Your weekly collection of new tunes and videos — this week from Zambia, Ghana, Jamaica, Mali, South Africa and the Netherlands, but first: Congo. This year’s Salaam Kivu International Film Festival (SKIFF), which took place in Goma in July, had as its theme “Agizo ya Lumumba — Justice”. The festival’s program included film screenings and dance/media/music workshops around the Justice theme and the following video by the same title, featuring Doris, Dak2, Black Man, DMD, BIN-G, Babu, Wanny S-king, Dj Couleur, M-Chris, Nathan, Jobson Madibo, Darsana, Fal-G, Gaius Kowene and Willy Ston, is a great product of that:

PAP-G is an artist from Mali who raps and sings over a layer of Diabatéba-produced music in ‘Favéla’:

Sarkodie teamed up with London azonto stars FuseODG. The video was directed by Moe Musa (check his YouTube channel for more goodies):

It’s been exciting to follow Stones Throw’s (the label) recent moves into the dub scene. This one features Roman soldiers, Marcus Garvey, and a fiery Little Harry:

“Le Cube” & Liam Farrell (aka “Doctor L”) are working on a new project, the LP “We Got Lost”, some other tracks of which you can see and hear here. Below is ‘Negro P’:

Block Kids on the New (yeh) is a Hip-Hop duo from Pretoria, South Africa:

Another track off the Red Hot + Fela record to get a video — remember Baloji’s –, this one for Spoek. (We’re looking forward to seeing what the Kronos Quartet / Kyp Malone / Tunde Adebimpe collaboration will look like on video!)

Jazzy ‘Beyond Of You’ is the first single off Dutch singer Joya Mooi’s upcoming album Crystal Growth. She talks about her South African dad and the play she has created about her parents here; you’ll find more music by her here.

A new song, ‘Too Much/Happens’, by Sampha Sisay (Sierra Leone to the UK) that deserves your full attention:

And to end, a short musical film by Zambian artist Mumba Yachi, which he dedicates to former First Lady Betty Kaunda:

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.