Africa Is a Country

July 26, Liberia

Africa Is a Country Podcast
African Five-a-Side Podcast

July 26, Liberia

By
Boima Tucker

The oldest republic in Africa, Liberia–formed in 1847–celebrates its independence today.  Chances are Dumyarea, the song we wrote about earlier will pump from stereos and in cars, but there’s more. Right now you have two major styles Gbema and Hipco (the co is for Colloquial), and sometimes they mix. All of the songs on youtube are a few years old (because that’s how long it takes to upload a video from Liberia — Ha!).

Friday the Cellphone Man – Simple Mistake, a previous big hit in the folk style Gbema:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQD5DNaPQ14&w=600&h=373]

Monrovia’s resident reggae artist Nasseman – Til’ We Meet Again:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUGs0rhcwRE&w=600&h=373]

Liberia’s current number one Hipco artist Takun J – Who Make You Cry:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wP78ccrCok&w=600&h=373]

Dream Team – One Man One Cup, a socially poignant, hilarious tune about the way youth are living in Monrovia. (I wrote a post about it here):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENkAFdD2drY&w=600&h=373]

John Bricks – Just Be There:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_8681D3eAg&w=600&h=373]

K-Zee’s Kountry Chicken (a mix of Hipco and Gbema):

Number one Liberian R&B artist David Mell does a style he calls Soulco:

And if R&B isn’t your thing, there’s always the gospel:

Further Reading

How to unmake the world

In this wide-ranging conversation, para-disciplinary artist Nolan Oswald Dennis reflects on space, time, Blackness, and the limits of Western knowledge—offering a strategy for imagining grounded in African and anti-colonial traditions.

A migrant’s tale

On his latest EP, Kwame Brenya turns a failed migration into musical testimony—offering a biting critique of ECOWAS, broken borders, and the everyday collapse of pan-African ideals.

What Portugal forgets

In the film ‘Tales of Oblivion,’ Dulce Fernandes excavates the buried history of slavery in Portugal, challenging a national mythology built on sea voyages, silence, and selective memory.

Quando Portugal esquece

Em ‘Contos do Esquecimento,’ Dulce Fernandes desenterrou histórias esquecidas da escravidão em Portugal, desafiando uma mitologia nacional construída sobre viagens marítimas, silêncio e memória seletiva.