Op-Ed

Op-Ed: Why Siya Kolisi's Comments on Racial Quotas Are Wrong

The Springboks captain has some fundamental misconceptions about what quotas mean

When I was in my final year of high school, my Afrikaans teacher told me that she was having trouble convincing the moderators that I had in fact attained the marks in my portfolio. At the time I didn't understand what she meant. Sure my marks were insanely high but they'd been consistently high, as with every subject I took. She told me that the doubt had been fueled because the moderators had said that "a Black child could not do so well at Afrikaans" - when their very own white Afrikaans learners were failing at their mother tongue. It was only when my distinction was withheld from me that I finally realized that I had been mistaken. I was operating from a place that asserted that academic merit was academic merit regardless of the fact that I was Black. However, they weren't.


Springboks Rugby Captain Siya Kolisirecently commented that he did not think that the late Nelson Mandela would agree quota systems used in rugby and that he wanted a better South Africa for all who live in it. Now, I'm going to explain why he's not fundamentally wrong but why he's also not right as well.


Roughly 24 years into our democracy, South Africa still has to enforce quota systems in the workplace, in sports and pretty much everywhere so that Black people can even get a foot in the door. Twenty-four years into our democracy, we're still having to force various institutions and corporate that when they're hiring competent new talent, that they don't conveniently 'forget' to consider and employ just as equally competent Black people. And so Kolisi is quite right in that regard. Nelson Mandela would not have been pleased that whilst we're still a relatively young democracy, the people for whom he fought are still facing the same barriers they did in Apartheid times.

However, to say that quota systems do more harm than good is something that must be answered two-fold. Firstly, if the understanding that Black people have of quota systems is incomplete and merely centers on them having access to opportunities solely because they are Black, it is understandable why they would feel unworthy of those very opportunities. However, and this is the second part to this two-fold answer, when one understands what structural racism is and how it operates, especially in a country such as South Africa, one can better understand what the quota systems under the umbrella of affirmative action and transformation are actually trying to do.

Remember when we were kids and played outdoors be it at school or home? Often we'd play games that required us to split into different teams or groups. There were always kids who were consistently not chosen by the other more popular or vocal kids, not because they were necessarily bad at the game that was to be played but because of arbitrary reasons such as them being different, 'weird', unpopular or simply because the other kids just wanted to exclude them from the fun.

We can use that analogy to understand how structural racism works. The more popular or vocal kids are White South Africans who although a minority, possess the majority of the country's wealth. The kids they want to be a part of their team are people who look like them, are relatable to them and people they actually like i.e. other White South Africans and perhaps the odd person here and there from other races that may benefit them somehow. And of course, all the weird and unpopular kids are Black South Africans who are then excluded from participating in the country's economy, accessing its wealth and resources, simply because they're Black. And so regardless of how brilliant and competent Black people are, how they compare to White people on all levels and may even excel far beyond them, they still can't be a part of the team because merit by itself is not enough to give them access to spaces that don't want them to begin with.

What Kolisi and so many other Black South Africans need to understand is that quota systems are not meant to be façades as is the sentiment of many white South Africans. It's not about having black faces for the sake of black faces. It's not about employing incompetent Black people for the sheer fact that quotas require we employ Black people. And whilst this is a system that can and has been abused in the past, as with any system or policy to be honest, it's about doing away with the underlying presumption that Black people aren't talented, worthwhile, valuable and competent to begin with and hence the need to continue keeping them out of spaces.

I used to think merit was enough, that simply being excellent was enough to place me on the same playing field as a White person because that's what our struggle veterans fought for and that's was our Constitution upholds. But as I learnt in my final year of high school, merit and excellence aren't enough when you're Black. Hard as it is to believe and accept, that is the sobering reality.

And so to Black South Africans who feel inadequate owing to quota systems, remember this: You're not there simply because you're Black. You're there in spite of being Black.

Image courtesy of the artist.

Meet Andre Vibez, the Producer Behind Rema's 'Calm Down'

We caught up with the Nigerian producer who’s been cranking out record-breaking hits on the story behind Rema’s "Calm Down" and more.

Before "Calm Down" was gifted to the world, producer Andre Vibez and Remahad already forged a connection. This was during Rema’s early years in Benin City as a teenager and a budding artist, part of the musical duo RNA. Andre Vibez was well-known in the city for his grasp with unproven talents and his enviable heritage as the son of Sir Victor Uwaifo, a Nigerian music legend.

