The Lists
THE PLAYLIST
This six-episode documentary investigates the allegations of sexual misconduct that several women have made against R. Kelly. Because his streaming analytics have been revived since the release of the documentary there is no easy way to talk about this because I feel like I am adding to his publicity. But that is not reason enough to boycott the exposé because the survivors have been silenced for way too long. Turning a blind eye is not an option. Twenty minutes into the first part of the series, the producers did the work of making sure their reporting was balanced by retracing his troubled childhood. I battled through testimonies from his brothers and an old interview excerpt in which he attempts to justify his ways.
I do not know what the outcome of Surviving R. Kelly will be, but what I can hold on to is that the women are being heard and that hopefully the justice system will wake the fuck up to the plight of many black women. (ZH) We mess with beats in a big way, especially the polyrhythmic kind that reflect a globalised worldview we held on to as pre-internet youths.
This one kind of falls within the jazz-funk tradition, but contemporary London runs through it. The boogie, the bruk and all that frenetic stuff the Big Smog is known for is all here. Last December, at the Folk and Griot Festival in Utrecht, DJ Bob hit me upside the head with the song Wingtai Drums, turning this duo from a name that came up randomly in my Youtube searches into instant favourites. (KS)
THE READING LIST
Can I get an “Amen” from those of you who live by the to-do list like I do?
Well, this piece takes a look at how, for millennials, successful adulting is the act of completing a to-do list. The gag is we never let that to-do list end.
Instead of pathetically nodding at what Petersen has laid out, I’m using this piece to find an alternative, more sustainable way of doing this young adulthood thing because, as much as we’re applauded for being #Teamnosleep, burnout is not something I aspire to in this new work year. (ZH) This thoughtfully curated exhibition currently running at the Johannesburg Art Gallery asks us many pertinent questions around access, representation, ethics and agency. Curator Khwezi Gule believes that our language for critical engagement is a little underdeveloped as a society. At best, we use a borrowed discourse, often looking past the actual issues at hand. I have visited the exhibition a few times. Maybe you should too. (KS)
Zaza Hlalethwa (ZH) Kwanele Sosibo (KS)