Africa Is a Country

Weekend Music Break 56

Weekend Music Break 56

By
Tom Devriendt

Three South African videos to start with. Cape Town rapper Youngsta moves between the city’s neigbourhoods of Wynberg and the CBD:

…while fellow Cape artist HemelBesem went for a stroll in Utrecht, Netherlands earlier this year. EJ von LYRIK who was on tour with him gets a cameo:

Mafikizolo seem to find a lot of fun in creating retro-styled videos lately:

A Nomadic Wax production for Diamondog, an MC from Angola, currently based in Berlin, Germany:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJMXM3SC908

From Jumanne’s archives: Kali Kwa Wote Unit from Zanzibar, ‘Tatizo Coins’ (an older song):

Baloji (who no longer needs an introduction) has two songs on the latest (and great) Red Hot compilation, both Fela interpretations. Here’s one of them:

Dinozord — from Kinshasa — could be seen dancing in a KVS-sponsored production recently but rapping is still what he does best:

A new album and a sweet video for guitarist Hervé Samb:

Rap from Québec, Canada: Webster (real name Ali Ndiaye — he has a Senegalese dad):

And another one from Angola: Puto Português and ‘Minha Passada’:

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.