Africa Is a Country

Friday Bonus Music Break, N°20

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

Friday Bonus Music Break, N°20

By
Tom Devriendt

This week Nigeria–yes the country whose history Rick Ross mangled in his latest music video (Ross should have taken lessons from Chinua Achebe)–turned 52 to this week. Here, the “First Lady of Mavin Records,” Tiwa Savage sings the national anthem of Nigeria on a Nigerian TV show:

London-based Nigerians Afrikan Boy (he used to collaborate with M.I.A.) and Dotstar try their hand at the azonto craze:

And your obligatory dose of Nigerian pop:

Brussels-based rapper Pitcho (his family is from Congo):

Oddisee (born Amir Mohamed el Khalifa)–father Sudanese; mother African-American–channels Bon Iver:

Either Fokn Bois is still on their mission to get Ghanaians (and the world) to be less serious about religion (remember their “Gospel Porn” album) or they just want attention:

Anything we missed?

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.