Music & Film

Netflix, the world’s leading streaming service is showcasing African talent and stories to its subscribers around the world through a collection dubbed ‘From Cape to Cairo’ which was launched on May 1 this week, as part of the Africa Month celebrations.

It is interesting to observe the dissemination of Fela’s legacy in the form of the varied work of his numerous musical children many of whom pay direct homage to him by copious sampling and outright imitation.

In my mind, Octopizzo was like Lex Luther, but in the rap world. Or like Fifty Cent, who is the biggest villain in the US rap scene. In contrast, I saw Khaligraph as the hero, the kid who survives in the world through grit, guts, and wits.

Benga arrived in Colombia after Osman Torregrosa, a businessman of picó dances in Barranquilla who, looking for music, had gone to Aruba and Bonaire, then Martinique, Suriname, New York and Paris to look for music that would cause a sensation, for a sound that was modern and traditional at the same time. In Colombia, Benga is known as ‘música rastrillo’.

"Our first album Ndani ya Cockpit 1 was boom bap, our second body of work Ndani ya Cockpit 2 was trap, and Victims of Madness was drill. This shows we are versatile and can do it all. Fans should expect more surprises from us going forward," says Domani Munga.

"Vuta N’kuvute", a film about a rebellious young freedom fighter’s love affair with a young Indian-Zanzibari girl escaping an oppressive arranged marriage is the latest addition to a growing number of African movies appealing to a global audience.

Despite many economic and political hurdles, the desire to tell stories about the complex realities of a postcolonial African society is unstoppable. Young Kenyan auteur cinema is striving for international screens.

The online rap challenge hopes to uplift talented rappers, to make Kenyan Hip Hop Great Again.