Author: Admin
Africa is famous for a number of things, but the continent’s dazzling array of stylish celebrities is one of its greatest attractions. And yesterday, at the 2025 Met Gala, the world’s biggest fashion convention, Africa was represented by a cohort of exquisitely dressed stars. This year’s Costume Institute exhibition tagged Superfine: Tailoring Black Culture, centers on the history and culture of Black dandyism. Inspired by Monica L. Miller’s seminal 2009 book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, the exhibition celebrates the role of fashion in empowering the Black race and resisting racist stereotypes around…
Nigerian music star Dice Ailes has made a comeback with his latest single, Towa, a log drum-infused love anthem that blends street rhythms with emotional sincerity. Released on April 30, Towa sees Dice Ailes — born Shasha Damilola Alesh — at his most charismatic, delivering a bold and cheeky declaration of unconditional love. Against a backdrop of drums and breezy Afropop melodies, the singer paints a picture of romance that thrives in adversity, celebrating partners who stay loyal through thick and thin. At its heart, Towa is less about dreamy fairytales and more about real-world devotion — the kind of…
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has never shied away from political themes. Her first novel, Purple Hibiscus, narrated by a 13-year-old girl, is set during a military dictatorship. The protagonist’s father is vocal against the government of the day and faces dire consequences as a result. The stakes are even higher in Half of a Yellow Sun, where an all-consuming narrative of love and familial strife unfolds against the backdrop of the Nigerian Civil War. Then came Americanah, ranked number 27 on the New York Times 100 Best Books of the 21st Century, and regarded by many as her magnum opus. The…
Burna Boy is back in his bag. The GRAMMY winner and cultural juggernaut opens the next chapter of his career with Sweet Love, a new single off his eighth studio album, No Sign of Weakness. The track—out today, with a music video dropping later, is a slow-burning, reggae-inflected anthem produced by Major Seven (Future, Rihanna), full of atmosphere and intention. It’s Burna in rare form: seductive, confident, and completely in control. Sweet Love follows the release of Update, a loosie-turned-lead-single that flipped Soul II Soul’s classic Back to Life (However Do You Want Me) into a futuristic Afrobeats jam. Produced by…
May is a month of fresh starts, shifting rhythms, and new stories to dive into. This carefully curated list centers Nigerian women at the heart of powerful narratives, tracing their journeys through love, tradition, resistance, and rebirth. Two books by the same author appear here intentionally, both are seminal classics that continue to shape conversations around womanhood and cultural identity. Each title offers a distinct and deeply human perspective on what it means to be a woman navigating personal desires and societal expectations in a constantly evolving Nigeria. Noor by Nnedi Okorafor In Noor, Nnedi Okorafor envisions a futuristic Nigeria…
Marking his first release since 2020’s Our Story, Edenojie makes a heartfelt return with a moving new single, See You Again — a soulful tribute exploring grief, healing, and hope. Raised in a musically gifted household, Edenojie has been heavily influenced by soulful, strong voices such as Kirk Franklin, Boyz II Men, Westlife, Michael Jackson, and Whitney Houston, the culmination of which is displayed on his new single, See You Again. Blending gospel, R&B, and pop, Edenojie unveils the deeply personal track born from a period of mourning after the loss of a loved one. Written during a raw and…
Nigeria is no stranger to controversial and often inane rhetoric from its preachers. In 2020, whilst the entire country shuddered under the weight of an inscrutable pandemic whose full impacts were yet unknown, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, the founder and head pastor of Christ Embassy, took to the pulpit to echo some rabid conspiracy about the 5G technology and its relationship with the pandemic. In that same year, Bishop David Oyedepo, of the Living Faith Church, received intense backlash for calling the Covid-19 lockdown an attempt to shut down the church of God, insisting that churches remain open, despite scientific evidence…
The 17th edition of the Headies, Nigeria’s premier music award, was held on Sunday, and as usual, it was a festive music event, featuring both freshly minted stars and music legends alike vying for their own iconic Headies plaque. It also saw the return of the many drawbacks that we must now assume to be a part of the Headies experience—professionalism issues, technical errors, time delays—that were not mitigated even when the award was relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, for two years. With this year’s edition dubbed “Back to Base,” Hip TV brought the ceremony back to Lagos, Nigeria, a move…
To open 5ive, the poet Alhanislam recites a spoken-word commentary on the album and the man behind it. It feels a little pretentious, rooted in the same idea that drives artists to label every new project their deepest and most personal work yet. Yet some of it does have grounding in real-life events. Alhanislam hails him as a “colossus of sound and spirit” and “a phoenix reborn”; a reminder of a time in his life when Davido suffered great grief that threatened to disrupt his career, perhaps permanently. This album is not the direct product of that rebirth, however—that was…
In an age where many emerging artists chase virality, Noon Dave charts a course rooted in patience and musical depth. The Lagos-born singer-songwriter, now signed to Chocolate City, has spent the past few years quietly refining his sound and voice, building a career on steady artistic growth. Rather than burst onto the scene with a clamor for attention, Noon Dave has chosen the slow burn. His music lingers, inviting listeners into a world where honesty and melodic elegance shine. Afrobeats, in its current global form, is expansive, stretching across continents and absorbing influences from everywhere. But within that sprawling soundscape,…