Weekend Music Break No.95—Afro-Europe special!

Fresh of a trip to the UK and Germany, with stops in Afro-European strongholds of London and Berlin, I thought I’d theme this week’s Music Break around some of what I saw and heard there. So enjoy this brief (and not comprehensive by any means) trip around young Afro-Europe, with stops in London, Paris, Berlin, Lisbon and Rome.

Music Break No.95

  1. MHD was a revelation for me on this trip, first getting hipped to his #AfroTrap series by a friend in Bristol, and then being treated to an onslaught of it in Berlin for their Carnival weekend.
  2. Belly Squad out of London come with a bit of a naughty song and video to show the youthful energy of the UK-Afrobeats scene.
  3. Amsterdam via London’s Jaij Hollands’s gravely flow is taking Afrobeats in a little harder edged direction.
  4. Maître GimsSapés comme jamais was also on repeat in Berlin, also coming from the Paris scene.
  5. YCEE who bursted on to the scene with Jagaban last year takes his new video to the streets of London, showing how many artists, even those based in Africa, prefer to go to London for their aesthetics.
  6. Aina More is killing it over this beat by DJ Juls!
  7. On the other side of Berlin, Daniel Haaksman recruits Spoek Mathambo for this chugging Mbaqnga influenced Afro-house jam.
  8. Lisbon’s Throes + The Shine recruit Argentina’s La Yegros for this high tempo Afro-latin-rock number.
  9. A few years old classic out of Rome, Pepe Soup’s Pump Tire!
  10. And finally, the absolute Dona of the Lisbon Afro-electronic scene in her Boiler Room Lisbon appearance to take you out!

Happy week’s end!

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.