But Andre, who journeyed into the music world first as a rapper before being nudged by his Dad to master music production, sought for more outside Benin. Thus, a move to Lagos, the nation’s creative hotspot, surfaced. While that phase came with a state of lull, news of Rema being unveiled in 2019 ignited a sense of hunger in Andre Vibez to go harder at music production than ever before.

A meeting with Don Jazzy happened through his cousin in 2020. The partnership with Rema would be struck again and a year later, Andre Vibez would supply the sonic rudiments that morphed to become the most streamed Nigerian song in 2021, “Feeling” by LADIPOE. He and Rema would create “Calm Down” —the monstrous hit that has continued to shatter existing records—that same year, creating new landmarks and pumping in new opportunities both for the producer and the artist, who’s just finished touring India.

We spoke to Andre Vibez below.

You often add elements from other genres to your Afropop beats. What’s your creation process like?

It differs for everybody. But the thing I do is, when I make my beats, I have an artist or similar artists in mind. So if I’m making a certain beat, I can make it thinking Rema will be great on this, Ayra Starr will be great on this. I try to make it in a way that it’s so good that when I play it for that particular artist, they can instantly connect to it.

Another secret is leaving a lot of room on my beats when I start making them so when any of the artists jump on it, I can go back and add other elements or melodies to it. So it all complements what the artist did on that record. There were some beat elements on Mavins' "Won Da Mo" and Crayon’s "Too Correct" that were added after the artist had recorded so it gave me room to experiment and be creative.

Andre VibezAndre VibezPhoto courtesy of the artist.

Your dad Sir Victor Uwaifo was a legend, did he influence your choice to become a music producer?

Yes. Getting into production was quite easy for me. Considering the fact that I grew up in music, my father, the late Sir Victor Uwaifo was like one of the biggest musicians out of Nigeria and Africa in his prime. I just grew up listening to his music, watching him perform, watching him record, rehearse, cut records. I took all of that in but I didn’t realize I was going to do music until I became a teenager.

My dad’s influence is so great on me that if you listen to the beats I make, you’ll hear that there are elements of different genres. That's what my dad created. Also, he was very experimental. My dad wasn’t exactly highlife, he made a highlife hit and people tagged him highlife. And when you hear the instrumentation in his beats, the percussions, the orchestral sounds, horns and the jazz melodies. You put all of these together so imagine growing up, listening to that kind of music every day, it’d definitely have a big impact on you.

You produced "Dirty" and "Calm Down" off Rema's Rave and Roses album. How did that connection with Rema begin?

Rema and I go way back to 2014, when I first met him. I mean Rema is Rema. But Rema is like my younger brother. Because when I met him, obviously he was really young, he was 13 or 14 when I first met him, I was the one who made his first record when he was in a group (RNA).

I made about three other records for them. Fast forward to when he was unveiled by Mavin. To be honest, Rema is one of the people who motivated me to get back to doing music production. Because I remember I was in SoundCity at the time. When I saw that, it just sparked something inside of me. It felt like, I came here, to Lagos for something and I’m seeing someone that I know, we have some history together. And he’s here at this level, I can do this as well. So that was what sparked that idea of me just quitting my job and getting back to this.

Once I got into Mavin, Rema and I started working. When he had the time, we would record and the synergy started to come back. I started to understand him and he understood my stuff. Rema is someone who knows exactly what he wants. And once you understand him, then it makes it easy for a relationship to be formed.

So how was "Calm Down" made?

After we recorded "Calm Down," we knew it was a special song. I just didn’t know how big it was going to be. I think it was during the day we recorded the song. So Rema came to the studio, this was sometime in 2021, and I played him a couple of beats. The "Calm Down" beat must have been the third beat I played him that day. As soon as he heard it, he was like I should keep that. I played him another one and he was like let’s go back to the previous one, which is the beat for "Calm Down."

He just told me to keep playing it and he started coming up with the lyrics, the melodies. He came up with the vocal melodies first. And then we started putting in the words and recorded it. After we were done, we listened to it and we knew this song was special.

