AfricaIs aCountry

Weekend Music Break, N°33

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

Weekend Music Break, N°33

By
Tom Devriendt

Let’s start with two club tracks. It’s Friday after all. Above is a collaboration between Boddhi Satva (from the Central African Republic) and Oumou Sangaré (from Mali) who together recorded this video in Bamako. You could dance to it. And a re-edit of the video for London trio LV’s (with help from South African Okmalumkoolkat) ‘Boomslang’ track: 

The next video for Fore’s ‘C’est pas bon’ tune blends echoes from Zimbabwe (which Fore calls home), Mali (sample by Amadou and Mariam) and Nigeria (where Andrew Dosunmu is from; the visuals for the video are lifted from Dosunmu’s 2011 film Restless City).

Here’s German producer Mark Ernestus remixing Malian Ben Zabo (you know we’re fans of his work):

‘Voir sombrer ses fils’ is a collaboration between Burkinabé rapper Art Melody (who’s dropping a fantastic new record next month; we’ll remind you about it when it’s out), Joey Le Soldat and DJ Form. Akwaaba has the details.

This video was recorded in Port Elizabeth, South Africa and produced in Sweden. Marksmen’s EP is following soon. “Port Elizabeth Rap in outer space”:

A new film to watch out for is “La Cité Rose” (here’s the trailer; French release is scheduled for next month). The film’s soundtrack includes contributions by French artists Soprano, Sexion d’Assaut and Youssoupha. Here’s a first out-take:

Lesotho-based emcees Isosceles and Futuristic join forces as Olive Branch. ‘Stat Quo’ (video below) is a track off their project by the same name, available here.

A new video for Ghanaian hip-hop artist M.anifest (who you now also know as a football fan):

And finally, here’s a record to look forward to: Dan Auerbach (of Black Keys fame) produced Niger-born Bombino’s second international solo record (to be released on Nonesuch Records soon). The teaser, to say the least, sounds promising…

…if you like guitar sounds, of course. Dan Auerbach is a busy man, it seems, having also produced Valerie June’s upcoming record. But more about her in another post.

Further Reading

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.

Gen Z’s electoral dilemma

Long dismissed as apathetic, Kenya’s youth forced a rupture in 2024. As the 2027 election approaches, their challenge is turning digital rebellion and street protest into political power.

A world reimagined in Black

By placing Kwame Nkrumah at the center of a global Black political network, Howard W. French reveals how the promise of pan-African emancipation was narrowed—and what its failure still costs Africa and the diaspora.

Securing Nigeria

Nigeria’s insecurity cannot be solved by foreign airstrikes or a failing state, but by rebuilding democratic, community-rooted systems of collective self-defense.