AfricaIs aCountry

Friday Bonus Music Break, N°30

Africa Is a Country Podcast
African Five-a-Side Podcast

Friday Bonus Music Break, N°30

By
Tom Devriendt

Let’s start our weekly round-ups of new music videos this year with some bangers. Representing Congo this week, rapper (and professional dancer) Dinozord: above. Next up, there’s new music and visuals from Art Melody (representing Burkina Faso):

“Lefteneh” by Bajah and the Dry Eye Crew — by the way, about the meaning of that Sierra Leonean “dry eye”:

Ty (born Ben Chijioke — Nigerians claim him) has a new video out as well:

From Liberia (Alloysious Massaquoi) and Nigeria (where Kayus Bankole’s parents come from) via Scotland (Graham Hastings’s place): Young Fathers:

Lee Fields played a set in a Dutch church last year. Yes, we’ll feature all of his videos:

Another acoustic performance; by France-based Oxmo Puccino (né Abdoulaye Diarra):

Judging by the rate at which Laura Mvula is putting out quality videos recently, it seems she’s intent on making the year 2013 hers. We don’t mind:

And in response to what’s happening in Mali, Fatoumata Diawara and her label have brought together a big group of musicians to record the song below. Artists performing on the track include (I’m copy-pasting) Amadou and Mariam, Oumou Sangare, Bassekou Kouyate, Vieux Farka Toure, Djelimady Tounkara, Toumani Diabate, Khaira Arby, Kasse Mady Diabate, Baba Salah, Afel Bocoum, Tiken Jah, Amkoullel and Habib Koite. Bruce Whitehouse’s got the details on the meaning of it all; and wonders where the Tuareg musicians are:

Further Reading

Atayese

Honored in Yorubaland as “one who repairs the world,” Jesse Jackson’s life bridged civil rights, pan-Africanism, empire, and contradiction—leaving behind a legacy as expansive as it was imperfect.

Bread or Messi?

Angola’s golden jubilee culminated in a multimillion-dollar match against Argentina. The price tag—and the secrecy around it—divided a nation already grappling with inequality.

Visiting Ngara

A redevelopment project in Nairobi’s Ngara district promises revival—but raises deeper questions about capital, memory, and who has the right to shape the city.

Gen Z’s electoral dilemma

Long dismissed as apathetic, Kenya’s youth forced a rupture in 2024. As the 2027 election approaches, their challenge is turning digital rebellion and street protest into political power.

A world reimagined in Black

By placing Kwame Nkrumah at the center of a global Black political network, Howard W. French reveals how the promise of pan-African emancipation was narrowed—and what its failure still costs Africa and the diaspora.

Securing Nigeria

Nigeria’s insecurity cannot be solved by foreign airstrikes or a failing state, but by rebuilding democratic, community-rooted systems of collective self-defense.