A break from the routine of the work week, a weekend music break for you all to enjoy this May Day!

 

1) Rest in peace Papa Wemba 2) Netherlands-based Cape Verdean singer Gery Mendes asks if our world is really ready for positive change, is it? 3) I’m in the UK right now, so I had to share Stormzy’s latest. 4) London Global Hip Hop outfit Subculture Sage’s video for “Gold” stars two Zimbabwean gold miners. 5) There’s an H&M in Brixton now — M.I.A. invites AIAC profile subject Dope Saint Jude along for her collaboration with the brand. 6) Sean Jacobs spotted this, trap rap video from Northern Nigeria. 7) I’ve noted Kahli Abdu as one to watch for awhile, and he did not disappoint with this banger! 8) The Mavin Records crew out of Nigeria dropped a new one this week. 9) I don’t know much about them, but Chloe and Halle are interesting. 10) And finally, a new Azaelia Banks video just for the hell of it.

Happy weekend!

Further Reading

Kagame’s hidden war

Rwanda’s military deployments in Mozambique and its shadowy ties to M23 rebels in eastern Congo are not isolated interventions, rather part of a broader geopolitical strategy to expand its regional influence.

After the coups

Without institutional foundations or credible partners, the Alliance of Sahel States risks becoming the latest failed experiment in regional integration.

Whose game is remembered?

The Women’s Africa Cup of Nations opens in Morocco amid growing calls to preserve the stories, players, and legacy of the women who built the game—before they’re lost to erasure and algorithm alike.

Sovereignty or supremacy?

As far-right politics gain traction across the globe, some South Africans are embracing Trumpism not out of policy conviction but out of a deeper, more troubling identification.

From Cape To Cairo

When two Africans—one from the south, the other from the north—set out to cross the continent, they raised the question: how easy is it for an African to move in their own land?