AfricaIs aCountry

Weekend Music Break 44

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

Weekend Music Break 44

By
Tom Devriendt

Here’s your weekly round-up of new videos and tunes to get the weekend started. First up, Gaël Faye giving us another video off his “Pili Pili sur un Croissant au Beurre” record, and reminding us of everything that’s good in Bujumbura. Pick your dish:

‘Burning’ is the lead single off Silver Bullet’s “Afrikans in Denmark” EP, featuring Afrikan Boy:

From earlier this year: Ghanaians Gemini and EL (and Wanlov):

Art Melody and the band he toured with in France recorded this “live” footage:

‘Kioo’ is a new X Plastaz song and video by Tanzanian rapper Ziggy, shot in Stockholm (Sweden):

Zimbabwean rapper Synik–remember Amkelwa’s interview–released a video for an older track of his:

‘The Sun’ is the dreamy lead single off Malawian (London-residing) artist Dziko’s “Afro Electricity” EP:

Dirtmusic (that’s Hugo Race and Chris Eckman) wrote a song for peace together with Malian singer Aminata Wassidje Traore:

South African Simphiwe Dana held off from releasing the ‘Mayine’ video for an older song, blaming “perfectionist me”— we don’t see why she should have:

And to end, a song by Ghanaian Jojo Abot (who lists Simphiwe as her inspiration):

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.