Africa Is a Country

Limbs in a Potion

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

Limbs in a Potion

By
Zachary Rosen

DJ Sawa from Ghana, Supremos from Angola, and Irish-Nigerian Rejjie Snow, are part of Weekend Music Break, no. 30.

Y'en a Marre in Madrid

Once again, demonstrating Azonto’s global reach, the Azonto London Allstars conquer a myriad of urban landscapes with their indefatigable dance moves to the beat of a mix by DJ Sawa.

Next, with hair fit for the most flamboyant players in the African Cup of Nations, we’ve got Supremos with their video for “Namorado Cola.”

Dublin native Rejjie Snow (formerly Lecs Luther) who is reportedly half-Nigerian, has just dropped a new track called “Lost in Empathy“. With a voice oddly like that of Tyler the Creator, Rejjie, dressed in the video as a “far derrig,” spits about the tribulations albinos endure in some countries where their body parts are used as traditional remedies.

Swimming in the ocean

swimming in the ocean, vanilla face,

candy floss, limbs in a potion.

We can’t wait for ngoni legend Bassekou Kouyate’s new record to drop in early March. The record was recorded in Bamako last year just as the country’s political situation began to deteriorate. Here’s a sneak peek of what will be known as “Jama Ko.”

Because we know that fashion is circular, recycling and reimagining styles of the past, this new banging kuduro jam from Angola’s Da Magical proves that it is officially cool again to look like Milli Vanilli.

Here’s one we missed late last year: Gato Preto (Germany via Portugal via Mozambique and Ghana) worked with MC Zulu on “Musica Di Gato Preto.”

From Harare (“H-Town”, via Berlin), there’s also a new video for Zimbabwean rapper Synik.

And if you were wondering whether the Senegalese Y’en a Marre coalition was still kicking it in Dakar, here’s a 45 minutes concert recently taped at the Place de L’Obélisque, celebrating the movement’s second anniversary. (Ht NomadicWax.) Sound and image recording quality isn’t the best, but you’ll get the message.

Further Reading

Africa and the AI race

At summits and in speeches, African leaders promise to harness AI for development. But without investment in power, connectivity, and people, the continent risks replaying old failures in new code.

After the uprising

Years into Cameroon’s Anglophone conflict, the rebellion faces internal fractures, waning support, and military pressure—raising the question of what future, if any, lies ahead for Ambazonian aspirations.

In search of Saadia

Who was Saadia, and why has she been forgotten? A search for one woman’s story opens up bigger questions about race, migration, belonging, and the gaps history leaves behind.

Binti, revisited

More than two decades after its release, Lady Jaydee’s debut album still resonates—offering a window into Tanzanian pop, gender politics, and the sound of a generation coming into its own.

The bones beneath our feet

A powerful new documentary follows Evelyn Wanjugu Kimathi’s personal and political journey to recover her father’s remains—and to reckon with Kenya’s unfinished struggle for land, justice, and historical memory.

What comes after liberation?

In this wide-ranging conversation, the freedom fighter and former Constitutional Court justice Albie Sachs reflects on law, liberation, and the unfinished work of building a just South Africa.

The cost of care

In Africa’s migration economy, women’s labor fuels households abroad while their own needs are sidelined at home. What does freedom look like when care itself becomes a form of exile?

The memory keepers

A new documentary follows two women’s mission to decolonize Nairobi’s libraries, revealing how good intentions collide with bureaucracy, donor politics, and the ghosts of colonialism.

Making films against amnesia

The director of the Oscar-nominated film ‘Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat’ reflects on imperial violence, corporate warfare, and how cinema can disrupt the official record—and help us remember differently.