The Delasi Edition

This selection of smooth Afropop illustrates Delasi's transnational vision for contemporary African art and music.

The art for Delasi's 2015 release, #ThoughtJourney

Highly recommended for your weekend mornings: It’s the second Weekend Music Break of the year (enter confetti and dancehall sirens) and I’m super delighted to present you this playlist.

(1) We kick off with the Afro bass duo Gato Preto’s “Take a Stand”, which features Kenyan singer Janice Iche. Sounds like an anthem for African pride everywhere in the world.

(2) On “Brujas,” the Bronx-based artist Princess Nokia explores her roots and origins acknowledging the Yoruba deity Orisha. Try not to get possessed as you enjoy the visuals.

(3) Senegalese producer Ibaaku takes you to his abstract world on the hypnotic tune “Monkey Boy” off his Alien Cartoon album.

(4) Next stop, practice your dance moves to Branko’s “Let Me Go” track feat. Nonku Phiri & Mr. Carmack. Shot in Joburg, enjoy nice Pantsula dance moves infused with zouk bass and Nonku’s chilled R&B flavor.

(5) Sudanese and Nubian inspired collective Alsarah & The Nubatones share melodic vocals in Arabic backed by oud drums on their quest to find home.

(6) Sampha’s “Blood On Me” is bordering around dark and desperately forebodes the demons that are out to get him. For the sake of delicious music, let’s hope they don’t find him.

(7) Jamaican singer-songwriter Chronixx pays tribute to all the queens, if you are not teary eyed at the beauty of black love celebration then you may probably have ideas of starting your own family.

(8) “How Far” by Red Red is a socially conscious and politically unapologetic tune that sees M3nsa playing different faces of the average Ghanaian, and asking the most pertinent questions on all of Ghanaians’ minds.

(9) UK based Ghanaian producer DJ Juls has steadily been releasing hits for a while now. Enjoy this video for “Give you Love” ft. L.A.X.

(10) What would the world do without the black woman? Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 celebrates and glorifies the strength and power of black women in the diaspora.

Further Reading

Slow death by food

Illegal gold mining is poisoning Ghana’s soil and rivers, seeping into its crops and seafood, and turning the national food system into a long-term public health crisis.

A sick health system

The suspension of three doctors following the death of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s son has renewed scrutiny of a health-care system plagued by impunity, underfunding, and a mass exodus of medical professionals.

Afrobeats after Fela

Wizkid’s dispute with Seun Kuti and the release of his latest EP with Asake highlight the widening gap between Afrobeats’ commercial triumph and Fela Kuti’s political inheritance

Progress is exhausting

Pedro Pinho’s latest film follows a Portuguese engineer in Guinea-Bissau, exposing how empire survives through bureaucracy, intimacy, and the language of “development.”

The rubble of empire

Built by Italian Fascists in 1928, Mogadishu Cathedral was meant to symbolize “peaceful conquest.” Today its ruins force Somalis to confront the uneasy afterlife of colonial power and religious authority.

Atayese

Honored in Yorubaland as “one who repairs the world,” Jesse Jackson’s life bridged civil rights, pan-Africanism, empire, and contradiction—leaving behind a legacy as expansive as it was imperfect.

Bread or Messi?

Angola’s golden jubilee culminated in a multimillion-dollar match against Argentina. The price tag—and the secrecy around it—divided a nation already grappling with inequality.