"Won Da Mo" became a popular hit in December and although produced by you, it spelled out your versatility. How do you infuse elements from other genres into the Afropop records you make?

I mean we can make rock music or metal music in Nigeria. So if you’re going to infuse any of that you have to balance it out with other things.Every Afrobeats song that you hear today regardless of the melody or the rhythm, it's the drums that drive Afrobeats. Because for African music, before we started making contemporary African songs or like what we make today, if you go back in time before we got civilized, you’ll notice that literally every culture in Africa plays drums. They play heavy drums, the percussions, congas and shakers. So African music first of all is drums. And what Afrobeats is using to dominate is firstly the drums and the addition of nice melodies which you can borrow from anywhere else and add to the drums.

How did that happen for "Won Da Mo"?

For "Won Da Mo" we were going for something really fast because it is supposed to feel like it’s an action movie. That was the idea. The idea wasn’t coming from me though. Rema was definitely a heavy part of that process. In fact, the main melody was Rema. That “Tan Dan Tan Dan Tan Dan” you hear at the beginning, Rema is the one who wanted that. Then I started playing the drums, adding like all the other elements, getting a guitarist to come to the studio to play some melodies too, directing him on what to play.

Once I realized that it was a song every artist in Mavin was going to be on, I had to find pockets for each artist to come in which was very difficult because you have eight artists. How do you want to fit eight artists into a song that’s not so long? The most difficult part was the transition from one artist to the next artist. I had to make it work in a seamless format. If you notice, for every time the next person comes in, there’s something that leads into that person’s part.

So those sounds that I added, those things I added to make the record what it is, the whole rock sounds, R&B feel, is just an approach I like. For me, it’s something that makes me stand out. And for you to be recognized, for you to stand out, you need to be able to do something that’s different from what other people are doing.

You also produced Ayra Starr’s "Rush," her biggest record yet which has amassed over 100 million Spotify streams and just went Gold in France. How did that happen?

I just did my own bit. I had made the beat a while back, maybe April last year. So I worked with another producer, Hopp, from the U.S. who’s on the production credits. After we dropped "Calm Down," I had a lot of international producers reaching out, wanting to send samples. So this guy, Hoops sent me samples and loops. I heard one particular loop, loved it instantly and wanted to create around it and then I just worked it my own way. You know, added other things and gave it that Afropop feel.

I then shared it with Mbryo, who co-wrote the song with Ayra Starr. That’s it. I wasn’t even present when it was recorded. I recorded Mbryo but when Ayra recorded I wasn’t there. I just heard the record when she had done it and sent it to me. I was like cool, I love it. And after, I added some other elements to it. There was this particular bassline I included and some little strings and transition sounds I added here and there.

Photos courtesy Bruce IV.

Photo Series: Inside Nigeria’s Egungun Festival​

Rooted in the Yoruba word for masquerade, the centuries-old festival honors ancestors, with a striking display of costumes and masks.

In Nigeria, one of the several cultural practices that remains today, despite the massive conversion of the Yoruba people to Christianity and Islam, is the Egungun festival. Egungun is the Yoruba word for masquerade, and it’s recognized as the return of an ancestral spirit from heaven, reemerging on earth to bless the people and the community.

The Egungun festival has become a popular communal festival held annually to honor ancestors, as well as keep their memories alive. It’s celebrated in numerous towns and villages across the South-West region of Nigeria–a region predominantly occupied by the Yorubas. One such town is Iragbiji, a hilly area surrounded by enormous rocks, situated 15 kilometers northeast of the state capital, Osogbo, and founded 600 years ago. The Egungun festival in Iragbiji is reportedly as old as the town itself, and is usually held annually around May, spanning seven days filled with countless activities and events.

On the festival eve, the Egungun, a hidden fellowship of people, led by the leader, pay a visit to the forest of the deities to receive the spirits of the Egungun and bring them back home. This officially marks the beginning of the festival.

Nigerian's celebrate Egungun Festival.Photos courtesy Bruce IV.

This year, the energy that came with the festival season could hardly be missed. For someone who’s witnessing the festival for the first time, one cannot help but be taken aback. Even though Iragbiji is rife with old buildings and dilapidated roofs, several of its inhabitants carry a refreshing vitality — many of them young — that keeps the town alive. Unlike Lagos and Abuja, motorcycles are the most common form of transportation in the town, and at the same time, the pace feels unhurried. Narrow roads filled with people trooping all over the place. Crews of young men holding long canes jumped in front of motorcycles to hinder movement, demanding money in the spirit of the season. All while elderly men, seated in front of their fenceless houses, looked on with a sense of longing.

