Let’s start our weekly round-ups of new music videos this year with some bangers. Representing Congo this week, rapper (and professional dancer) Dinozord: above. Next up, there’s new music and visuals from Art Melody (representing Burkina Faso):

“Lefteneh” by Bajah and the Dry Eye Crew — by the way, about the meaning of that Sierra Leonean “dry eye”:

Ty (born Ben Chijioke — Nigerians claim him) has a new video out as well:

From Liberia (Alloysious Massaquoi) and Nigeria (where Kayus Bankole’s parents come from) via Scotland (Graham Hastings’s place): Young Fathers:

Lee Fields played a set in a Dutch church last year. Yes, we’ll feature all of his videos:

Another acoustic performance; by France-based Oxmo Puccino (né Abdoulaye Diarra):

Judging by the rate at which Laura Mvula is putting out quality videos recently, it seems she’s intent on making the year 2013 hers. We don’t mind:

And in response to what’s happening in Mali, Fatoumata Diawara and her label have brought together a big group of musicians to record the song below. Artists performing on the track include (I’m copy-pasting) Amadou and Mariam, Oumou Sangare, Bassekou Kouyate, Vieux Farka Toure, Djelimady Tounkara, Toumani Diabate, Khaira Arby, Kasse Mady Diabate, Baba Salah, Afel Bocoum, Tiken Jah, Amkoullel and Habib Koite. Bruce Whitehouse’s got the details on the meaning of it all; and wonders where the Tuareg musicians are:

Further Reading

A sick health system

The suspension of three doctors following the death of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s son has renewed scrutiny of a health-care system plagued by impunity, underfunding, and a mass exodus of medical professionals.

Afrobeats after Fela

Wizkid’s dispute with Seun Kuti and the release of his latest EP with Asake highlight the widening gap between Afrobeats’ commercial triumph and Fela Kuti’s political inheritance

Progress is exhausting

Pedro Pinho’s latest film follows a Portuguese engineer in Guinea-Bissau, exposing how empire survives through bureaucracy, intimacy, and the language of “development.”

The rubble of empire

Built by Italian Fascists in 1928, Mogadishu Cathedral was meant to symbolize “peaceful conquest.” Today its ruins force Somalis to confront the uneasy afterlife of colonial power and religious authority.

Atayese

Honored in Yorubaland as “one who repairs the world,” Jesse Jackson’s life bridged civil rights, pan-Africanism, empire, and contradiction—leaving behind a legacy as expansive as it was imperfect.

Bread or Messi?

Angola’s golden jubilee culminated in a multimillion-dollar match against Argentina. The price tag—and the secrecy around it—divided a nation already grappling with inequality.

Visiting Ngara

A redevelopment project in Nairobi’s Ngara district promises revival—but raises deeper questions about capital, memory, and who has the right to shape the city.