A love letter to stories, sport, and little miracles — Sport is strange. We don’t need it. Nothing about sport is vital to human life or happiness. Ultimately, sport shouldn’t matter. Yet, it does. When nations win major competitions, their presidents almost always get re-elected on the wave of joy and goodwill. …

Hugh Masekela is one of the most celebrated international jazz legends in history. He was born in Witbank, South Africa, in 1939. He played piano and sang as a young child. Then, at fourteen years old, he saw a movie about American jazz named Young Man with a Horn…

Brenda Fassie is an international music icon. She has been compared with the greatest pop stars in the world. Although, when an interviewer said that Brenda had been called the Madonna of the townships, Brenda replied ‘No, no, sweetie. Madonna is the Brenda of America.’ She was born in…

Basil Coetzee is one of the greatest jazzmen ever. He was born in District Six in Cape Town in 1944, and fell in love with music through living in District Six, and experiencing its vibrant and dynamic music scene. Coetzee started playing the penny whistle in live performances when…

Katy wanted a woke millennial angst anthem, but Chained To The Rhythm sounds calculated and insincere. P!nk’s instant hit expresses the emotional tumult of 2017’s disheartened young people much better. — Pop rarely does politics well. Lyrically, pop is obsessed with age-old concerns of all people. The genre rewrites universal experiences of life over and over. It does love very well. It rephrases joy, disappointment, anger, excitement, and hope. Every year that seismic political events occupy the public’s attention, pop stars…

Have you heard what Bessie Smith was singing about lollipops in the 20s? How about the 400 year old dildo song? Music is not dirtier now. It’s just more accessible. — 50 Cent is one of those artists who people use to try and prove that music has become too dirty, too sordid, too sexually explicit. Apparently, it has never been this bad. Each generation has fallen further into moral decay, allegedly. There was nothing like Fiddy when they were young…

‘Sincerity’ is critical for most people when they describe what makes music good. Something about your favourite record feels ‘real’ and ‘genuine’. You believe that the sentiment in the lyrics is an ‘authentic’ expression of the singer’s emotional experience of the world. You value this because you want the power…

What is it about your favourite radio presenter that makes them the best? Many conventions make good radio, but one skill makes great radio. — All radio presenters are really trying to do is convince you to spend a little time every day with them, through what they talk about, and how they talk about it. Yet, everyone likes their radio presenters a little different. People love radio presenters who possess admirable qualities, but everyone finds different qualities admirable. It all depends on the kind of person you as a listener want to spend time with.

The biggest obstacle to musicians is the music industry. Soundcloud can free artists from self-interested industry middle-men using blockchain. The platform has already opened up the whole world for anyone making music. It can revolutionise our soundscapes again. — My career in radio, working with music and artists has taught me the following: The Music Industry Mess The world is full of extraordinary songs by artists with no fans, labels or money behind them. These songs go nowhere because exposure to audiences is carefully controlled by companies who seek to promote their own…