Weekend Music Break No.76

Y'en a Marre in Madrid

We took a break last week, but we’re back experimenting with a new format. This Weekend’s Music Break is in the form of a Youtube playlist so you can just hit play, sit back, and enjoy. Let us know if you have any thoughts about the new format in the comments!

Our selection this weekend is: A dedication to today’s Champion’s League Final with the Eto’o Coupe Decale dance; P-Square and Awilo Longomba’s new “Enemy Solo”; Angola’s Mery with “Fogo cruzado” feat. Ksuno Beat; South African rapper Boolz with “Aphe Kapa”; Nigerian-American rapper hits the studio with friends in “Roslin’s Basement”; Italian-Moroccan rapper Maruego brings a controversial subject to the small screen with “Sulla stessa barca,” which translates to something like, “we are all in the same boat.”; A group of DJs from around the world collaborate on an impressive live “Scratch Jam”; Lisbon’s Batida releases a video for beautiful “Ta Doce” feat. AF Diaphra; Haiti’s Beken sings “Tounen Lakay” in a live session; Finally, Y’en a Marre gets a half-hour documentary on MTV’s rebel music series.

Further Reading

What comes after liberation?

In this wide-ranging conversation, the freedom fighter and former Constitutional Court justice Albie Sachs reflects on law, liberation, and the unfinished work of building a just South Africa.

The cost of care

In Africa’s migration economy, women’s labor fuels households abroad while their own needs are sidelined at home. What does freedom look like when care itself becomes a form of exile?

The memory keepers

A new documentary follows two women’s mission to decolonize Nairobi’s libraries, revealing how good intentions collide with bureaucracy, donor politics, and the ghosts of colonialism.

Making films against amnesia

The director of the Oscar-nominated film ‘Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat’ reflects on imperial violence, corporate warfare, and how cinema can disrupt the official record—and help us remember differently.

From Nkrumah to neoliberalism

On the podcast, we explore: How did Ghana go from Nkrumah’s radical vision to neoliberal entrenchment? Gyekye Tanoh unpacks the forces behind its political stability, deepening inequality, and the fractures shaping its future.

The Visa farce

The South African government’s rush to clear visa applications has led to mass rejections, bureaucratic chaos, and an overloaded appeals system—leaving thousands in limbo.