Connect with us

Radio & TV

Apple Music launches Isgubhu, the definitive home of Africa’s Dance and Electronic music

Published

on

unnamed 14

Apple Music has launched Isgubhu, the ultimate destination for African Dance and Electronic music.
Africa’s bustling and bubbling Dance & Electronic music scene has become a global player over the last few decades and Apple Music is on a mission to spotlight and elevate the work of the DJs, producers and artists in this space.

 

“Apple Music has been a long term supporter of the incredible DJs, artists and producers within the Dance and Electronic music community in Africa and we’re very excited about the launch of Isgubhu. Our regional teams are true advocates for the culture and we’re committed to continuing to connect artists to a global audience,” says Stephen Campbell, Apple Music’s Global Head of Dance and Electronic music.

 

Isgubhu, a Zulu word meaning beat and used to refer to a banging song, pays homage to an evergreen set of genres and the African artists who have played a pivotal role in shaping the Dance and Electronic scene across the world from South African maestros like Black Coffee, Prince Kaybee, Black Motion and DJ Lag,  Kenyan producers Euggy and Slikback to Uganda’s prolific group Nihiloxica.

Advertisement

 

Several sub-genres will live under the banner of Isgubhu including Gqom, Amapiano, Kwaito, Mzansi House, Deep House and Shangaan Electro, as well as a dedicated section for Essential Albums that will highlight seminal African Dance and Electronic albums for easy discovery.

 

Isgubhu will also house a collection of playlists including Spotlight On: – a focus on boutique African dance & electronic labels like Soul Candi, House Afrika, Stay True Sounds and Uganda’s Hakuna Kulala & Nyege Nyege Tapes), Isgubhu Voices – a focus on the best Dance and Electronic tracks that feature vocals, and an overarching genre playlist that is currently curated by Black Coffee, the first Isgubhu cover star.

 

Advertisement

“It’s a true honour to be titled as the very first Isgubhu hero artist by my friends at Apple Music. To me, home is everything… the absolute core of my being. Bringing the sounds of South Africa to the world is a life-long mission I’ll never stop chasing after.” – Black Coffee.

 

There will also be a spotlight on Isugbhu By… where one handpicked artist  will curate their favourite African Dance and Electronic albums to feature for the month. The first artist will be DJ Lag who had this to say “These are albums that shaped me. Releases like Big Nuz’s ‘Undisputed’ made me dream big about being a producer one day, I was only 14 at the time. I love South African dance music I think we have a vibrant scene that keeps regenerating and reinventing itself every few years. Kwaito, Afro House, Gqom, Amapiano are movements here, not only music genres.”

 

Isgubhu will also include a selection of exclusive DJ mixes from the continent’s hottest DJs including: DJ Zinhle, Caiiro, Kabza De Small, Kyle Watson, Stiff Pap, DBN Gogo, Da Capo, Gina Jeanz,  and more.

Advertisement

 

“Apple Music has always shown great interest in my labels and the independent music they showcase from incredibly talented artists around South Africa. The support received from Apple Music really goes a long way in this day and age when non-commercial music has to compete with Top 40 worldwide hits on global playlists. Thank you for always making it about the music and supporting Stay True Sounds & STY TRU BTS and their artists to release homegrown independent music to the world.” – Kid Fonque (Stay True Sounds founder)

 

“As an independent artist it’s so rarely possible to get your music on most playlists and in my case it was different as Apple Music showed me love and support on my album Agora which got playlisted on a couple of platforms, in addition I got a rare opportunity to do the One Mix which has been so far one of my highlights of 2020. I am so excited about the Isgubhu campaign taking my music to a global audience which will indeed expose our music in South Africa to the global market.” – Caiiro.

