Weekend Music Break No.80

Ethiocolor's 360 degree interactive video.

Africa is a Country is now on Break for the weekend, so here is some Music we’ll be relaxing to over the next couple of days:

In this week’s selection: Stocktown directs a 360 degree interactive clip from the top of a roof in downtown Addis Ababa for the band Ethiocolor; An appeal for support, gives the world a sneak peak into the recording sessions of Colombian Salsa super-band Ondatropica’s new album; Fouma System brings electronic dance music to Dakar via the Akwaaba Music record label; Taking a peak at AIAC contributors Hipsters Don’t Dance’s site, revealed this wonderful London Alkaida-ish stomper from Kwamz, Flava and Mista Silva; We interviewed Uno July about his new EP last month, and this week he released a visual to “Skelem”, one of the songs off of that project; 99K and Wanlov release a controversial track and video called “Kasa”; Chosan, releases “Show Goes On’, a song and video that reads like a story of the life of the Freetown via London via New York via Baltimore rapper; Timaya dips his toes into Afrohouse with “Some More”; Becca and Ice Prince smooth things out with their own take on the genre; and finally, Uganada’s Radio and Weasal have been making noise in Cartagena, Colombia of all places. Perhaps their latest video “Juicy” and it’s Caribbean vibes will continue that success for them.

Further Reading

Procès et tribulations de Rokia Traoré

Détenue en Italie puis en Belgique pendant prèsde sept mois, la chanteuse malienne est engagée depuis 2019 dans une bataille judiciaire avec son ex-conjoint belge pour la garde de leur fille. Entre accusations d’abus et mandats d’arrêt, le feuilleton semble approcher de sa conclusion.

Requiem for a revolution

A sweeping, jazz-scored exploration of Cold War intrigue and African liberation, Johan Gimonprez’s ‘Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat’ lays bare the cultural and political battlegrounds where empires, artists, and freedom fighters clashed.

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.