• Sean Henry Jacobs

The musician Mac McKenzie, who passed away in April 2024, helped pioneer a sound that captured the Mother City’s Creole heritage.

• Palesa Nqambaza

What an amapiano song tells us about post-apartheid South Africa.

• Nelson Freitas

O cantor holandês e cabo-verdiano Nelson Freitas sobre o crescimento e a popularidade da cultura africana em todo o mundo.

• Nelson Freitas

Dutch and Cape-Verdean singer Nelson Freitas on the growth and popularity of African culture across the world.

• Boima Tucker

Is the beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake really devoid of politics?

• Lyn Kouadio

La CAN de cette année en Côte d'Ivoire a montré que ce n'est pas seulement la politique du football qui compte, mais aussi la politique de l'ambiance.

• Sean Henry Jacobs
• Kathryn Mathers

Por que as histórias sobre o sofrimento africano são tão persistentes?

• Lyn Kouadio

This year’s AFCON in Côte d'Ivoire showed that it’s not just the politics of the football that matters, but the politics of the vibe as well.

• AfroWave

Africa Is a Country is partnering with AfroWave Echoes to present their quarterly playlist of African music.

• Sakhile Phiri
• Savo Heleta

Burna Boy’s ‘Monsters You Made’ takes the debate about the need for material decolonization outside the ivory tower and into the public sphere.

• William Shoki

Between the Grammys and AFCON semi-final, it's been a big week for the rivalry between Nigeria and South Africa.

• Maher Mezahi

On this second day of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, we’re bringing you a playlist exploring some of the most iconic songs in African football.

• Anthony Fish Hodgson

In 1987, a band led by a group of South African Jewish brothers released a song against apartheid repression. Today, its lyrics speak to conditions in Palestine as well.

• Ezequiel Tedesco

One bandleader's quest to keep Afrobeat political in Latin America.

• Raphael Kariuki

How a new underground club in Nairobi offers Kenyans respite from the harshness of everyday life.

• Simon Adetona Akindes

In Colombia, doing straightforward political music carries many risks, including confronting state repression, political armed rebellions, and organized crime.

• Asher Gamedze

Asher Gamedze on his new single ‘Wynter Time,' and the struggle of oppressed peoples against dispossession, exploitation and alienation.

• Shamira Ibrahim

From 2024, the Grammys will feature an award for Best African Music Performance. Is the category a positive step embracing the global popularity of African music, or another homogenizing exotification?

• Nkanyiso Ngqulunga

In their debut EP, the Johannesburg-based experimental jazz group iPhupho L’ka Biko offer a message of hope, resilience and solidarity while drawing from South Africa’s black jazz heritage.

• Matthew J. Smith

Chris Blackwell’s long-awaited autobiography shows him as a romantic rogue; a risk taker whose life compass has been an open mind and gift to hear and see slightly into the future.