Africa is a Radio: Episode #14

Cafe Bahia, The San Joaquim Market, Salvador da Bahia, Brazil.

2015’s last episode of Africa is a Radio features a snippet from an extended interview with Pakistani-American journalist Rafia Zakaria, as well as a selection of tunes from Africa and the rest of the Atlantic world.

Check it out below, and see you in 2016!

Tracklist

1) Raury – Devil’s Whisper
2) Burna Boy – Soke
3) Oliver Mtukudzi – Ndima Ndapedza
4) Gah Gah – Kasbah
5) Interview with Rafia Zakaria
6) Booba – Mon Pays
7) Nasty C – Juice Back Remix feat. Davido and Cassper Nyovest
8) Ziminino – Intermitência
9) Nega Gizza – Filme de terror
10) Santos Junior – N’Gui Banza Mama
11) Fabregas – Mascara
12) Franko – Coller la petite
13) VVIP – Dogo Yaro feat. Samini
14) Kafu Banton – Vivo en el ghetto
15) Lokassa Ya Mbongo – Bonne année

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.