At Bakwa, we’d like to close this year with our way of engagement, that is, in-depth reflections on culture. 2015 has seen Kendrick Lamar’s song ‘Alright’ become an anthem of the #blacklivesmatter protests, hailing a return to the civil rights movement and its cooperation with Black cultural production in America. The same year has seen Thandiswa Mazwai’s song ‘Vana Vevhu’ or ‘The beautiful country is dying,’ become an anthem of the #RhodesMustFall protests in South Africa recalling a time when Dollar Brand’s songs were sang in defiance of Apartheid policy in Soweto. Likewise, 2015 has seen Cameroonians gyrating to Franko’s ‘Coller la Petite’, the unmistakable club banger (which was recently banned) with scores of fans such as Didier Drogba and Alex Song.
The presence of jazz, and hip hop, across many forms of public protest and demonstration, reiterates the place of radical cultural production in society today; signals the role of cultural criticism and its impact on political consciousness in the now. For this feature on music in 2015, we invite critics, journalists, cultural observers as well as our readers to review the year’s most captivating musical experiences. Submissions may take the form of an album review, concert review, festival review, or a curated selection of music videos.
Submissions should be sent to bakwaeditor@gmail.con before December 28, 2015.