Monday 31 August 2020
Man is crazy about his mum's beauty. Attempts to bed her more than once #GirlTalkZA #MondayMotivation
Friday 28 August 2020
#FridayFeeling: The most weird shoes you can find in South Africa
#FridayFeeling: Lady Zamar opens up about Sjava incident on Instagram Live
Wednesday 19 August 2020
etv secures UEFA Champions League rights
Kwesta stands out with @JamesonSA
Forming part of Jameson Connects: The Stay Inn, a playbook of live virtual events brought to you by Jameson, Rap A Verse with Kwesta attracted 1 420 competition entries over a 5 week period, with Kwesta enduring the unenviable task of combing through each and every one to select a winner.
It was ultimately Katlehong-based rapper, K1 Jaxe, who was crowned Rap A Verse's first king, receiving a trip for two to the Jameson Distillery in Ireland, but also the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to record a track with SA rap icon, Kwesta.
K1 Jaxe's dream has now, quite literally, manifested itself into reality with the release of 'Dreams' alongside Kwesta.
"Being in the studio with one of my idols is a day I'll never forget and I'm so happy that it happened through the Jameson Connects platform. Even thinking about it now still gives me goosebumps!" K1 Jaxe enthuses when asked about the first time he met SAMA-winning rapper Kwesta.
"After sanitising my hands, I had my back to the entrance and I remember him walking in. You think you're ready to hear Kwesta's voice but you're really not. He embraced me like we've known each other for like 10 years or more. While I was recording my verse, I could see Kwesta and he was reciting the lyrics with me word-for-word. There was a camera crew there that day and I hope none of them caught me there, crying a bit. But that was an amazing moment and I'm so grateful to Jameson that we were able to capture that on video, because it will always be captured in my mind's eye," K1 Jaxe says.
"The recording of the track was very special and the atmosphere was great," Kwesta explains when questioned about the recording process of their collaboration. "K1 Jaxe was in the moment and he didn't let it get too big for him, he also didn't allow himself to act bigger than the moment. He was there and he was present - and he was pretty smooth."
The song itself is melodically rich and textured, and lyrically rooted in aspirational pursuits, driven by two rappers who are the embodiment of what it means to chase your dreams.
"The lyrics are specific to mine and K1 Jaxe's dreams and what it took to get them, or what it's taking right now to get to them, so it encapsulates all the things we spoke about before we made the song. So it came out just the way it should have," Kwesta declares proudly.
"Jameson is a brand that makes together better, we provide a platform where talent can connect, collaborate and create," explains Beatrice Marfleet, Marketing Manager of Jameson and Irish Whiskey at Pernod Ricard SA. "We were honoured to partner with Kwesta on this search for emerging talent and look forward to seeing how K1 Jaxe's career develops and where 'Dreams' take him."
K1 Jaxe and Kwesta's striking single 'Dreams' is available to download exclusively on the Jameson Irish Whiskey website, for free from 14 - 21 August.
Friday 14 August 2020
Rhythm City's Mampho fumes after being labelled for twerking. #WomensMonth #GirlTalkZA
Meet Faith Nketsi the courier girl #GirlTalkZA
Sunday 9 August 2020
#WomensDay: Women taking their throne through #poetry
#WomensDay: Zozibini Tunzi partners with 1st For Women for series that turns fear into strength
Reigning Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi is stepping forward this Woman's Day to make her voice heard as she partners with 1st for Women in a national campaign dubbed Living Fearless is Liberating.
The 26-year-old, who has become a beacon by encouraging women to come forward and be counted, admits that fearlessness does not mean being immune to fear, but simply being courageous enough in how one lives their life.
"And liberation in today's world could mean something like being free from the imprisonment of our own minds. It also means being free from societal standards that are forced on us on a daily basis. All of which we are aiming to promote to all women," she said.
She admitted that she, too, had fears that she had confronted.
"I have had so many fears in my life. One of the most recent ones being that I would be rejected by people as their Miss Universe, that I wasn't enough, and would fail because I looked different to any other Miss Universe people were used to. But I soon realised that what I thought was my weakness, was actually my strength.
"I tapped into it, and I owned who I am completely. Now I am confident, comfortable and fearless because I turned my fear into a strength."
Experts agree that while fear has its benefits and is a vital response to physical and emotional danger, for women, fear is omnipresent.
Author and speaker Monica Berg explains in her book, Fear Is Not an Option, that fear is powerful enough to keep us from achieving our goals, and living our best lives, said Tunzi.
"Once you decide fear isn't an option, you are left with only the choice to change, to shift your consciousness, or to take action," she said.
