Dance culture is as strong as ever

Here's Hipsters Don’t Dance "Top World Carnival Tunes" for June 2015.

Image credit Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi.

We are back with our June chart of tunes from around the Carnival diaspora. Enjoy this edition and remember, as always, to visit the HDD blog for all their great up-to-the-time-ness out of London. Also visit our archive on this site.

Davido x Fans Mi (Feat. Meek Mill)

Have you ever seen Meek Mill this happy? Him and Davido serve up an Afropop road rap jam that doesn’t stray too far from either of their talents. Congrats to Davido on graduating from University, as well.

Silvastone x Skatta (Remix Feat. Chaka Demus)

Remix kid Seani B, explains in this video how the remix came about. This means that almost everyone in dancehall, apart from Shaggy and Shabba, has collaborated with an Afropop artist. It’s pretty impressive, probably the reason why VP (the legendary Jamaican record label) now has a base in Nigeria.

Sarkodie x New Guy (Feat. Ace Hood)

We still aren’t the biggest fans of Ace Hood round these parts but Sarkodie is one of the best rappers on the planet, so here we go. Interesting how we got two African artist collabs with street rappers in the same month.

Mista Silva x Goes Down

We can’t help but hear early Burna Boy when we hear this, but that’s not a bad thing. Interestingly, the video for the dance instructions has over half a million views, which in our opinion shows that dance culture is as strong as ever.

Magic System x Enjaillés

Possibly the most visible and durable Afropop artists of all time, Magic System are back with a disco infused jam about never wanting to stop dancing. It’s pure pop and sounds like something they would have cooked up with Bob Sinclair.

Further Reading

10 African films to watch out for, N°12

Here’s another list of 10 films in the making or already finished. Two long fiction features to start with. Dakar Trottoirs (directed by Hubert Laba Ndao; left) has “surrealist characters of a paradoxical theatre intermingling …

‘Syn City’ Harare

Zimbabwe is a paradox. A country riddled with contradictions. While the often unpalatable and sometimes hair-raising stories are making news, the stories of everyday people of Zimbabwe are less reported, if not altogether the country’s …

10 films to watch out for, N°5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOQDPR5cR7o

‘One Man’s Show’ is the latest film by Newton I. Aduaka (probably best known for his 2007 film ‘Ezra’) with Emile Abossolo Mbo as the comedian who has to confront his children and past relationships …

'Suit Up'

http://vimeo.com/31434026

Nice video (Tiro Rose) and photographs (Ference Isaacs) of hip hop dancers from all over Cape Town, South Africa.

'Nü Revolution'

http://vimeo.com/22607584

Les Nubians have a new album (it’s been on sale since yesterday). These are the videos for the singles “Afrodance” (above) and “Veuillez Veiller Sur Vos Reves” (below).


http://vimeo.com/16628739

Information about their upcoming US tour starting this …

"We’re Cool Like That"

Last week I got an email from a reader,  Sojourner Ahebee , 14 years old, originally fron Cote d’Ivoire, now living in the United States. Turns out she’s a big fan of Africa is a …