Bam bam riddim

Hipster's Don't Dance's 'Top 5 World Carnival Tunes' for September 2014.

Gaia Beat.

The second edition of the Hipster’s Don’t Dance monthly chart on Africa is a Country is here. Check it below, and be sure to visit the HDD blog regularly for all our great up-to-the-timeness out of London.

Wizkid – In My Bed

Last time we did a chart we bemoaned the fact that Wizkid wasn’t releasing his 2nd Lp, stashing it away like it was Detox. Then he went ahead and dropped it in the middle of the night ala Beyonce (he says it was in fact leaked). It’s a great effort and this one sees his channeling South Africa more than his recent efforts.

Burna Boy – Check and Balance

I really hope Burna Boy and his record label patch things up because part of his appeal was Leriq’s beats. This weak Bam Bam riddim retread is ok and keeps his dancehall fans happy but at the end of the day its just not the same.

Gaia Beat – Kimpelequecé (feat Fiuk Tutuka)

Can everything be produced by Angolan Gaia Beat? Commercials, ringtones, alerts on public transport? This track from earlier in the year features some incredible kuduro dancing as well.

Kcee – Ogaranya ft. Davido

Kcee and Davido team up for Ogaranya and the video is one of the most vibrant Afropop videos out at the moment. It sees the pair stunting in their best traditional attire complete with Nigerian coral. Keep your eyes peeled for the shot with the doves!

Wande Coal x Baby Hello

Wande Cole’s “Baby Hello” video sees Yemi Alade as the video girl in what looks to us like Naija’s 2014 take on Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl” video. “Rotate” is still getting a lot of love from us and this one is following in its footsteps.

Further Reading

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.

À qui s’adresse la CAN ?

Entre le coût du transport aérien, les régimes de visas, la culture télévisuelle et l’exclusion de classe, le problème de l’affluence à la CAN est structurel — et non le signe d’un manque de passion des supporters.

Lions in the rain

The 2025 AFCON final between Senegal and Morocco was a dramatic spectacle that tested the limits of the match and the crowd, until a defining moment held everything together.