It’s believed that each clan has at least one Egungun, and so each has a specific day allotted to it during the festival, some attracting more people than others.

Nigerian's celebrate Egungun Festival.Photos courtesy Bruce IV.

As is customary, each day, up until the seventh, sees these Egungun come out of their homes to parade the town, which is usually filled with throngs of people seated at different vantage points. Each Egungun comes out with its clan members alongside drummers who continually strike their instruments vigorously and viciously, as the Egungun dance about. They move from house to house, stopping to bless each one. One might be forced to believe that Egungun are diabolical in nature because of the voluminous amount of charms in their regalia, but the moment you come into contact with any Egungun, they immediately rain down torrents of prayers on you. As they do this, one might be expected to give the Egungun and its clan members a little compensation for their prayers.

Encountering an Egungun as a stranger in Iragbiji might at first come off as a terrifying thing, but one quickly realizes that they carry no ill intent, regardless of how scary their costumes might be. Generally, their aim isn’t to harm onlookers but to instead entertain. And sometimes, this entertainment can be predominantly violent in nature as followers of the Egungun wielding canes begin to flog themselves vehemently. The flogging is somewhat ritualistic and can appear frightening but seeing the joy that it evokes amongst the crowd tells an onlooker everything they need to know: It is merely entertainment.

Check out our gallery from this year’s festival:

Nigerian's celebrate Egungun Festival.

Photos courtesy Bruce IV.

Photo by Joshua Okocha.

Burna Boy is the First African Artist to Sell Out London Stadium

The Nigerian superstar became the first African artist to sell out London’s 80,000-capacity stadium, during his June 3rd performance. The U.S. is next, where he'll be the first African artist to headline a stadium, at New York's Citi Field.

Africa’s Giant is showing no signs of slowing down on his mission to dominate stages across the globe. This weekend, Grammy-Award-winning singer-songwriter Burna Boy became the first African artist to sell out the U.K.’s London Stadium – the city’s 80,000-capacity multi-purpose arena. “I told them I’m a genius”, the singer said as he made the incredible feat with no warm-up acts and continues to take his Love, Damini tour beyond his wildest dreams.

The three-hour show seemed to be an event to remember. A fan-posted video showed the singer’s reaction to the massive crowd singing his hit single "It’s Plenty" back to him. The 60,000-strong audience joined Burna in celebrating how far African music, more specifically Afrobeats, has soared in the last few years. Offering a delicious career-spanning collection of hits, the singer and the crowd were in agreement on how much energy was needed to truly appreciate the moment. Burna’s latest accomplishment has seemingly become his modus operandi as he’s previously sold out London’s Wembley and O2 Arenas, and earlier this year he set himself up to be the first African artist to headline a U.S. Stadium.

London Stadium took to their official Twitter account to announce the singer’s historic occasion saying, “NOW SOLD OUT @burnaboy’s RECORD-BREAKING concert has now officially SOLD OUT. What an incredible achievement for the first-ever African artist to solo headline a U.K. stadium. For those lucky enough to make it, enjoy the show.” The star replied, in a now edited Tweet, “I told them I’m a genius.” However, sweet words still made available to his Twitter fans read, “Believe. Sold Out Business. Thank you, London and love to everyone that supported me in making history. Till the next one.”

Burna brought out a host of fellow global hitmakers to make the most of his and the fans’ experience. The singer brought out British rappers Stormzy, and Jhus to perform ‘Real Life’ with the former, and Jamaican artist Popcaan got his chance to deliver a stellar performance of their collab ‘Aboboyaa’ with the man of the evening. Burna was also sure to pay tributes to his former collaborator, the late Indian rapper ‘Sidhu Moose Wala’ as he gave a heartwarming rendition of their single ‘Mera Na’, which was released after the artist’s passing.

London Stadium did its due diligence in awarding the singer with a prestigious plaque, solidifying his amazing accomplishment and the indescribable success Burna Boy has created for himself.

Fans took to social media to help celebrate the artist’s achievement:






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