The World Carnival Sound

Once a month Hipsters Don't Dance will bless Africa Is a Country with their top 5 World Carnival tunes.

This is the beginning of our new partnership with Africa is a Country. We are a London-based, British DJ crew Hipster’s Don’t Dance. We have Trinidadian (Kazabon) and Nigerian (Hootie Who) origins  respectively and aim to represent the Atlantic music world to the London massive with our regular parties, and reflecting our London scene to the world. See our blog, DJ mixes, and DJ edits. Taking a cue from the lively West Indian Carnival in London, we try to inject other faces of London’s immigrant cultures into the scene, and cultivating what a “World Carnival Sound.” Starting this month, we will be doing a regular round up of our top five World Carnival tunes here on Africa is a Country. Here is our top five for July 2014:

Moelogo – The Baddest (feat. Giggs)

Currently the biggest song out and it has a sneaky chance to be the song of the summer. By adding Giggs , and his incredible voice, to this track it has given this song an even bigger audience. P.S. congrats to Moelogo on signing his major label deal.

Wizkid – Show You The Money

Wizkid when will you release an LP?  There are a ton of us that would really like that to happen. Instead he is chilling in LA with Chris Brown and Ty Dolla $ign, this will be placed alongside his other Wizkid classics like Jaiye Jaiye and Caro.

Edem – Wicked and Bad (feat. 4 x 4)

Some Ghanaian dancehall that instantly connected with a lot of DJ’s, it will be interesting to see this work in the club. This could have a big crossover appeal with dancehall and U.K. club heads.

Dj Hassan – Early Momo (Feat. Patoranking)

Its been a busy month for Patoranking, between this, the Girlie O remix, and his anti-bleaching cover of Loyal he really is setting himself up to be the man of the moment. Having a cut on the incredible Bam Bam Riddim can’t hurt either.

Dr Sid – Baby Tornado (feat. Alexandra Burke)

Continuing the theme of odd Afropop collaborators (Idris Elba, Diana King, Olivia, etcetera) this one works really well. The video is glossy enough to make it on to UK music channels as well, which is probably the best way into everyone’s homes these days.

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.