The decade of the 2020s has brought (back) with it bimbofication. I parenthesis ‘back’ because the idea of the ‘bimbo’ has existed for centuries. Dolly Parton, Pamela Anderson, Anna Nicole Smith, Paris Hilton and even more recently towards black femmes such as Amber Rose, Black Chyna and the Cleremont twins — the image of the…
Discourse around fashion is constantly in a game of back-and-forth, with new problems arising at every solution. For this reason, it’s hard to keep track of where it is the industry stands on many matters. Vogue Magazine as an empire — has acted as a relatively good marker gauging industry attitudes reflected on a large…
A conversation recently circulated on the mean — yet culturally influential — streets of black diasporic twitter: “I can’t lie, the galys have lost it recently”, social media content creator and influencer Chunkz says to his friends, “it’s the way people are speaking nowadays broski wallahi”, he continues. “I can’t even have a conversation”, says…
In the midst of my angst filled teenage years where my tenuous wellbeing was in constant battle with the world, family and my mind, I found music. She comforted me when I was scared, held me when I was lonely and encouraged me when I was locked within myself. I fell in love with her…
Grief is different. Grief has no distance. Grief comes in waves, paroxysms. Sudden apprehensions that weaken the knees and blind the eyes and obliterate the dailiness of life. Virtually everyone who has ever experienced grief mentions this phenomenon of ‘waves’. Joan Didion, The Year of Magical Thinking. When it comes to grief and moving with…
With over seventy distinct ethnic groups, rich with their own practises, spiritual beliefs, diets, dress, and symbology, Ghana – like many other African countries – is an incredibly diverse and dynamic country bursting with colourful cultures and people from various backgrounds. So with that in mind why do people – Ghanaians included – only recognise one…
* WARNING: Contains spoilers When Issa Rae developed the story of her web series, Awkward Black Girl, leading to the production and the debut of her TV show Insecure in 2016, I doubt anyone could have predicted the profound impact it would have. After a 5 year running time, the hit HBO series was able…
It’s not difficult to tie the ethos and the stories individual brands speak to when developing their identities, nor is it difficult to gather the similarities of these local stories as we move between the brands and the cultures linked to them. It seems there is a lot more power in consciously interacting with one…
People ask me all the time, what kind of stories do you want to tell, Viola? And I say, exhume those bodies. Exhume those stories. The stories of the people who dreamed big and never saw those dreams to fruition. People who fell in love and lost. I became an artist—and thank God I did—because…
* Trigger Warning: this article contains discussions of rape and sexual assault There is a harrowing wail ebbing from the pit of my stomach and I do not know how to silence it. There is a crippling terror that has a hold of my body and I do not know how to settle it. There…
“Everyone is becoming a gamer, even if they don’t self-describe as gamers. There is now less of a stigma to playing games, and it’s no longer seen as a ‘guilty pleasure.” Casey Chafkin, cofounder of Skillz. “Gaming is no longer relegated to the basement. I’d like to say that it’s had it’s coming out of…
This past weekend I was once again reminded by the streets, or more accurately — the spaces of Twitter — of how cultural conformity is at an all time high amongst youth digital culture and what DAZED Magazine describes as “the era of the monomass”. I’ve never been one to be pessimistic about our society,…