 

Advertisement

“For those who know me well, know that its been my vision & dream to take my music further across borders. Apple Music amplified the reach by supporting my music on editorial playlists, making sure I’m heard by the audience that relates to the picture I’m painting. The opportunity, which I don’t take for granted, to showcase what I listen to & share some of my successful releases on Apple Music’s One Mix show has definitely exposed me & my sound to the global audience. I’m very excited about the Isgubhu initiative, because it will steer my music the direction I want it to go also helping in reaching the global audience far & beyond.” – Cornelius SA

 

“On the 6th of September 2019 I got the news that Apple Music had crowned me their New Artist Spotlight for the month, giving me and my music a global spotlight. Through their support I’ve gained so many great opportunities, opening for Lionbabe’s Worldwide Virtual tour and landing on a stage with Tom Misch. I’m super excited about Apple Music’s new Isgubhu campaign taking African Dance and Electronic music to the next level and showing the world what we do best.” – Sio
Find Isgubhu on Apple Music http://apple.co/Isgubhu

Advertisement

People & Lifestyle

Meet the Top 10 Finalists! Miss Malaika Ghana 2023…. Grand Finale on 24th November!

Published

on

WhatsApp Image 2023 11 22 at 14.39.45 0b20f23c

When the call for this year’s edition dubbed #thebloomseason was made, thousands responded and showed up. And after a series of audition processes, 20 ladies were selected to begin this life changing journey. Weeks have gone by, weeks of intense training, laughter, tears, highs, lows and of course, evictions which have dropped the numbers down from 20 to the big 10 finalists. And now we are ready for a showdown, the prestigious Miss Malaika Ghana 2023 Grand Finale, and it’s happening on Friday, the 24th of November at the Grand Arena (AICC), 8pm prompt. 

Meet the Final 10 Delegates.

Pristine Adzo Agbozo is a 23-year-old graduate of KNUST (voting code 43). Bridgetta Glover is a 24-year-old graduate of the Koforidua Technical University (code 19). Comfort Amoah, AKA Reina, is a 23-year-old graduate of Action Progressive Institute (code 31). Fareeda Habib is a 23-year-old graduate of KNUST (code 33). Fortune Akua Agyeman is a 23-year-old graduate of KNUST (21).  Christiana Bervelyn Anim is a 22-year-old graduate of UPSA (code 14). Lady Nana Yaa Nyarko is a 22-year-old graduate of KNUST (code 2). Kimberly Akornortey is a 23-year-old student of University of Ghana (code 6). Charlotte Mawusi Gokah is a 25-year-old graduate of Adonten (code 1). Enyam Dzandu is a 21-year-old student of University of Ghana (45).

Get ready to witness a night where fashion meets glitz and glamor, as the beautiful and smart finalists take the stage in an ultimate spectacle of elegance. This is the crowning moment of the bloom season queen. Who gets the enviable right as the next Queen? Who wins the Crown, the Car, and the Cash.

Tickets for this extraordinary evening are selling for GHc100 at Charterhouse or dial *713*33*24# and follow the prompts. For more information, call 0501288520. 

Advertisement

Performing Live are artistes of the new school; Mr Drew, Sefa, Olive the Boy, Loli X Lola, Maya Blu and Banzy Banero. 

Get more on-the-go information on Miss Malaika Ghana socials; Instagram & Twitter: @missmalaikagh and Facebook: Miss Malaika Ghana. Watch each episode on CharterhouseLive on YouTube. 

Miss Malaika Ghana is a Charterhouse production and is proudly brought to you by GTP, Shandy Bosoe and Pepsodent. With support from Vaseline, Atlas Rent-A-Car, Geisha, BVS Butchery, Ecogel, Locus Estates, Special Ice, Tasty Tom, Best Wester n Plus Beach Hotel, Tigon Creative Studios and Media partners.

Continue Reading

People & Lifestyle

Kwame Sarfo makes cast of Netflix’s largest reality show yet, ‘Squid Game: The Challenge’

Published

on

Kwame Sarfo makes cast of Netflix's largest reality show yet, 'Squid Game: The Challenge'

Old Bridge, New Jersey-based Kwame Sarfo, who is the founder of Obrempong Home, has been cast in Netflix’s biggest reality show yet, ‘ Squid Game: The Challenge‘! (more…)

Continue Reading

Listen

Apple Music reveals Yung D3mz as the latest Up Next Artist in Ghana

Published

on

Yung D3mz

Apple Music today announced Afro-fusion rapper and songwriter Yung D3mz (real name Nicholas Edem Coffie) is the latest musician to be featured in its Up Next artist development program in Ghana.

