AfricaIs aCountry

Weekend Music Break, N°42

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

Weekend Music Break, N°42

By
Tom Devriendt

Many collaborations and surprise comebacks popped up in our feeds this week. First, this one by Kenyans DNA and Tanzania’s Mr. Nice, who tried his luck in South Africa for a while but now seems to have found his ground again back home:

A Swedish-South African collaboration between Kwaai, Driemanskap, Syster Sol, Mofeta, Kristin Amparo, Cleo and Kanyi. Video by (photographer) Luke Daniel and Neil Wigardt:

Also shot in the Cape flats: this video for Pharoahe Monch in Mitchell’s Plain:

Still based in Brussels these days, Badi (Banx) returned from the DRC with a clip recorded at Nzonga Falls for “Losambo” (part of his ongoing Kin Transit video series):

An American-South African Hip-Hop collaboration between HHP, Omar Hunter El, Asheru, Benn Chad, OneTwo, Projector, Zubz, Cassper Nyovest, Nomadic, Element Lehipi Khalil on “Animals”:

Two new videos for Pan-American Los Rakas’ short “Mi Pais” (which has Raka Dun expressing his American dreams and struggles before joining Raka Rich in the studio — head over to YouTube for full English translations) and “No Tan Listo”:

http://youtu.be/h95ni5yPbAM

There’s a new single and video for Coely, who’s mostly filling Belgian clubs at the moment, but we can see that changing soon:

Johannesburg producer Alkabulans’ instrumental “Cross-Dimensional Symmetry”. Trust South African Iapetus Records to surprise us:

London combo Anthony Joseph and his Spasm Band recorded this video in Berlin for “Started off as a dancer”:

And since it’s been a while we included some Cabo Verde music here: old master Zé Luis performing “Ku Nha Kin Bem”:

Further Reading

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.

Empire’s middlemen

From Portuguese Goa to colonial Kampala, Mahmood Mamdani’s latest book shows how India became an instrument of empire, and a scapegoat in its aftermath.