Africa Is a Country

Paying homage

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

Paying homage

By
Tom Devriendt

Pitchom, Batida, Vieux Farka Toure, P-Unit, Sauti Sol and Tinariwen comprise our weekly Music Break.

The late Ali Farka Touré (via Fallen in the Open, CC Licensed).

Pitcho added archival video material (and a short fragment of the brilliant 2008 film ‘The Class’/’Entre Les Murs’) to the title track of his Crise de Nègre album. It’s becoming a trend, but it works. Friday means we have four more:

Batida gets help from Ngongo on “Ka Heueh.”

Last month, in Bamako, Vieux Farka Touré and his father’s friends and former band paid tribute to Ali Farka Touré, master musician. Ali Farka Toure passed away in 2006. Great footage by Bammako Culture.

Popular Kenyan bands P-Unit and Sauti Sol got themselves a hit.

And the quietest song on Tinariwen’s masterful album now also has the quietest music video.

Further Reading

Drip is temporary

The apparel brand Drip was meant to prove that South Africa’s townships could inspire global style. Instead, it revealed how easily black success stories are consumed and undone by the contradictions of neoliberal aspiration.

Energy for whom?

Behind the fanfare of the Africa Climate Summit, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline shows how neocolonial extraction still drives Africa’s energy future.

The sound of revolt

On his third album, Afro-Portuguese artist Scúru Fitchádu fuses ancestral wisdom with urban revolt, turning memory and militancy into a soundtrack for resistance.

O som da revolta

No seu terceiro álbum, o artista afro-português Scúru Fitchádu funde a sabedoria ancestral com a revolta urbana, transformando memória e militância em uma trilha sonora para a resistência.

Biya forever

As Cameroon nears its presidential elections, a disintegrated opposition paves the way for the world’s oldest leader to claim a fresh mandate.

From Cornell to conscience

Hounded out of the United States for his pro-Palestine activism, Momodou Taal insists that the struggle is global, drawing strength from Malcolm X, faith, and solidarity across borders.