Africa Is a Country

Friday Music Break, N°24

Friday Music Break, N°24

By
Boima Tucker

Hello! Boima here, and I’m back helping out with the Friday music break. A Haitian Rara (not Ornette Coleman) sampling rap/poem by Hyperdub affiliate The Spaceape got me excited this week, so that’s my lead off pick — above! Not only do the U.S. and China have political happenings this month, but Sierra Leoneans go to the polls next week as well. Bajah and the Dry Eye Crew put out a song appealing for peace amongst young people, who are often conscripted by politicians to carry out violence during election periods. Back in Sierra Leone, the musical messages to hold politicians accountable reassuringly continue:

Meanwhile a young diaspora Sierra Leonean is making noise in the U.K. with an electro-pop sound and Nikki Minaj-esque video:

M.anifest releases a NICE neo-Hiplife video with the beautiful Efya off his album Immigrant Chronicles: Coming to America:

His countryman Sway goes full Akon this week, dropping a video for an electro pop collabo with Mr. Hudson and Crystal Waters! But I can’t help wonder, what happened to Up Ur Speed Sway?

Awadi goes to Medellín, Colombia to sing about revolution. I wonder if the FARC is in on this:

Which reminds me that I had the pleasure to spend a weekend with Medellín based, Pacifico reppin’ Explosión Negra in Philadelphia recently:

New high quality Liberian video for a not-so-Hipco rap:

I’m realizing that I kind of over-Hip Hopped this Music Break, so here’s a nice change of pace from Portugal based singer with Cape Verdian roots Dino D’ Santiago featuring Pedro Mourato and Gileno Santana:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xmy04YmbpAw&w=560&h=315

And finally, London based A.J. Holmes, who’s learned from and collaborated with musicians from classic Sierra Leonean bands like Super Combo and the S.E. Rogie band, goes to the sea:

Further Reading

Not exactly at arm’s length

Despite South Africa’s ban on arms exports to Israel and its condemnation of Israel’s actions in Palestine, local arms companies continue to send weapons to Israel’s allies and its major arms suppliers.

Ruto’s Kenya

Since June’s anti-finance bill protests, dozens of people remain unaccounted for—a stark reminder of the Kenyan state’s long history of abductions and assassinations.

Between Harlem and home

African postcolonial cinema serves as a mirror, revealing the limits of escape—whether through migration or personal defiance—and exposing the tensions between dreams and reality.

The real Rwanda

The world is slowly opening its eyes to how Paul Kagame’s regime abuses human rights, suppresses dissent, and exploits neighboring countries.

In the shadow of Mondlane

After a historic election and on the eve of celebrating fifty years of independence, Mozambicans need to ask whether the values, symbols, and institutions created to give shape to “national unity” are still legitimate today.

À sombra de Mondlane

Depois de uma eleição histórica e em vésperas de celebrar os 50 anos de independência, os moçambicanos precisam de perguntar se os valores, símbolos e instituições criados para dar forma à “unidade nacional” ainda são legítimos hoje.