The black son shines
Masauko Chipembere's first solo album is a remarkable achievement and a timely musical reminder of the circular nature of pan-Africanist consciousness.
Music
Music is the weapon
During Christmas 1980, Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba performed at a concert in Lesotho that deeply challenged and disturbed South Africa’s apartheid regime. The record of that concert is being reissued.
Cape Verde’s culture of recalcitrance
The island nation's celebrated political system was never a gift bestowed, but seized through sheer agency and hard-fought autonomy.
The resistance music of the Ugandan people
The pop star turned Member of Parliament, Bobi Wine, is only the latest in a long line of music-as-politics in Uganda.
A trap nomad finds a home
The Somali artist and DJ, Hibotep, is one of the many pushing electronic hybrid sounds from East Africa through the epicenter of the movement, Kampala.
Salif Keita’s incomparable call
The famed Malian musician celebrates his 70th birthday and 50 years in the industry in 2019.
Is Rammstein racist?
The German metal band Rammstein's video for 'Auslander' wants it both ways: a critique of colonialism and sex tourism, but right-wing neo-nazis can also enjoy the fascist iconography.
Apartheid, anthropology and Johnny Clegg
All that French marketing schtick aside about "the white Zulu," Johnny Clegg was a real one.
The energy that never dies
On the eve of Baaba Maal's first New York City concert in 8 years, Oumar Ba interviews him, asking about protest movements, the music business and Senegal.
The revolution in four-part harmony
A good time to bring back this piece—first written in 2002—on the power of song to fuel political struggle.
Voice of the Cape
Rapper YoungstaCPT's headspace is shaped by Cape Town’s history.
God don kam
Rapper Jovi has inducted himself into a club of Cameroonian artists who have embraced their own truths in the face of adversity.
Sarkodie and the politics for ‘freedom-making’
Hiplife artist Sarkodie has proposed that what Ghana needs is a dictatorship. This is not inconsistent with his politics, rooted in promoting male success and a patriarchal vision of liberation.
Entry-level misogyny
In a heteronormative society like Nigeria, men are entitled to sex with any and all women.
An enduring European tradition
An interview with Berlin-based Sierra Leonean electronic musician Lamin Fofana on Europe's longtime fascination with African culture.
The Sheck Wes story
Harlem rapper Sheck Wes's star rises in the shadow of Dapper Dan and Cheikh Amadou Bamba.
Time traveling with Manu Dibango
Manu Dibango has been here for centuries, and he ain't goin' away any time soon.
In Langa with Louis Moholo-Moholo
Free jazz drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo comes home to his childhood home in Cape Town, carrying the spirit of his generation.
This is Nigeria
A group of Nigerian thinkers debate rapper Falz's take on Childish Gambino's viral "This Is America."
This is democracy, political hysteria
Why has Childish Gambino's "This is America" video resonated with so many people around the world?