Jay Z
latest news & developments
IShowSpeed is avatar of Africa’s Gen Z
He embodies the raw, unfiltered, chaotic rhythm of youth, a generation unwilling to be scripted by the old guard, impatient with hierarchy, hungry for immediacy and determined to…
One Album, Two Takes: ‘Her Loss’
Drake and 21 Savage’s joint album is a gratuitously misogynistic failed sonic experiment
Khaya Koko: JZ in da house for his last dance
Like Michael Jordan and Mario Balotelli, Msanzi’s own number 4-5 is coming back for an encore with his track ‘Wenzeni uZuma’
One Show, Two Takes: DJ Khaled – God Did
Even Jay-Z’s legendary verse on the title track can’t save this album from mediocrity
The Carters Top 5
Will Beyoncé be featuring her billionaire husband on her new album, Renaissance? We don’t know – yet – but here’s our top five collabos with Jay Z
Renaissance – The album drop of the year
Queen B fans are used to her usual surprise album drops at midnight, but this time the announcement has us looking back at her body of work
Can Donda save Kanye West?
After flirting with right-wing politics, the Chicago rapper seeks not only to redeem himself as a liberal black figure, but settle the question of his relevance as an artist
Abracadabra: The magic of Jay Electronica
The elusive rapper’s recent confounding and reluctant releases are rap as liberation theology
Nasty C: ‘You can’t hide from me any more’
It’s been two weeks since the 23-year-old rapper signed a deal with US record label and hip-hop stronghold Def Jam. He caught up with the Mail & Guardian to let us know why the…
In today’s America plagued by shootings, Woodstock 2.0 unlikely
Major events in America now are not complete without metal detectors — and the ever-growing paranoia that a gunman could be in the crowd.
New series spotlights Trayvon Martin killing
Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story premiered on the Paramount Network and BET on Monday, a docu-series bankrolled in part by rap mogul Jay Z
Eradicating poverty is not a naïve pipe dream
‘To be clear, ending extreme poverty by 2030 is not a farcical or fantastical aim,’ writes Kweku Mandela
Beyoncé, Jay-Z release joint album on marriage and identity
The album came out late on Saturday exclusively on Jay-Z’s fledgling Tidal streaming service
Red Bull Culture Clash: The beat of two cities
If Atlanta was a taste of what’s to come, Orlando Stadium is going to explode like never before
On our Lists this week: the Joburg Review of Books, Milan Kundera and Little Dragon
The Lists are compiled by Friday editor Milisuthando Bongela and arts writer Kwanele Sosibo