Africa Is a Country

Weekend Music Break No.104 – Songs from banned countries: Sudan edition

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

Weekend Music Break No.104 – Songs from banned countries: Sudan edition

By
Boima Tucker

Sinkane.

We’re returning to the older format of Weekend Music Break (a series of embeds rather than a playlist) for this very special guest selection from proud Sudanese-American Ahmed “Sinkane” Gallab. We reached out to Ahmed to give us a selection of tunes from his parents’ homeland, one of the seven countries on US President Donald Trump’s visa ban list.

It’s been a trying couple weeks for our global community, particularly for those of us who understand (and enjoy the benefits of) an interconnected world. We understand that the current form of globalization’s ills stem from the twinned trends of freedom for money and limits for people.

We thought an attempt to humanize Sudan and Sudanese people, by experiencing their folk, youth and online culture (freedom for information), would allow some folks to understand a bit of what’s at stake when borders are hardened for people. We don’t imagine Africa Is a Country readers are amongst the population who don’t understand this, but remember 49% of American support the ban, so share this post widely on social media!

We also want to do our part to assuage some of the panic going on via the mainstream media, so for those of us who don’t need such perspective as above, this perhaps can be just a bit of an escape from the deluge of negative news and tweets.

Check out Ahmed’s selection of classic and new Sudanese sounds below and preview his new album “Life & Livin’ It” which he is currently on the road supporting.

1 ) Sammany – “Dyarom”

2 ) Salah Mohamed Al-bashir

3) JVLS – “Enemies”

4) Qurashi & Salah Mohamed Al-Bashir

5) MaMan – “Brain Wars”

6) Ibrahim Awad

7) Rainy Day feat. Rotation – “All Night, All Summer”

8) Salah Bin Al-Badia

9) Rotation – “Rota$ion”

10) Sufyn – “Moon Dance”

11) Bonez, Skripter, SP a.k.a Sporadic – “All I Can”

Further Reading

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?

The road to Rafah

The ‘Sumud’ convoy from Tunis to Gaza is reviving the radical promise of pan-African solidarity and reclaiming an anticolonial tactic lost to history.

Sinners and ancestors

Ryan Coogler’s latest film is more than a vampire fable—it’s a bridge between Black American history and African audiences hungry for connection, investment, and storytelling rooted in shared struggle.