The Hennessy Africa Cypher 2024, one of the most anticipated annual events for hip-hop and rap enthusiasts, has been released, igniting excitement across the continent. This year’s Cypher, an 8-minute display of distinctive rap styles and ingenious wordplay, is set against a Lagos train station backdrop in Lagos, Nigeria, embodying Hennessy’s adventurous spirit, reflecting its history of bold activations in unique locations.
The Hennessy Africa Cypher 2024 features six prolific artists from Africa’s dynamic rap scene: Maglera Doe Boy from South Africa, Didi B from Cote d’Ivoire, Young Lunya from Tanzania, Khaligraph Jones from Kenya, Ladipoe from Nigeria, and Sarkodie from Ghana. Each artist brings a unique style and lyrical mastery to the collaboration, creating a rich tapestry of diverse sounds and perspectives.
Artist Highlights:
Maglera Doe Boy: The South African artist delivers thought-provoking verses, following the success of his debut project Diaspora in 2022. This year, he also features on K.O’s new single ‘Let Me Cook,’ showcasing his lyrical prowess.
Didi B: Representing Cote d’Ivoire, Didi B is the first Francophone artist to feature in the Cypher. Known for his ‘rap ivoire,’ he uses local creole to narrate the experiences of Ivorian youth. His album Before Olympia was released in February 2024.
Ladipoe: The Nigerian rapper is celebrated for his intricate wordplay and metaphors. His latest track, ‘Hallelujah,’ featuring Rozzz & Morrelo, was released in April 2024.
Sarkodie: Ghana’s most awarded hip hop artist and reigning Ghana Music Awards Artist of the Decade, Sarkodie released his Championship Mixtape in May 2024.
Young Lunya: The Tanzanian artist, the first hip hop act from Tanzania signed to Sony Music Entertainment Africa, captivates audiences with his Kiswahili rap.
Khaligraph Jones: The Kenyan rapper contributes his unique style and powerful lyrics to the Cypher, adding to the dynamic collaboration.
Julie Nollet, Hennessy’s global Chief Marketing Officer, expressed the brand’s commitment to the Cypher, stating, “As proved by this year’s six artists, the Cypher is about more than just music. It’s about poetry, community, inspiration, and creativity, fueling the dreams of those honing their craft. Hennessy has long been close to many forms of music, and it is only natural to celebrate African culture through a genre that embodies progress and open-mindedness.”
Hennessy has played a significant role in promoting hip hop culture since the genre’s inception in the United States over 50 years ago. The brand has been name-checked in over 4,000 tracks, making it the most mentioned brand in hip hop history. Songs like ‘Hennessy’ by 2Pac, ‘Hennessy n Buddah’ by Snoop Dogg, and ‘One Dance’ by Drake are testament to the brand’s deep connection to the genre.
The Hennessy Africa Cypher 2024 is more than a musical event; it’s a celebration of talent, creativity, and African culture. By providing a platform for these exceptional artists, Hennessy continues to support and nurture the hip hop community, bridging generations and expanding into diverse musical genres each year.
Click this YouTube link; https://youtu.be/MaQkmA9k74k?si=Bk55MF5-iq_jI7Ub to watch the cypher.
![For years, a Johannesburg school's soccer coach did the entire team's laundry himself. Several evenings a week he and the teachers carried the kit home, washed and dried it, and brought it back so the squad had something clean to train in. Their changing room was a bare space with one toilet, a broken mirror and nowhere to store a thing. There was no shortage of talent or commitment – the surroundings just held it all back. Until very recently, this was the reality at Kensington Secondary School. With the help of LG Electronics South Africa (https://apo-opa.co/4eQr5B2), the achiever who chose to fix it was Williams Okpara, the Nigerian goalkeeper who spent more than a decade guarding Orlando Pirates' posts and still holds the club's appearance record. His episode opens Make Life Good, LG's six-part reality series made in partnership with MultiChoice, a Canal+ company, and hosted by Jessica Nkosi. It has aired on Mzansi Magic every Thursday at 19:00 since 11 June, with repeats on Saturdays at 14:00 and Sundays at 09:30. The premise is rare for reality television. No prizes or eliminations, no scandals or tempers boiling over. Instead, six change-makers – or as they are affectionately known by LG as ‘Achievers’ – each return to a cause they already back, and the build teams get 24 hours to remake a space that shapes the people who use it. What connects them is geography as much as generosity: the Achievers come from across the continent, from South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya, yet every organisation they chose sits in a South African community close to their hearts and in need of support. In Lanseria, that community is a safe home and orphanage for babies and young children called LIV Lanseria, backed by Saray Khumalo, the South African mountaineer who became the first Black African woman to summit Everest. Her makeover turned a room with a single two-plate stove into a fully-fledged, working kitchen. A 900 L fridge now holds food for the whole home. A dishwasher returns the hours volunteers used to lose at the sink. A microwave warms a bottle evenly, without the cold spots that catch out a tired caregiver. The appliances follow the problem, which is the guiding principle in bringing together the Achievers, LG and Multichoice to make a difference by using their