Pretty much all of this week’s artist are regular guests on the blog. First up: Pitcho. Remember him. Second, lifted from his ‘Jama ko’ record, here’s a Mali-shot video for Bassekou Kouyate: 

There’s Anbuley’s “pushing African music” even further into the future:

Nuru Kane (born Papa Nouroudine Kane, in Dakar) has got a new record out:

New video for Ian Kamau as well:

Marques Toliver & The Sometimes in the studio:

Zakwe gets help from Danger and Zuluboy on ‘Bathi Ngiyachoma’:

And Danish duo Okapii sent us through their new video for ‘Don’t mind the rain’, recorded in Barbados:

Further Reading

Sovereignty beyond the nation

A new history of the interwar Latin American left recovers the rich debates over race and self-determination that shaped the region’s anti-imperial politics—and still resonate today.

Fields of dependency

As the US-Israel war on Iran disrupts fertilizer supply, Africa’s reliance on imported inputs exposes the deeper political economy driving food insecurity.

Whose progress?

A new documentary reveals how Ethiopia’s manufacturing push redistributes land, labor, and opportunity—delivering gains for some while displacing others.