Rahel Aklilu

Sep 17, 2024 | rollingstoneafrica.com | Rahel Aklilu

AMAPIANO HAS OFFICIALLY gone global. No longer confined to the shebeens of Guateng—the South African province from which it was birthed—the genre has firmly rooted itself on the world stage as one of South Africa’s finest exports. Between 2018 and 2023, Amapiano streams on Spotify shot up by 5,668%, and after South Africa, the largest number of consumers of the sound can be found in North America, the UK, and Germany.

Dec 6, 2023 | complex.com | Joseph Patterson |James Keith |Yemi Abiade |Chantelle Fiddy |Son Raw |Rahel Aklilu | +1 more

As much as music can define a moment in time, the conversations, essays and reviews it provokes are just as important. Good music writing can add context, highlight connections to the art that came before, and perhaps most importantly of all, document those stories that might otherwise be lost as time goes on.

Nov 23, 2023 | complex.com | Rahel Aklilu

Britain’s underground dance music scene has undoubtedly weaved the fabric of culture, fashion and history of what we consume today as popular culture—think rave culture’s influence on the Y2K fashions we sport, or the way grime paved the way for the drill and rap that dominates the charts. For the most part, underground dance music has stayed proudly underground, with pride in self-sufficiency and the cultural authenticity of indie labels.

Nov 8, 2023 | complex.com | Rahel Aklilu

Now more than ever, with the world’s attention span capped at no more than fifteen seconds, consistency and versatility are instrumental in setting emerging artists apart and helping them stand out from the crowd. One artist who has successfully balanced the art of surprising listeners and giving them what they want is 24-year-old British-Nigerian talent JayO, the multi-genre multidisciplinary behind one of the year’s biggest breakout singles, the seductive Afro-dancehall cut “22”.

Oct 26, 2023 | complex.com | Joseph Patterson |James Keith |Rahel Aklilu |Jason Kavuma

Tazer Black & Chuckie Online (R&B & Slow Jams) / Photography by Laurence Howe When nightlife, and leaving the house in general, was snatched from us via the pandemic in 2020, those two years dramatically refocused things for us all. Suddenly, our priorities were completely changed and, with all that time on our hands, we started to realise we’d taken certain things for granted.