 

“Look ma, I’m Up Next! It’s an honour to be considered amongst the new guard of Ghanaian music,” he tells Apple Music. “I’m super geeked for this major opportunity to share my story and my art. As an avid listener, it’s legit a full-circle moment to be discovered the same way I found some of my favs, a befitting milestone to my journey.”

 

Born and raised in Ghana’s Tema Metropolis, Yung D3mz began writing songs at the tender age of 11 as a way to focus his energy into a passion. It was only around 2017 that he threw himself into production, motivated by his intense love for music and curiosity for all things production-related.

Advertisement

 

Influenced by the sounds of Travis Scott, Burna Boy, 6lack, Wizkid, The Weeknd and a whole host of other groundbreaking artists, Yung D3mz’ built a reputation for exuding versatility with a sound that’s smooth but comprises raw melodic elements.

 

With his debut EP Yung (2021) he fuses his African heritage with Western pop stylings, best exuded in uptempo single “Fever” and the ballad-esque “Carolina”. His new R&B-soul single “Do What You Want” (2023), available to stream on Apple Music, further cements his status as a musical chameleon as he flexes an ultra smooth vocal.

 

Advertisement

As the latest Up Next act to be spotlighted in Ghana, Yung D3mz will be featured across Apple Music’s Up Next playlist. The curated Up Next playlist features a dynamic class of new and emerging artists, thoughtfully hand-picked by Apple Music editors from around the world. The playlist is genre agnostic and represents a line-up of artists our global editors are passionate about and eager to expose to a larger audience.

 

The vast global Up Next roster of past talent includes Grammy-nominated and critically lauded talent like 6lack, Daniel Caesar, H.E.R., Greta Van Fleet, Khalid, Amy Shark, Billie Eilish, Sabrina Claudio, Sigrid, Mr Eazi, Stefflon Don, Bad Bunny, Juice WLRD, Bazzi, Jax Jones, NCT 127, Summer Walker, Tierra Whack, Dean Lewis, Pink Sweat$, Koffee, Megan Thee Stallion, Burna Boy, Clairo, Lunay, Jessie Reyez, Orville Peck, Victoria Monét, Ingrid Andress, Conan Gray, Don Toliver, Rema, BENEE, Holly Humberstone, Natanael Cano, Givēon, beabadoobee, Arlo Parks, Tate McRae, Foushee and Tems

Continue Reading

Radio & TV

Apple Music announces sizzling Summertime Sounds campaign with Grammy Award winner Zakes Bantwini & Africa Now Radio’s Nandi Madida

Published

on

Apple Music announces sizzling Summertime Sounds campaign with Grammy Award winner Zakes Bantwini & Africa Now Radio’s Nandi Madida

Apple Music’s Summertime Sounds campaign has become the go-to space for all the hottest summer-themed content and the year’s biggest tracks, and this festive season they are heating things up with Grammy Award winner, dance music producer, songwriter and artist Zakes Bantwini and Africa Now Radio host Nandi Madida.

As husband and wife, this powerhouse duo are at the forefront of music trends, and Nandi Madida has created an exclusive Summertime Sounds playlist for Apple Music that features all of the tracks on heavy rotation in their household, for subscribers to enjoy.

“The reason I chose these songs as my songs of the summer is to celebrate life and the beautiful music we have globally. Music is truly the best form of escapism,” Nandi tells Apple Music.

“The perfect place to enjoy this playlist is somewhere on the coast with great views or out and about with friends,” Zakes says.

Additionally, Zakes Bantwini has created an exclusive DJ mix for Apple Music’s Summertime Sounds. He tells Apple Music: “There are two specific songs on the mix that are singles off my new album The Star is Reborn that will be released on December 8th. These songs have a very special place in my heart, as one is dedicated to my mom ‘Mama Thula’, and the other to my dad ‘Abaseko’, who are both late and I miss and love them dearly.”

