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Married To The Game
Background/Information Natalie Florence, better known as “Noti Flow”, is a Kenyan musician-rapper and actress. She is known to be a “controversial” artists for different aspects such as; her raunchy photos, sexuality, skin color, sex talk, bluntness, and being on a controversial show. But the view of the public eye has not held her back if…
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Ugandan Tradition of Love and Music
Navio is an artist known for pushing boundaries when it comes to Ugandan hip-hop. On his track, Njogereza, he executes the full Ugandan traditional vibe to it with borrowings from ceremonial traditional sounds. This song is full of traditional chanting and traditional instrumental. During a time when African rappers rely heavily on imitating western rappers.…
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MHD en sa Patrie
Mohammed Sylla (MHD) performed in front of thousands of Senegalese in Dakar in December 2017. This concert, staged in front of the 49-meter-tall African Renaissance Monument, united the international phenomenon MHD with domestically-popular Senegalese hip-hop artists in an evening ripe with music, dance, and humor.