Political Songs | Equal Rights – Ishawna
Dancehall is littered with blatant misogyny and homophobia and Ishawna takes it on with her defiant lyrics, dividing listeners into lovers and haters.
Culture
Overcoming borders and prejudice with theatre
Based on the true testimony of four asylum seekers and a fictitious home affairs official, Frontières stages the realities of what it means to be a refugee in South Africa.
Text Messages | Hailing all jesters
A true jester, a seeker and teller of truth through wit and satire, upholds the ‘dignity of the downtrodden’. Unlike certain buffoons of the modern sort who play at politics.
Theatre Review | The man who tried to kill apartheid
On stage, Renos Spanoudes brings to life the beleaguered existence of Dimitri Tsafendas, the man who killed HF Verwoerd, the fascist architect of apartheid.
The art of archiving in Africa
The And Counting exhibition at the Johannesburg Art Gallery considers memory and the challenges of archiving art in Zambia, a country that has no institutional collections.
Political Songs | What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye
Rejected by other musicians as too political, Gaye reworked the original to make it a sad, beautiful, world-weary reflection on 1970s America – and Motown’s fastest-selling single.
Text Messages | Home is where the hound is
The homing instinct is ancient, atavistic and profound. But as Homer makes clear, people are not always the drawcard.
Film Review | Fanon: Not just your average dissident
Hassane Mezine’s film contributes aptly to the litany on political thinker Frantz Fanon, offering significant insights into his life and his contemporary influence.
Zimbabwe’s mbira maestro of the ages
Stella Chiweshe defied detractors to become the foremost player of the ancient instrument, bringing an intrinsically Sub-Saharan African sound to stages all over the world.
Coconut Kelz’s funny bone
Through seat-of-her-pants observational comedy, satirist Lesego Tlhabi’s character brings to life the anti-black attitudes that pepper South African politics and popular culture.
Political Songs | Nuclear War – Sun Ra
The nuclear threat is as prominent now under trigger-happy Trump as it was when Sun Ra sang ‘It’s gonna blast you so high’ during the Reagan era.
Text Messages | Joy to the world
Joy in its many forms is very present, despite what the news media machine would have us believe. And it is never more so than in the wake of lengthy hardships overcome.
Sjava, the people’s champion
Dressed like a man of the people for the Samas, the trap artist’s new award-winning genre-bending album echoes everyday life in South Africa.
Queer ancestor Kewpie created her own freedom
A new photographic exhibition celebrating the life of drag artist and hairdresser Kewpie in District Six during apartheid is like ‘meeting a queer ancestor for the first time’.
Our picks for 2019 Record of the Year
We asked ‘New Frame’ culture contributors to make the case for their pick from the 2019 Record of the Year longlist ahead of the South African Music Awards.
Political Songs | Ping Pong – Stereolab
‘Ping Pong’ is the song that got Stereolab labelled as a Marxist band. It makes a sweeping, big-picture political statement and rose to No. 45 on the British singles chart.
Text Messages | How magic realism was born
The influence of a rational grandfather and spiritual grandmother during a celebrated Latin American author’s formative years led to him becoming the father of this genre of fiction.
Sampa the Great, African rapper down under
Born and raised in Africa, Sampa Tembo’s work is helping to bring issues of race to the fore in Australia, where she studied and now lives.
How bands (try to) make music and money
Streaming services mean playing live now earns more income for musicians and gives a sense of how an album would sound. But better support is needed for artists wanting to take the live route.
Behind the scenes with performing legend Ilse Klink
The former ‘Isidingo’ actor has had a sparklingly successful career. The pioneering performer reveals the realities of what it means to work in the arts.
Political Songs | Sit Dit Af! – Gereformeerde Blues Band
The death of a friend brings to mind heady days of student activism, when loud and provocative Afrikaans punk rock united the Afrikaner establishment’s children against them.