Advertisement

“This summer I’m looking forward to traveling the world and experiencing different cultures, discovering new music and enjoying great food,” he adds. “I’m also looking forward to spending some quality time with my beautiful family.”

Discover Summertime Sounds here

Discover Nandi’s playlist here

Discover Zakes exclusive DJ mix here

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Radio & TV

Must-watch trailer: cheerleaders are turning up dead in Trompoppie

Published

on

Trompoppie
Building on the success of Spinners, the first African series ever selected for CanneSeries, and 2023 Best Director SAFTA winner Donkerbos, Showmax has just released the trailer for its latest Afrikaans series, Trompoppie, premiering on 7 December 2023, with new episodes every Thursday until 8 February 2024.
When Luna, a talented gymnast, is awarded a bursary to a prestigious private school she could never afford, she is thrust into the cut-throat world of an elite group of drum majorettes, aka “trompoppies”. After a hazing ritual goes badly wrong, cheerleaders start turning up dead and the seemingly perfect facade of the community begins to crumble.
Trompoppie is the first Showmax Original from SAFTA and Silwerskerm-winning writer and director Etienne Fourie (Stiekyt, Die Windpomp, Tydelik Terminaal). Multi-award winners Homebrew Films (2023 Silwerskerm winner Magda Louw) are producing.
Building on her 2023 Silwerskerm Best Actress: Drama nomination as Mart in Dinge van ’n Kind, Melissa Myburgh stars in Trompoppie as Luna, with Silwerskerm winner Stian Bam (The Story of Racheltjie de Beer, Donkerbos) as her widowed father.
Working with Fourie was a major drawcard for Myburgh. “In 2014, I watched Die Windpomp and it is my whole family’s favourite Afrikaans film,” she says. “It was part of what made me want to make Afrikaans films and TV. There is no one else like him in our industry.”
SAFTA nominee Marion Holm (Suidooster) plays the unstoppable Jill Peterson, an ageing soap star who discovers Luna, arranges her bursary and takes her under her wing. “Audiences will see Marion in a completely new way,” teases Fourie. “Jill is a force of nature.”
Albert Maritz (Alles Malan) is Jill’s husband, Fred – the first time the two acting legends have worked together. Celeste Loots, who burst into the IMDbPro Top 100 StarMeter in September thanks to her breakthrough role as Kaya in One Piece, and 14-year-old newcomer Luca Human are their daughters Zanne and Elke. Human is the daughter of beloved Afrikaans actress Margit Meyer-Rödenbeck, aka Dowwe Dolla, and Fourie is already hailing her as, “An absolute superstar. Her future is blindingly bright.”
Also look out for SAFTA winner Frank Opperman (G.I.L., Nêrens, Noord-Kaap) and rising star Braeden Buys (Spinners) as detectives, Fleur du Cap winner Daneel van der Walt (Recipes for Love and Murder, Nêrens, Noord-Kaap) as a true-crime novelist, and Armand Aucamp (One Piece, Troukoors) as the trompoppies’ coach, not to mention Spinners’ breakout star Cantona James, SAFTA nominee Jane de Wet (The Girl From St. Agnes, Griekwastad, Spoorloos), Elzet Nel (Vaselinetjie, Magda Louw) and Zandelle Meyer (Binnelanders) as students.
“Trompoppie follows the different drummies in a drum majorette team that is trying to win the national competition, as well as everything that comes with it … the pressure, the training, school, popularity contests, and rivalry between girls,” says Nel, who plays the captain of the trompoppies. “That’s how it goes when girls compete with each other, especially between the ages of 16 and 18. It’s horrible. So Trompoppie also shows how each girl deals with the pressure of all this, and how far they are willing to go to come out on top. You are a team, but you (alone) are actually the team – you are your own team. So viewers can look forward to incredible dance routines – and unexpected twists.”

