Africa Is a Country

Friday Music Bonus Edition

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

Friday Music Bonus Edition

By
Tom Devriendt

Let’s do a Friday Diaspora edition. There are some half-baked attempts at linking the videos in here. But don’t take them too seriously. French-Congolese Youssoupha on living in France in ‘Irréversible’ (he couldn’t not refer to the charges laid against him):

Also residing in Paris these days is Togo’s YaoBobby. His ‘Afrique Enchantée’ comes with French lyrics:

The use of split-screen faces in music videos, in vogue in the diaspora and possibly with a second meaning, we also found in the video for ‘The Village’by Trinidad-Canadian Ian Kamau (he has a great music blog and we featured him here before):

Somali-Canadian K’naan (remember his World Cup days?) got a lyric video out for ‘Nothing to Lose’, a collab with Nas (what’s the latest news on Nas’s promoters in Angola and what’s up with his “Yo my Somali niggas know what war be”?):

Finally, UK-based Nigerian eL Flaco does a rap job a bit different from K’naan and Nas. His ‘Mind Move’ comes off last year’s Samurai Series:

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.