Africa Is a Country

July 26, Liberia

July 26, Liberia

By
Boima Tucker

The oldest republic in Africa, Liberia–formed in 1847–celebrates its independence today.  Chances are Dumyarea, the song we wrote about earlier will pump from stereos and in cars, but there’s more. Right now you have two major styles Gbema and Hipco (the co is for Colloquial), and sometimes they mix. All of the songs on youtube are a few years old (because that’s how long it takes to upload a video from Liberia — Ha!).

Friday the Cellphone Man – Simple Mistake, a previous big hit in the folk style Gbema:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQD5DNaPQ14&w=600&h=373]

Monrovia’s resident reggae artist Nasseman – Til’ We Meet Again:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUGs0rhcwRE&w=600&h=373]

Liberia’s current number one Hipco artist Takun J – Who Make You Cry:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wP78ccrCok&w=600&h=373]

Dream Team – One Man One Cup, a socially poignant, hilarious tune about the way youth are living in Monrovia. (I wrote a post about it here):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENkAFdD2drY&w=600&h=373]

John Bricks – Just Be There:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_8681D3eAg&w=600&h=373]

K-Zee’s Kountry Chicken (a mix of Hipco and Gbema):

Number one Liberian R&B artist David Mell does a style he calls Soulco:

And if R&B isn’t your thing, there’s always the gospel:

Further Reading

Fuel’s errand

When Africa’s richest man announced the construction of the continent’s largest crude oil refinery, many were hopeful. But Aliko Dangote has not saved Nigeria. The Nigerian Scam returns to the Africa Is a Country Podcast to explain why.

Fragile state

Without an immediate change in approach, Somalia will remain a fragmented country populated by self-serving elites seeking foreign patrons.

Coming home

In 1991, acclaimed South African artist Helen Sebidi’s artworks were presumed stolen in Sweden. Three decades later, a caretaker at the residential college where they disappeared found them in a ceiling cupboard, still in their original packaging.

Imaginary homelands

A new biography of former apartheid homeland leader Lucas Mangope struggles to do more than arrange the actions of its subject into a neat chronology.

Business as usual?

This month, Algeria quietly held its second election since Abdelaziz Bouteflika was ousted in 2019. On the podcast, we ask what Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s second term means for the country.

The complexities of solidarity

Assassinated in 1978, Henri Curiel was a Jewish Egyptian Marxist whose likely killers include fascist French-Algerian colons, the apartheid South African Bureau of State Security, and the Abu Nidal Organization.