Africa Is a Country

From Lisbon to Lagos

Africa Is a Country Podcast
African Five-a-Side Podcast

From Lisbon to Lagos

By
Hipsters Don't Dance

It's the end of the year, so Hipsters Dont Dance made a "Top World Carnival Collabs" of 2015.

Katia Mk, via Unsplash.

After doing a year of monthly roundups for the best in World Carnival sounds in 2015, we have noticed that Afropop in particular has had a stellar year. Perhaps most noticeably, it was Wizkid exploding onto the international stage that drew our collective attention, and we expect bigger things from him next year. Another noticeable trend was South African producers becoming the go-to guys for Afropop hits, helping shape the sound across the continent and diaspora. Additionally, so many other great inspiring African sounds from Lisbon to Lagos became staples in clubs across the world.

Much of the successes in 2015 for African artists have come from high profile collaborations. These became the go to strategy for artists trying and become the next break out artist in markets unfamiliar with them or their national sound. This trend has been the general order of the day for artists from Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, and beyond, landing music from the continent in markets as far removed from the sphere of daily continental influence as Colombia, Trinidad, the UK, and that great specter: USA.

Since so many artists from across Africa and the diaspora ended up working together to bring us some of the most exciting tunes of the year, here are our top ten world carnival collaborations of 2015. Here’s to 2016 being even bigger:

1. Wizkid feat Drake & Skepta x Ojuelegba Remix

2. Ayo Jay & Fetty Wap x Your Number

3. Kwamz & Flava feat R2Bees x Wo Onane No remix

4. Frenchie Feat Naira Marley x Cele

5. Boddhi Satva feat Nelson Freitas x May Heart

6. Edanos feat Timaya x Whine For Me

7. Rundown feat Wizkid x Bend Down Pause

8. Patoranking feat Wande Coal x My Woman My Everything

9. Leriq feat Wizkid x Say You Love Me

10. Frenchy Le Boss feat Giggs x Flexing

Further Reading

After the uprising

Years into Cameroon’s Anglophone conflict, the rebellion faces internal fractures, waning support, and military pressure—raising the question of what future, if any, lies ahead for Ambazonian aspirations.

In search of Saadia

Who was Saadia, and why has she been forgotten? A search for one woman’s story opens up bigger questions about race, migration, belonging, and the gaps history leaves behind.

Binti, revisited

More than two decades after its release, Lady Jaydee’s debut album still resonates—offering a window into Tanzanian pop, gender politics, and the sound of a generation coming into its own.

The bones beneath our feet

A powerful new documentary follows Evelyn Wanjugu Kimathi’s personal and political journey to recover her father’s remains—and to reckon with Kenya’s unfinished struggle for land, justice, and historical memory.

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.