specialities. The pattern holds at a skills programme for unemployed men, where a small projector gave way to a 100-inch smart display that now runs learning demonstrations and its written theory side by side, as well as an energy-efficient air conditioner that keeps a packed training room usable through the afternoon. In a country that plans its weeks around the unpredictable availability of service delivery, that efficiency is what lets a stretched organisation keep the equipment running once the cameras leave. "Life's Good is our slogan, but this series asks us to prove it where life isn't always easy or fair," says Pennileigh Naidu, Head of Corporate Marketing and PR at LG Electronics South Africa. She frames it as a deliberate move away from product-led marketing. "We didn't want to talk about impact, we wanted to show it. For every organisation, we started with the operational problem they live with daily, then chose the technology that removes it." Her measure of success, she emphasises, is the hours a caregiver gets back and the dignity a working kitchen restores. That is the shift worth a marketer's or a technologist's attention. Corporate social investment has tended to sit off to the side of the business, a cheque written and a photograph taken. Make Life Good folds the impact into the brand and invites the harder question of whether the fridge is still working, and still useful, a year from now. Naidu calls it shared value rather than charity, the point where commercial capability and social relevance stop competing for the same budget. The series reaches viewers in Kenya and Nigeria too, and sits within LG's wider regional storytelling, gathered in its newsroom feature "Beyond the Product". This season, though, the work was South African, room-by-room and need-by-need. The crews have now packed up, and the Achievers have started their work on making changes with more communities. What stays behind in a Lanseria kitchen and a Kensington changing room is quieter and more durable: kit dried overnight, meals prepped faster, an afternoon lesson a full class can finally see. None of it will trend, but all of it will still be working when the next intake of children arrives. Make Life Good – the Achievers and their causes Williams Okpara (Nigeria) – Kensington Secondary School soccer programme, Johannesburg Former Orlando Pirates goalkeeper who holds the club's appearance record and was part of the 1995 CAF Champions League-winning team, and is now Pirates' team manager. Products: 13Kg Front Loader with AI DD™ & Steam+™ in Black Finish (https://apo-opa.co/4wpZzSf); 10kg A+++ Dual Inverter Heat Pump Dryer in Black Finish (https://apo-opa.co/3QEJSrj); LG XBOOM Stage 301 by will.i.am Bluetooth Speaker (http://apo-opa.co/4aG3IsW). Saray Khumalo (South Africa) – LIV Lanseria children's home, Lanseria The first Black African woman to summit Mount Everest and to ski to the South Pole, and founder of the Summits With a Purpose foundation, which raises funds to build libraries in disadvantaged schools. Products: 900L InstaView™ Door-in-Door French Door Fridge with UVnano™ in Black Finish (https://apo-opa.co/3SKr5eF); 42L NeoChef™ Grill Microwave Oven in Stainless Finish (https://apo-opa.co/4f4TweN); 14 Place QuadWash™ Dishwasher with TrueSteam™ in Stainless Finish (https://apo-opa.co/4f4Twvj). Adze Ugah (Nigeria) – Bold Men Skills Program / BBM Foundation Nigerian-born, Johannesburg-based filmmaker, one of the directors of Shaka iLembe, whose feature Sierra's Gold won Best South African Feature Film at the 2024 Durban International Film Festival. Products: 100 inch LG QNED evo AI QNED86 MiniLED 4K 120Hz Smart TV (https://apo-opa.co/4bt52j0); 9.1.5 ch LG Home Cinema Soundbar with Surround Sound and Rear Speakers S95TR (https://apo-opa.co/4wmHX9H); [Wifi] 24k BTU DualCool+ Inverter (https://apo-opa.co/4wt1WDP). Esther Munyi (Kenya) – Botshabelo Babies Home, Midrand Kenyan data and analytics leader, founder of Charmed by Data and former Group Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Sasfin. Products: 900L InstaView™ Door-in-Door French Door Fridge with UVnano™ in Black Finish (https://apo-opa.co/3SKr5eF); 42L NeoChef™ Grill Microwave Oven in Stainless Finish (https://apo-opa.co/4f4TweN); 13Kg Front Loader with AI DD™ & Steam+™ in Black Finish (https://apo-opa.co/4wpZzSf). Thandi Mavata (South Africa) – The House Group, Johannesburg South African entrepreneur, author and women's-empowerment advocate, and founder of the Doek on Fleek movement. Products: 77 inch LG OLED evo AI G5 4K 165Hz Smart TV (https://apo-opa.co/4eUHWTq); [Wifi] 24k BTU DualCool+ Inverter (https://apo-opa.co/4wt1WDP) air conditioner; 3x LG UltraFine 27" QHD IPS Monitor with USB-C (https://apo-opa.co/4buggnp). Perpetual Kendi (Kenya) – Moses Molelekwa Arts Foundation, Tembisa Kenyan Pan-African entrepreneur and communications strategist, founder and CEO of Addleston PR and of the Laute Luxury Wines brand. Products: 65 inch LG QNED evo AI QNED86 MiniLED 4K 120Hz Smart TV (https://apo-opa.co/3QYRg0v); LG MR11 2300W, 4.2Ch AV Receiver System (https://apo-opa.co/4brSdW9).](https://businessinsights.africa/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/OIP-81.webp "How LG’s ‘Make Life Good’ turned an orphanage’s two-plate stove into a full kitchen")
