Speaks

There are few people on planet Earth who can rap as fast as J Noa — and even fewer who actually have something to say. On her 2023 debut EP, Autodidactica, the 18-year-old MC from the 5 de Abril barrio in San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic, showcased one of the most nimble flows in rap of any language, along with a penchant for strings-laden throwback beats and a modern perspective. Beyond merely precocious, her voice carries the weight of one who’s seen some things and lived to tell about them.  The frenetic,…

The PowerUp Initiatives for Electricity Rights (PowerUp Nigeria) has urged the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to revive the award of a N12.7 billion meter installation contract to De Haryor Global Services Limited. Adetayo Adegbemle, executive director of PowerUp Nigeria, made the call in a statement on Wednesday. PowerUp Nigeria is an electricity consumer rights and policy advocacy organization. The Nigerian government had earlier in the week announced the flag-off of a N40 billion mass metering project to end…

Trigger warning: domestic violence, physical abuse, emotional abuse.Richard Spencer, a man from Bubwith, East Yorkshire, England, shared his devastating story of suffering abuse at the hands of his wife for 20 years in a new Channel 5 documentary.Titled “My Wife My Abuser: The Secret Footage,” the program left viewers in tears when it aired on Monday (March 18).During a series of interviews, the 47-year-old man got upset as he recalled the “most demoralizing thing” that happened to him while living with his ex-partner,…

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) on Friday described the increase in the price of sachet water in the country as unacceptable and unfair. The FCCPC acting Executive Vice-Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Adamu Abdullahi, disclosed this while speaking at an event to commemorate the 2024 World Consumer Rights Day in Abuja on Friday. The price of sachet water has gone up across the country in recent times. Currently, a bag of sachet water sold between N200 and N250 now sells as high…

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has provided clarifications regarding its recent donation of 2.15 million bags of fertilisers to farmers across the country through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. The CBN had on Wednesday donated fertilisers valued at over N100 billion at current market prices, aiming to support domestic agricultural production and address rising food inflation. Inflation in Nigeria has continued to rise largely because of the high cost of food items. As of February, the…

Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Palestine has been a major issue around the world, as the IDF’s military operation in the wake of the October 7th attack by Hamas has resulted in unprecedented civilian casualities.Protesters have taken to the streets and public figures have advocated for Palestine in a variety of ways. For Palestinian-American artist Phay, it took time to find the best words to encapsulate his thoughts — and he decided to put them to song on “Watermelon Seeds,” a poignant reflection on the plight of his…

The management of the Geometric Power Plant has confirmed the percentage of equity stake purchased by the Abia State Government in the company’s power plant in Aba. Controversy There was speculation that the Abia State Government contributed a five per cent equity stake in the power plant during the administration of Okezie Ikpeazu who served as the governor of the state from 2015 to 2023. Data from the Abia State Accountant General’s 2022 financial report indicated that the state government invested N1.41…

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is out now, and with Black History Month wrapping up today, Barret Wallace voice actor John Eric Bentley has spoken about his FF7 character, Black History Month, and the hopes he has for the video game industry.In an interview published by Square Enix, Bentley emphasized the real-life Black heroes he is inspired by, such as his parents and other family members who were educators with their involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. Viola Davis, Denzel Washington, Martin Luther King…

Don’t worry—the rat dck can no longer hurt you. The open-access paper that contained bizarre, AI-generated imagery of rat genitalia and gibberish graphics has been retracted by its publisher, which said that the study authors violated the journal’s guidelines.Like It or Not, Your Doctor Will Use AI | AI UnlockedPublished in Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, the study’s text discussed the function of stem cells associated with rat testes. But the subject matter is not what captured attention. The study authors…

One of the actors hired to play Willy Wonka at an “immersive experience” fan event that became a viral sensation for all the wrong reasons is speaking out about what actually went down behind the scenes. The U.K. fan attraction Willy’s Chocolate Experience — which was inspired by Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but not officially tied to the book or movies — promised to transport ticket buyers into a fantastical world. The organized used spectacular artificial intelligence-generated…