AfricaIs aCountry

Political R&B

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

Political R&B

By
Sean Jacobs

“Before they lay your body down / you got to change the world before you six feet under the ground.”

Martin Luther King Jnr. and Malcolm X.

Singer Novel takes R&B back to its political roots in the song and music video for “Body Down.” Sample lyric: “Before they lay your body down / you got to change the world before you six feet under the ground.”

The music video references Malcolm X and Martin Luther King as it points to the part-political roots of this musical genre in the 1960s.

“Body Down” is a remix of an indie pop song by English singer Jack Peñate.  In Novel’s hands–aided by the video–it becomes a comment on violence  (police brutality, gun violence, assassinations, Islamophobia, militarism, etcetera). Troy Davis’ execution also makes it into the video.

As one Youtube viewer commented: “… this song makes me want answers to questions that the government refuses to answer or even acknowledge.”

Remix culture  sometimes has its benefits.

Watch.

Via Eddie STATS Houghton

Further Reading

Atayese

Honored in Yorubaland as “one who repairs the world,” Jesse Jackson’s life bridged civil rights, pan-Africanism, empire, and contradiction—leaving behind a legacy as expansive as it was imperfect.

Bread or Messi?

Angola’s golden jubilee culminated in a multimillion-dollar match against Argentina. The price tag—and the secrecy around it—divided a nation already grappling with inequality.

Visiting Ngara

A redevelopment project in Nairobi’s Ngara district promises revival—but raises deeper questions about capital, memory, and who has the right to shape the city.

Gen Z’s electoral dilemma

Long dismissed as apathetic, Kenya’s youth forced a rupture in 2024. As the 2027 election approaches, their challenge is turning digital rebellion and street protest into political power.

A world reimagined in Black

By placing Kwame Nkrumah at the center of a global Black political network, Howard W. French reveals how the promise of pan-African emancipation was narrowed—and what its failure still costs Africa and the diaspora.

Securing Nigeria

Nigeria’s insecurity cannot be solved by foreign airstrikes or a failing state, but by rebuilding democratic, community-rooted systems of collective self-defense.