A roaring and smoking mbira song, one for the party animals, a Nollywood pity party to confuse the crush outside your league, and a two-season coup soundtrack – Jah Prayzah created the future by commanding the past. We look back to the career-defining moments of one of Zimbabwe’s greatest artists.
Zimbabwe
Arts, Culture and Sport “Hip hop is an aggressive genre” – Holy Ten interview
Holy Ten, also known as “the leader of the youths” is making a case for Hip hop as Zimbabwe’s next big genre, urged on by adoring legions of Generation Z and the decline of Zimdancehall. A belligerent artist who wastes no opportunity for beefing, he is also morally nuanced and attuned to society’s most vulnerable. He shares his creative process and influences in this interview with Onai Mushava.
Politics and Society Zimbabweans face a stark choice: Return and start from zero or stay and live undocumented
From 1 January 2023, hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans and their children will no longer be able to live, work and go to school legally in the republic. As deadline approaches Zimbabweans face a stark choice: start from zero in a broken country or live undocumented in SA.
Politics and Society Understanding the Zimbabwean permit case
Hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans living in South Africa may find themselves undocumented on 1 January 2023. About 178,000 Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) holders will find themselves undocumented. The Helen Suzman Foundation is trying to stop this.
Arts, Culture and Sport “Dead White Man’s Clothes”: The language of second-hand clothes in Africa
Second-hand clothes carry both the individual and collective identity of their origin, that is, the fashion, style, and aesthetics. They go by different names in different parts of Africa; mitumba in Kenya, obroni wawu in Ghana, in Zimbabwe mabhero or bhero, calamidades in Mozambique, hudheey/hudeey in Somalia, abloni or sogava in Togo — these names carry the societal or cultural meanings.
Politics and Society When Mamvura drove the bus
In this brilliant satirical piece first published in November 2017, Alex Magaisa writes about how Mamvura, a daring growth-point tramp with a mental illness did the unthinkable. Magaisa vividly paints a picture of how Mamvura took the steering wheel by surprise, warning that, “One day, a Mamvura character might drive Zimbabwe…”
Arts, Culture and Sport Artist Richard Mudariki’s vision for a Zimbabwean contemporary art fair
Harare aims to join a growing list of African cities hosting high profile events to sell local art and bolster artists.
Politics and Society Obituary: Alex Magaisa was an exception to our public discourse’s toxic rules
Zimbabwean public intellectual Dr Alex Tawanda Magaisa died on Sunday, June 5, aged 46. He was best known as a prolific columnist on Zimbabwe’s ongoing democratic struggle in mainstream media and for his widely discussed The Big Saturday Read blog, which This Is Africa republished.
Politics and Society Slim chance that Zimbabwe’s 2023 elections will be competitive
There are new contenders, but the political playing field is as unbalanced as under Robert Mugabe.