![Canon (www.Canon-CNA.com) today announces the Colorado XL-series, a new platform of 3.4m printers that extends the proven advantages of Canon's UVgel technology to the 3.2m graphics market. Available in hybrid and roll-to-roll configurations, the modular, field upgradable platform powered by UVgel technology delivers great versatility and exceptional productivity for both flexible and rigid media applications from signage and décor to point of sale and packaging. The Colorado XL-series comprises two easy-to-operate models: the Colorado XL7 roll-to-roll printer and Colorado XL7 hybrid printer. The new series brings the benefits of UVgel to a new market segment with exceptional application versatility across a comprehensive range of media – from banner, paper, vinyl and films to soft signage, heat-sensitive materials, foam board, fluted polypropylene, acrylic, aluminium composite boards and cardboard – providing the flexibility to tackle diverse customer requirements. With print speeds of 70m² per hour in quality mode, 106m² per hour in production mode and up to 211m² per hour in express mode, the system delivers the productivity needed for demanding production environments while accommodating substrates up to 52mm/2 inches thick for rigid applications. The new platform includes multiple technology innovations, such as the UVgel 860 ink set, which has been optimised to cover a wide variety of both rigid and flexible applications. It also provides the proven benefits of UVgel: odourless and instant-dry prints, high mechanical and chemical robustness, dimensional stability due to low-temperature curing, excellent colour consistency, TPO [1] - and VCL [2] -free, and matte and gloss finish without the need of a separate varnish. The Colorado XL-series also incorporates new UVgel 850 PrintHeads. Each printhead has 4,544 nozzles and features automated built-in nozzle performance monitoring and compensation. A single printhead supports two colours simultaneously, so that only two printheads are required to print CMYK, plus an optional third if white is configured. Additionally, the Colorado XL-series has an agile and precise printhead carriage that features UVgel DynamicMotion Control to ensure exceptional print quality even with challenging media. Taking the UV LED curing process to the next level, the Colorado XL-series introduces UVgel FullBeam Curing. This technology uses a unique 3.4-metre-wide LED curing array that, combined with an ingenious mirror system, delivers consistent UV light dosing across the entire print width, guaranteeing exceptional print uniformity over large surfaces and enabling a wider colour gamut. Media handling is optimised by the new UVgel TRIdrive vacuum belt system, which features three interactive rollers and multiple powerful vacuum zones that reduce wrinkling and skewing by automatically detecting and correcting the media positioning. This results in highly repeatable media transport through the printer, ensuring accurate positioning both longitudinally and laterally and enabling razor-sharp applications. Optional features for the Colorado XL-series, which are already available on the highly successful and modular Colorado M-series, include: UVgel White for hassle-free white printing, FLXfinish+ for creative effects using matte or gloss or mixed matte and gloss on the same print without additional varnish, and FLXture for textured finishes that mimic materials like leather, wood or fabric. Mathew Faulkner, Director, Marketing & Innovation, Wide Format Printing Group, Canon EMEA, comments: "For the past decade, Canon has been at the forefront of the inkjet evolution in large format, with market-leading technologies including the Colorado roll-to-roll printer series powered by UVgel technology and the Arizona flatbed printers. Large format print providers are looking for systems that deliver high productivity, versatile applications and reliable quality while addressing the challenge of finding skilled operators – which is why Canon is launching our new, breakthrough Colorado XL-series, an addition to our portfolio that will set a new standard in productivity and versatility. “This innovative solution brings the proven advantages of our unique UVgel technology to the 3.2m market for the first time, combining it with extensive automation and a modular design that will enable customers to extend their application possibilities into markets such as packaging and décor. Print service providers already producing high-value signage and graphics can now leverage UVgel's distinctive finishes, including mixed gloss and matte effects and textured printing, at scale to stand out in these new markets. And with its hybrid capabilities, users can print both roll-to-roll and rigid applications on the same device, using the same ink, the same colour profiles and the same unique features and finishes. For brands, for example, this translates to seamless campaigns that span the full spectrum of applications, ensuring perfect consistency across campaign assets whether they're roll-fed graphics, rigid signage, packaging, or décor elements. This is particularly valuable when these different applications appear side by side in-store, where maintaining that consistent quality and finish elevates the entire brand experience that today's brands demand." The Colorado XL-series will be available from the beginning of 2026 via Canon’s direct sales organisations as well as from accredited partners. For more information about the Colorado XL-series, please visit: https://apo-opa.co/3WltKtM](https://businessinsights.africa/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/canon_prograf-100x70.png "Canon expands large format graphics production portfolio with new 3.4m Colorado XL-series")