African Imperial Wizard
The performer behind 'African Imperial Wizard,' shown here in character, was revealed not to be African as previously claimed.

Experimental band Xiu Xiu has publicly exposed African Imperial Wizard, an industrial music project that claims Angolan heritage and pan-African revolutionary credentials, as actually being a middle-aged white man who performs in a hood resembling Ku Klux Klan regalia adorned with African tribal imagery.

The revelation occurred on 16 November after both acts performed at the Hradby Samoty festival in Bratislava, Slovakia. When African Imperial Wizard came backstage and removed his hood, Xiu Xiu members discovered his true identity, prompting them to issue a scathing statement on Instagram describing his act as 'extreme blackface and a profound level of racist appropriation'.

The Persona and the Deception

African Imperial Wizard's online presence portrays an elaborate backstory claiming Angolan origins and involvement in pan-African armed struggle. The project's imagery features stolen photography of sacred Xhosa rituals and Mursi women, whilst the artist wears gloves during performances to conceal his white hands. Album covers and promotional materials deploy what critics describe as a pastiche of 'tribal' African aesthetics drawn from across the continent's 54 countries.

According to Xiu Xiu's statement, African Imperial Wizard 'calls for his African brothers to join together to play on his records', which are 'actually just made with Ableton samples'. The band questioned whether venues would book a hypothetical act of white musicians called 'Asian Gestapo', highlighting what they view as a double standard in experimental music scenes.

Who Is Xiu Xiu?

Xiu Xiu is an American experimental rock band formed in 2002, known for addressing challenging themes including abuse, mental health and social justice. The group, led by Jamie Stewart and Angela Seo, has released 17 studio albums and maintains a reputation for confronting uncomfortable subjects both in their music and public statements.

Seo, who identifies as a person of colour, told Consequence she felt 'hesitant to even bring it up because I knew I would have to deal with the people making excuses, defending him, and then it would somehow be my problem, that we would get hate messages and comments and trolled for bringing [it] up'. She added that being 'probably the only person of color in the festival' added another layer to the situation.

Not the First Exposure

This is not the first time African Imperial Wizard's authenticity has been questioned. A Reddit user posted similar concerns on the r/industrialmusic subreddit earlier in 2025, and the project has existed in some form since at least 2019. However, Xiu Xiu's backstage encounter provided definitive confirmation of what many had suspected.

The Response

African Imperial Wizard's Instagram account was set to private following Xiu Xiu's post, though evidence of the project remains on Bandcamp and Spotify. The artist did not immediately respond to media requests for comment.

Paste Magazine described the project as 'the colonial impulse re-skinned as concept art', noting it represents taking 'the land, take the culture, take the images, take the stories, take the drums, and hope no one asks what's under the hood'.

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