If you don’t know now you know. Weekend soon come. We got music from South Africa, Togo, Ghana, Senegal, Zambia, Kenya, Ireland and Belgium in this week’s music break. So let’s get started:

South African house producer Oskido is always on the hunt for new musical talent. He’s found it now in the energy and sound of Busiswa. Here’s their track with Uhuru called “Ngoku”:

Uniting Brussels (via Kinshasa) and Queens, emcees Aja Black and Big Samir are The Reminders. Check out their interview on the Sway show and see how they use words for ammunition in “If You Didn’t Know”:

Irish hip-hop musician Rejjie Snow returns with a lyrical story of his name in “Snow” and raises the bar for sonic production:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbaAf4aSIQQ

Togolese singer Papou has the formula for a solid dance joint with “AGO”:

A jazz singer from Ghana’s Volta region, Jojo Abot lived in Brooklyn before returning home to sing and act. Check out this live performance/interview footage to see what she’s about. The return has been good to Jojo. She has performed at the Chale Wote Street Art Festival (which is happening again this weekend in Accra — we’ll have some impressions up on the blog next week) and she stars alongside legendary palmwine singer Koo Nimo in the new film Kwaku Ananse directed by Akosua Adoma Owusu.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0tsbjHc1AY

One of the best male house singers in the South African game, Shota, presents the new track “Ben10” off his album THE WARRIOR. This one will do some damage on the floor, but too bad his girl in the video seems more attracted to a strange animated character than she is to him:

Senegalese chanteuse Coumba Gawlo, with Pape Thiopet at her side, will give you a taste of laamb wrestling and kola nuts in her latest mbalax jam “Lamb Dji”:

Young Kenyan rapper Cool Kid demonstrates he already has a taste for the mic in the track “Burn Cool” with Mtapa:

Ghanaian producer and talented vocalist Bisa Kdei keeps the momentum from his hit “Azonto Ghost” as he confronts his enemy with personal strength in “Metanfo” (“My enemy”):

And Zambian crew Zone Fam get into the language of the body with “Translate”:

Share your favorite new videos in the comments below.

Further Reading

On Safari

On our year-end publishing break, we reflect on how 2024’s contradictions reveal a fractured world grappling with inequality, digital activism, and the blurred lines between action and spectacle.

Rebuilding Algeria’s oceans

Grassroots activists and marine scientists in Algeria are building artificial reefs to restore biodiversity and sustain fishing communities, but scaling up requires more than passion—it needs institutional support and political will.

Ibaaku’s space race

Through Afro-futurist soundscapes blending tradition and innovation, Ibaaku’s new album, ‘Joola Jazz,’ reshapes Dakar’s cultural rhythm and challenges the legacy of Négritude.

An allegiance to abusers

This weekend, Chris Brown will perform two sold-out concerts in South Africa. His relationship to the country reveals the twisted dynamic between a black American artist with a track record of violence and a country happy to receive him.

Shell’s exit scam

Shell’s so-called divestment from Nigeria’s Niger Delta is a calculated move to evade accountability, leaving behind both environmental and economic devastation.

Africa’s sibling rivalry

Nigeria and South Africa have a fraught relationship marked by xenophobia, economic competition, and cultural exchange. The Nigerian Scam are joined by Khanya Mtshali to discuss the dynamics shaping these tensions on the AIAC podcast.

The price of power

Ghana’s election has brought another handover between the country’s two main parties. Yet behind the scenes lies a flawed system where wealth can buy political office.

Beats of defiance

From the streets of Khartoum to exile abroad, Sudanese hip-hop artists have turned music into a powerful tool for protest, resilience, and the preservation of collective memory.