Art doesn’t have the privilege of looking on as everyone else struggles: London’s Bush Theatre re-opens with Black Lives, Black Words

by Zahra Dalilah When Madani Younis stepped into the role of Artistic Director of the Bush Theatre in 2012, he became the first person of colour to run a theatre building in London’s history. Under no illusions as to just how radically things were changing, Younis began laying the foundations for what in 2017 has… Read More

Caramel queen or white man’s whore: #HashtagLightie, the play exploring the realities of modern mixed-race lives

by Zahra Dalilah Women and men of mixed heritage, especially black/white, are often called upon in media to provide an inoffensive face of diversity, a fetishized vision of exotic beauty or simplistically characterised as inherently confused halves of one thing or the other. The play #HashtagLightie – which recently sold out the Arcola Theatre, London… Read More

Meet Caleb Femi, the Young Poet Laureate telling stories of love at the chickenshop

Heartbreak and Grime will make you shake your head in shame and/or disgust at the things women had to put up with, the bizarre façades which define teen relationships in general and the blatant misogyny that so many of us once drank unquestioningly. Read More

Boyz N The Hood: Kicking in the door, waving the 4-4

By Zahra Dalilah “Either they don’t know, don’t show or don’t care about what’s going on in the hood” – Darren ‘Doughboy’, Boyz N The Hood Watching Boyz N The Hood in 2016, there is comforting familiarity that sits with me during the film. Drinking in the 90s fades with the optional single skinny plait… Read More

Gentrification and complicity in South London

If you’re a black artist from Brixton, can you still be complicit in the area’s gentrification? An interview with Shola Amoo by Zahra Dalilah It’s no secret that London has changed drastically in the last decade. For many, the areas we grew up in and have loved fiercely, despite rumours that across rivers and over… Read More

Album review: Kano’s Made in the Manor – staying true to grime’s DIY culture

by Zahra Dalilah In keeping with the theme of his first two albums Home Sweet Home and London Town, Kano takes the opportunity of his fifth studio album to once again rep his ends and celebrate the manor that made him. An honest depiction that doesn’t seek to change minds but jog memories, going beyond… Read More