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

Slow death by food

Illegal gold mining is poisoning Ghana’s soil and rivers, seeping into its crops and seafood, and turning the national food system into a long-term public health crisis.

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.