Afropunk Johannesburg 2017
The energy was unique, we were black, valuable, precious and had zero expectations or judgements of one another.
I could feel the common love of music that brought us all together.
All our African acts gave world class performances that begged the question of why we bother paying to see Americans live when excellence resides at home.
Nakhane Toure, Manthe Ribane and The Brother Moves On must have surely been mandated to own the stage with their bold personas and altogether fuck shit up. I am in awe of their talent and stage presence, so much grit, so much energy and fight, you can't help but get excited when watching them.
Thandiswa's brief rendition of Jikijela with her supporting vocalists, almost brought me to tears as we fast approached the new year.
The weather tried to slow us down but instead of receiving a curse I acknowledged that water is needed for growth and it soon became clear that no one else was disheartened by it either and we became one with the music and the mud.