Africa Is a Country

Friday Bonus Music Break, N°16

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

Friday Bonus Music Break, N°16

By
Tom Devriendt

Above is how people keep warm in Johannesburg winters. And below is what you hope to bounce to during long summer nights.

Southeast from Johannesburg. Music video made in Durban. Band’s from Durban. And they’re named after Durban:

Okayafrica tipped us off about the video for Ajebutter 22 (yeah…). Clubby:

Gazza’s ‘Friday Special’ (the song; turn down the bass a bit — quality’s grainy):

Elliot ran into revoluçionista rapper Azagaia eating prawns in Maputo this week. Here he is with ‘Minha Geração’:

More conscious hip hop, recorded between Kinshasa and Brussels, by Didier Awadi, Fredy Massamba, Steve Mav and Lexxus Legal:

Haven’t heard Mikko–admittedly, in his spare time 1/3rd of Chuck D’s Planet Earth Planet Rap program–as excited about a new release as over the past days. Must be the return of Public Enemy:

Two from Kenya. Xtatic…

…and Rabbit’s ‘Swahili Shakespeare’ (in a slower mode):

And to wrap up the week: I didn’t know about Malian Sibiri Samaké until top music blog Tropicalidad (one day they’ll drop the “world music” tag) mentioned him this week. This recording in Studio Bogolan is exceptional:

Further Reading

On Safari

On our year-end publishing break, we reflect on how 2024’s contradictions reveal a fractured world grappling with inequality, digital activism, and the blurred lines between action and spectacle.

Rebuilding Algeria’s oceans

Grassroots activists and marine scientists in Algeria are building artificial reefs to restore biodiversity and sustain fishing communities, but scaling up requires more than passion—it needs institutional support and political will.

Ibaaku’s space race

Through Afro-futurist soundscapes blending tradition and innovation, Ibaaku’s new album, ‘Joola Jazz,’ reshapes Dakar’s cultural rhythm and challenges the legacy of Négritude.

An allegiance to abusers

This weekend, Chris Brown will perform two sold-out concerts in South Africa. His relationship to the country reveals the twisted dynamic between a black American artist with a track record of violence and a country happy to receive him.

Shell’s exit scam

Shell’s so-called divestment from Nigeria’s Niger Delta is a calculated move to evade accountability, leaving behind both environmental and economic devastation.

Africa’s sibling rivalry

Nigeria and South Africa have a fraught relationship marked by xenophobia, economic competition, and cultural exchange. The Nigerian Scam are joined by Khanya Mtshali to discuss the dynamics shaping these tensions on the AIAC podcast.

The price of power

Ghana’s election has brought another handover between the country’s two main parties. Yet behind the scenes lies a flawed system where wealth can buy political office.

Beats of defiance

From the streets of Khartoum to exile abroad, Sudanese hip-hop artists have turned music into a powerful tool for protest, resilience, and the preservation of collective memory.