Africa Is a Country

Friday Bonus Music Break, N°20

Friday Bonus Music Break, N°20

By
Tom Devriendt

This week Nigeria–yes the country whose history Rick Ross mangled in his latest music video (Ross should have taken lessons from Chinua Achebe)–turned 52 to this week. Here, the “First Lady of Mavin Records,” Tiwa Savage sings the national anthem of Nigeria on a Nigerian TV show:

London-based Nigerians Afrikan Boy (he used to collaborate with M.I.A.) and Dotstar try their hand at the azonto craze:

And your obligatory dose of Nigerian pop:

Brussels-based rapper Pitcho (his family is from Congo):

Oddisee (born Amir Mohamed el Khalifa)–father Sudanese; mother African-American–channels Bon Iver:

Either Fokn Bois is still on their mission to get Ghanaians (and the world) to be less serious about religion (remember their “Gospel Porn” album) or they just want attention:

Anything we missed?

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.