The self-proclaimed Pope of Pop Culture, Musa Khawula, once brought audiences huge doses of daily tea, with his goss taking no … erm—prisoners. With quirky colloquial quips like “Lemme get me a drink,” right before he was about to let loose; or that unmistakeable head bow when something supposedly sad had happened, even the guests…
It seemed like I was in a bad Hollywood romcom the other day, as rain poured from the sky and the guy I thought was the love of my life, sat across from me in my car and told me we were never actually going out. Two and a half months later, countless dates, and…
Occasionally, a scandal will explode all over social media and have the whole country onlooking as the mild sense of horror unfolds. A few weeks ago, it was the exposure of fake TikTok Doctor Matthew Lani, from X to TikTok to the seats of a taxi, Matthew Lani was the talk of the town as…
Commenting on the unresolved issue of cultural appropriation in K-pop is a tricky affair. Any criticism of its heavy-handed use of aesthetics from other cultures often results in severe backlash, particularly affecting marginalised fans of colour. The interplay of South Korea’s homogeneity, globalisation and ethnic nationalism in Korea reveals a cycle in which K-pop severely…
In recent days, you may have observed the relentless onslaught of severe storms, inundating floods, and the devastating aftermath of relentless rainfall in South Africa’s Western and Eastern Cape. Prior to that, headlines were dominated by the alarming outbreak of fires that engulfed Johannesburg’s bustling CBD. This unmistakable pattern of environmental chaos is a stark…
A symphony of art, culture, and self-realisation, meticulously curated to fit a stadium-sized green stage design concept and to travel across 57 countries. Imagine achieving not just one, but four Grammy Awards a mere seven months after dropping your album. Now picture your world tour holding the potential to rake in a staggering $2.1 billion,…
While everyone was proudly celebrating the strong womxn in their lives on Women’s Day, I sat alone, hiding behind this desk, wrestling with these words, wondering—why exactly? What on earth do we have to celebrate? Many South African womxn, live, work, or are educated in underdeveloped rural or urban areas, relying on male support for…
The director’s grounding in the principles of literature is immediately apparent. Milisuthando, the film, is structured over five chapters. Throughout, there’s an interweaving of devices, recurrent motifs, a playful use of cue and reference, supple vocabulary, and — most interesting in this genre of the personal essay — journalism’s mantras of ‘show, don’t tell’ and…
The essayistic film Milisuthando is meditative and slow — it presents long, romantic shots where the camera is simply moving from scene to scene, punctuated with poetic narrations, often layered over resonant polyphonic melodies. The shots are evocative, meandering and mesmerising — a small flame travelling slowly through space from stick to candle, large expanses…
Serial Killer: a person who murders three or more people, with the murders occurring over more than a month. There is often no apparent motive, and the murders typically follow a characteristic, predictable behaviour pattern. The psychology behind why serial killers kill has been studied extensively over the years. From understanding how their brains work…
Kim (they/them) had been fixing to take me to this place for a while. Walking ahead in a resplendent green fit and freshly done hair; I bustled behind, hoping to hide my pride. Amidst the swanky streets of Rosebank, they led me up to a hidden gem—54 on Bath’s Level Four Restaurant. Along the path,…
The internet and social media are good at getting us all to connect. No matter your geographical location, as long as you have decent wifi and a smartphone, you can find out what Kim Kardashian is up to or see the latest clips from Beyonce’s Renaissance World Tour. Through comment sections we can discourse and…
