The subversive “Funny” by South African group Bed on Bricks. (I first heard it used in a short film about Durban squatter movement, Abahlali baseMjondolo.)

The very political Gabonese group Poetes Fyzik’s “Ce Que L’On Pense.” The video was shot at the recent 9th Annual Waga International Hip Hop Festival that took place in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in October 2009.

Positive rap by a group of Ghanaian Hausa rappers.

I love Georgia Ann Muldrew’s “Roses” collaboration with Mos Def. Here she is doing it sans Mos.

Then there’s rapper Kano’s remix of The Very Best’s “Julia” (remember earlier this year’s excellent “The Warm Heart of Africa” album):

Nigerian rapper Kel with “Waa waa alright.”

The Montreal-based Waahli’s “Sundance.”

“Special Girl” by Bangs. I am not sure about this song. Whether it is a parody or whether Bangs, a Sudanese rapper, is serious.

“Aquarias” from Brooklyn singer Iyadede; biographical fact:  her parents are from Rwanda.

And, finally, the energetic French rapper Sinik Rai, featuring Big Ali and Cheb Bilal. Something about welcome to Bylkas’s crib. Somewhere in North Africa.