You might remember the Dutch band Kern Koppen from last year’s collaboration with South African artists Zuluboy, Zonke and EJ von Lyrik. (At the occasion of the World Cup, they called it Skop Gat.) Why their subsequent hit ‘Me Eigen’ didn’t travel beyond Holland’s airwaves, I still don’t know. The above music video (‘Geen Zweet’/No Sweat) is more recent. Low Countries soul at its best. About all those orange hatters plunging themselves into the sea: that’s what they do, each New Year.

See you Monday.

Further Reading

Fields of dependency

As the US-Israel war on Iran disrupts fertilizer supply, Africa’s reliance on imported inputs exposes the deeper political economy driving food insecurity.

Whose progress?

A new documentary reveals how Ethiopia’s manufacturing push redistributes land, labor, and opportunity—delivering gains for some while displacing others.