Africa Is a Country

Weekend Music Break No.96

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

Weekend Music Break No.96

By
Boima Tucker

Back to our regularly scheduled music break for your weekend! Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that what we’re taking a break from, so this week labor is a theme. However, so is liberation, and therefore perhaps fittingly, Haiti is too.

To kick the series of videos off, we have a nice premiere from Burkina Faso’s Art Melody! Check that out and the rest of this week’s music break via the Youtube playlist below.

Music Break No.96

1) Like mentioned above the first video is a special premiere of Art Melody’s “Ki Kanga.” The video, directed by Bastien Papillier, likens the struggle of life to hard labor, and connects the drive needed for liberation to the discipline of a boxer. 2) Up next, a really nice surprise out of Nigeria from Dremo, I’ll let you reveal that one on your own. 3) Then, Stonebwoy goes global reggae with a shout out to the various Black Atlantic cultures the genre has touched down, as well as drawn from. 4) Chance The Rapper has what might be one of the most surreal major label debuts I’ve seen, turning in the most positive song I’ve ever had the pleasure to hear 2 Chains or Lil’ Wayne grace. 5) Then we change pace a bit and head to Haiti… Lakou Mizik warms us up with a bit of a live jam, and visual preview of their album. 6) Then, Poirier and Fwonte leave the Montreal cold and head to Haiti showing us a side of Port Au Prince we might not be used to seeing. 7) Next, we get to a little more mainstream fare from the island of Haiti, with X-Men and Carimi and their Zouk-dancehall cross over party jam. 8) Finally, from Haiti, the island goes afrobeat, tying Yoruba to Voodoo culture on this monster jam from the Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra. 9) Switching pace once again, Afro-Mexican rapper Bocafloja riffs on the liberation theme in a new video with “Dystopia” featuring Immasoul. 10) And last, but not least, Filastine’s “The Cleaner” bookends our theme with a dance meditation on domestic laborers.

Enjoy your weekend!

Further Reading

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.

Ibaaku’s space race

Through Afro-futurist soundscapes blending tradition and innovation, Ibaaku’s new album, ‘Joola Jazz,’ reshapes Dakar’s cultural rhythm and challenges the legacy of Négritude.

An allegiance to abusers

This weekend, Chris Brown will perform two sold-out concerts in South Africa. His relationship to the country reveals the twisted dynamic between a black American artist with a track record of violence and a country happy to receive him.

Shell’s exit scam

Shell’s so-called divestment from Nigeria’s Niger Delta is a calculated move to evade accountability, leaving behind both environmental and economic devastation.

Africa’s sibling rivalry

Nigeria and South Africa have a fraught relationship marked by xenophobia, economic competition, and cultural exchange. The Nigerian Scam are joined by Khanya Mtshali to discuss the dynamics shaping these tensions on the AIAC podcast.

The price of power

Ghana’s election has brought another handover between the country’s two main parties. Yet behind the scenes lies a flawed system where wealth can buy political office.

Beats of defiance

From the streets of Khartoum to exile abroad, Sudanese hip-hop artists have turned music into a powerful tool for protest, resilience, and the preservation of collective memory.