Africa Is a Country

Weekend Music Break, N°33

Weekend Music Break, N°33

By
Tom Devriendt

Let’s start with two club tracks. It’s Friday after all. Above is a collaboration between Boddhi Satva (from the Central African Republic) and Oumou Sangaré (from Mali) who together recorded this video in Bamako. You could dance to it. And a re-edit of the video for London trio LV’s (with help from South African Okmalumkoolkat) ‘Boomslang’ track: 

The next video for Fore’s ‘C’est pas bon’ tune blends echoes from Zimbabwe (which Fore calls home), Mali (sample by Amadou and Mariam) and Nigeria (where Andrew Dosunmu is from; the visuals for the video are lifted from Dosunmu’s 2011 film Restless City).

Here’s German producer Mark Ernestus remixing Malian Ben Zabo (you know we’re fans of his work):

‘Voir sombrer ses fils’ is a collaboration between Burkinabé rapper Art Melody (who’s dropping a fantastic new record next month; we’ll remind you about it when it’s out), Joey Le Soldat and DJ Form. Akwaaba has the details.

This video was recorded in Port Elizabeth, South Africa and produced in Sweden. Marksmen’s EP is following soon. “Port Elizabeth Rap in outer space”:

A new film to watch out for is “La Cité Rose” (here’s the trailer; French release is scheduled for next month). The film’s soundtrack includes contributions by French artists Soprano, Sexion d’Assaut and Youssoupha. Here’s a first out-take:

Lesotho-based emcees Isosceles and Futuristic join forces as Olive Branch. ‘Stat Quo’ (video below) is a track off their project by the same name, available here.

A new video for Ghanaian hip-hop artist M.anifest (who you now also know as a football fan):

And finally, here’s a record to look forward to: Dan Auerbach (of Black Keys fame) produced Niger-born Bombino’s second international solo record (to be released on Nonesuch Records soon). The teaser, to say the least, sounds promising…

…if you like guitar sounds, of course. Dan Auerbach is a busy man, it seems, having also produced Valerie June’s upcoming record. But more about her in another post.

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.