10 songs we’ve been listening to this week. First up — and fresh — Gaël Faye and Tumi (who needs no introduction):


Also from Burundi: Mudibu has a story and a song to share (H/T Karl Steinacker):

The exceptional Y’akoto tells us a bit more about how she goes about writing songs but in between her French words there’s an example too:

Jitsenic (Jitsvinger and Arsenic) dropping verses and truths on South African Bush Radio:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3ZJ-leUK2w

Akala and Selah wrote ‘A Message’:

From Mali, remember Ben Zabo?

From the band named after a Nigerian state capital, Benin City:

Iyadede gives Mark Ronson & The Business, Andre Wyatt and Boy George a makeover:

The Mighty Third Rail — the alternative hip hop trio that combines beat-boxing, poetry, violin and upright bass:

And a full concert by Rachelle Ferrell and George Duke band. Live in Montreux (1997):

Further Reading

After the coups

Without institutional foundations or credible partners, the Alliance of Sahelian States risks becoming the latest failed experiment in regional integration.

Whose game is remembered?

The Women’s Africa Cup of Nations opens in Morocco amid growing calls to preserve the stories, players, and legacy of the women who built the game—before they’re lost to erasure and algorithm alike.

Sovereignty or supremacy?

As far-right politics gain traction across the globe, some South Africans are embracing Trumpism not out of policy conviction but out of a deeper, more troubling identification.

From Cape To Cairo

When two Africans—one from the south, the other from the north—set out to cross the continent, they raised the question: how easy is it for an African to move in their own land?

The road to Rafah

The ‘Sumud’ convoy from Tunis to Gaza is reviving the radical promise of pan-African solidarity and reclaiming an anticolonial tactic lost to history.

Sinners and ancestors

Ryan Coogler’s latest film is more than a vampire fable—it’s a bridge between Black American history and African audiences hungry for connection, investment, and storytelling rooted in shared struggle.