Gender inequality is one of the biggest challenges faced by women across the world, according to Tunzi, her participation in such campaigns to further champion the message of impartiality for women regardless of race or creed, is important.
"I will always stand by my stance of women taking up space. Taking up space means so many things, but it starts with recognising your right to belong in spaces; to exist. It means to be unapologetic for our opinions and voices. It means to be bold and confident in spaces you occupy. It means to show up and boss up," she added.
Her campaign seeks to encourage women to break free from judgment, the fear of criticism and the fear of not being enough.
"Living fearlessly is liberating," she said.
"That's the message we want to impart to the women of South Africa this Women's Day and beyond.
Here are tips from Tunzi for conquering fear and becoming fearless:
Learn to understand what your fear is and embrace it.
Write down your fears so that you can look at them face-to-face. When you are done facing them, prove them wrong.
It's not as bad you think. These are words I always recite to myself. We always imagine the worst, and most of the time, the reality is not as scary as how we imagine it.
Be optimistic! Always try to change fear into a challenge.
Tuesday 4 August 2020
Afro Poetry Times August issue takes African #poetry and literary arts to the world
Monday 3 August 2020
#PhoneReview: The new #Redmi Note 9S is the real deal priced at R4699
Xiaomi smartphones have always punched above their weight, especially when it comes to getting more specs for your bucks. The Redmi Note 9s is no different.
On the device we reviewed, the Chinese manufacturer packed in 128GB of storage, 6GB of RAM along with the Snapdragon 720G, which puts the phone in the mid-tier market segment.
Thankfully, it comes with all the usual Google apps and services, and features Android 10 and Xiaomi's own interface, MIUI11.
This makes it easy to set up, sync and get going without having to search for loopholes and workarounds – something that is affecting devices from rival Huawei.
There are a bunch of third-party apps as well as Xiaomi's MI apps, but these can be disabled or uninstalled easily if it becomes too much of a hassle for that chic look some love.
The battery is unusually large at 5 020mAh and will last you a full day and more – even if you are a heavy user.
The downside, however, is that it does take longer than expected to charge – almost two hours – although it comes with a 22.5W fast charger that connects via USB-C.
It's strange that there are no headphones in the box. However, a 3.5mm headphone jack is retained at a time when most flagship devices have ditched this vital component.
Make sure you immediately cover the phone in the plastic casing provided to avoid scratches as the quad camera sticks out at the back of the phone. The camera is magical for this tier. The 48MP main camera has an 8MP ultra wide-angle lens, a 2MP depth sensor and a sublime 5MP macro lens.
The macro lens was easily a favourite, especially for foodies and those who like to get close – I mean, really close – to their subjects. Just look at the cheesy nachos picture (above) I took on the day the mighty Real Madrid won the LaLiga title, again.
On the front, the selfie camera is 16MP and is located in the screen at the top – which makes more sense than placing it to either side of the screen as you tend to lose real estate that way.
Speaking of the screen, Xiaomi says it comes with nano coating and Gorilla Glass 5, while the screen dimensions are just 1cm off on both the top and the sides of the phone.
The entire phone measures 16.5cm by 7.5cm and weighs a slightly heavy 209g. It is a large device and can be a bit of an irritation if you have small hands. This has led to some calling it a phablet – a cross between a phone and a tablet.
Its security features include facial recognition and fingerprint scanner, which is located on the right side of the phone with the power button and volume keys.
However, we must note that privacy concerns regarding Xiaomi devices have been raised this year, with some reports suggesting that there has been unauthorised collection of data.
To be fair, these concerns have been levelled at all the major smartphone manufacturers.
Coming in at R5 299 for the 128GB and
R4 699 for the 64GB version, this phone is easily one of the easiest recommendations I've made in a while.
Rare glimmer of hope hits South Africa as Covid-19 active cases decline by 10%
There is, finally, a glimmer of hope at the end of the awful Covid-19 tunnel: as we report today, the number of active cases across the country has declined by 10% over the past week.
Although the total number of confirmed Covid cases has now passed the 500 000 mark and deaths are still at high levels, the reality is that recovery numbers are also increasing, to the point where now almost 70% of those who have been infected by the coronavirus have recovered. That number will only get higher with time.
As President Cyril Ramaphosa pointed out, it is too early to roll out the vuvuzelas of celebration and, indeed, there might be those in the government who would accuse us of sparking reckless behaviour from people who might think the worst is over.
That is not our intention, but we are also concerned that, in a pandemic such as this, the public should be given accurate figures and that these should not be withheld or massaged to get people to act in a certain way.
We've already seen how the information around the dangers of cigarettes has been manipulated to justify the ongoing ban.
For now, though, let's enjoy the moment of hope.