Shameless Self-Promotion: Chief Boima’s Many Identities

If you’re unfamiliar with my musical work, OkayAfrica.com recently did a profile on me for their web TV series.

Meanwhile, a team of fellow African DJs in New York and I have linked up to try and establish a permanent home for people of all backgrounds to enjoy the young, fresh, creative sounds coming out of the diaspora at large in downtown Manhattan. This Friday at Bamboo in Manhattan’s East Village we present the second edition of a night we’re calling PAN. Joining us will be DJ Marco, the owner of San Francisco’s Baobab Village, and the crew from Andrew Dosunmu’s Restless City who will be celebrating their theatrical premiere. Hopefully the night will also serve as a celebration of independence and freedom for all the local Sierra Leoneans and South Africans. Here’s the poster:

Further Reading

On Safari

On our year-end publishing break, we reflect on how 2024’s contradictions reveal a fractured world grappling with inequality, digital activism, and the blurred lines between action and spectacle.

Rebuilding Algeria’s oceans

Grassroots activists and marine scientists in Algeria are building artificial reefs to restore biodiversity and sustain fishing communities, but scaling up requires more than passion—it needs institutional support and political will.

Ibaaku’s space race

Through Afro-futurist soundscapes blending tradition and innovation, Ibaaku’s new album, ‘Joola Jazz,’ reshapes Dakar’s cultural rhythm and challenges the legacy of Négritude.

An allegiance to abusers

This weekend, Chris Brown will perform two sold-out concerts in South Africa. His relationship to the country reveals the twisted dynamic between a black American artist with a track record of violence and a country happy to receive him.

Shell’s exit scam

Shell’s so-called divestment from Nigeria’s Niger Delta is a calculated move to evade accountability, leaving behind both environmental and economic devastation.

Africa’s sibling rivalry

Nigeria and South Africa have a fraught relationship marked by xenophobia, economic competition, and cultural exchange. The Nigerian Scam are joined by Khanya Mtshali to discuss the dynamics shaping these tensions on the AIAC podcast.

The price of power

Ghana’s election has brought another handover between the country’s two main parties. Yet behind the scenes lies a flawed system where wealth can buy political office.

Beats of defiance

From the streets of Khartoum to exile abroad, Sudanese hip-hop artists have turned music into a powerful tool for protest, resilience, and the preservation of collective memory.