Homebrew pulled together an equally all-star crew, including SAFTA nominees Sunel Haasbroek (Hans Steek Die Rubicon Oor, Alles Malan) as DOP, Marné van der Burgh (Blood & Water) as costume designer, Johan Prinsloo (Tali’s Joburg Diary) and Eva Du Preez (Nêrens, Noord-Kaap, Die Boekklub) as editors, and Loki Rothman (Troukoors) creating the original music.

Fourie’s previous project, Stiekyt, was an intensely personal arthouse hit, nominated for five 2023 SAFTAs after screening at International Film Festival Rotterdam and at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, where festival programmer Edvinas Pukšta described the film as “Hitchcock meets Almodóvar in a South African drag club.”

In contrast, Fourie says he wanted to make Trompoppie for a much wider audience. “Trompoppie is a love letter to audiences,” he says. “It’s a wild ride but it’s entertainment, pure and simple, a whodunnit made to keep you on the edge of your seat, to get you excited to be the first to know what’s going to happen next before your friends and colleagues. I wanted my mother to be able to watch it, my sisters, my friends: anyone should be able to watch it and be surprised and entertained.”

While you wait for 7 December 2023, watch Fourie’s films Stiekyt, Die Windpomp, and Liewe Kersfeesvader on Showmax, as well as his series Tydelik Terminaal.

Watch and embed the Trompoppie trailer:

Advertisement

Continue Reading

Radio & TV

Showmax Original “Tejiri” Premieres on Akwaaba Magic This November

Published

on

cus 1920 1080 7

An ongoing long-term investment by MultiChoice in developing talent for the content, production and entertainment industry is having an impact across Africa and helping to grow vibrant new economic hubs on the continent. This investment, the Multichoice Talent Factory (MTF), is a shared-value initiative that provides a platform for the TV and film industries to develop talent and build partnerships.

Earlier this year, Africa’s premium streaming platform, Showmax, commissioned some Ghanaian alumni of the MTF initiative to produce a feature length film titled “Tejiri”. This came because of a successful pitch which these alumni had completed to the Showmax team. Shot here in Ghana by award-winning directors Deladem Duvi and Joshua Tsootsoo, this duo assembled a team comprising other MTF Alumni amongst others to accomplish this project “Tejiri”.

“Tejiri” is a compelling film that delves into the intricacies of power, corruption, and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity. Set against the backdrop of an average African society, the story revolves around Tejiri, a young man whose life takes an unexpected turn when he is randomly thrown into prison for a crime, he knows nothing about. As he struggles to comprehend the injustice he has been subjected to, the outside world begins to unravel the mystery of his disappearance. He must define his place in this vicious new world if he is to survive or be found, as lead Detective Prempeh and his partner Baako race against time to uncover the mystery behind his disappearance.

At its core, the film aims to explore the duality of society both as a collective organism driven by political interests, and as an entity that can profoundly impact individual lives. It takes the audience on a rollercoaster journey, witnessing the contrasting perspectives of an average African society grappling with greed and the constant manipulation of its politicians, while simultaneously examining the profound, life-altering effects such machinations can have on one person.

“It came as no surprise to us when the organisers of the International Festival of Author Film of Rabat selected our film Tejiri for screening at the 28th edition of the International Festival of Author Film in the Africa Cinema Section scheduled for Rabat Morocco in December 2023,” said Deladem Duvi. “My team and I are excited about this rare opportunity to share our film with the world at this festival. Similarly, we encourage African movie lovers to make a date for the premiere of ‘Tejiri’ on DStv and GOtv on the 19th of November 2023.”

Advertisement

 “Our vision was to celebrate of the unyielding human spirit in finding the light through our film and would like to extend our appreciation to Showmax, cast, crew, the MTF and all other supporters who in diverse ways supported us.”

The Africa wide premiere of the Showmax original “Tejiri” on Akwaaba Magic is scheduled for the 19th of November 2023 at 7pm on DStv (Ch150) and GOtv (Ch102). 

Continue Reading

Trending