Africa Is a Country

Friday Bonus Music Break, N°5

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

Friday Bonus Music Break, N°5

By
Sean Jacobs

One of my favorite MCs / hip hop producers, Damu the Fudgemunk. I always check for his new work. (Reminds me of Madlib.) The video, below, is from 2009’s Madvillian. And this link is to his latest work.

So the main rapper on this Tanzanian track is a teacher and the featured artist is his student. The kid, Dogo Janja, is considered a star for the future. The song talks about the lack of pay and respect for teachers–no prizes for guessing the name of the great teacher whose pic flashes at the conclusion of the video.

Nigerian wedding music from Nigerian-American Eldee: Golden Arrow buses, Table Mountain, colonial statues in the company gardens. Is Cape Town the honeymoon spot for cool newlyweds or for shooting music videos on budget? Hey Europeans and Americans do it already.

http://youtu.be/VS4aFoeQG6A

A video preview of Chief Boima collaborator DJ Lamin Fofana’s latest:

http://youtu.be/mY6HNGWHzKE

Finally, some Yoruba soft jazz by Dipo (no not Diplo obviously) with “Be Your Man.” There’s also the freestyle version with Ghanaian vocalist Enya.

Further Reading

Kenya’s vibe shift

From aesthetic cool to political confusion, a new generation in Kenya is navigating broken promises, borrowed styles, and the blurred lines between irony and ideology.

Africa and the AI race

At summits and in speeches, African leaders promise to harness AI for development. But without investment in power, connectivity, and people, the continent risks replaying old failures in new code.

After the uprising

Years into Cameroon’s Anglophone conflict, the rebellion faces internal fractures, waning support, and military pressure—raising the question of what future, if any, lies ahead for Ambazonian aspirations.

In search of Saadia

Who was Saadia, and why has she been forgotten? A search for one woman’s story opens up bigger questions about race, migration, belonging, and the gaps history leaves behind.

Binti, revisited

More than two decades after its release, Lady Jaydee’s debut album still resonates—offering a window into Tanzanian pop, gender politics, and the sound of a generation coming into its own.

The bones beneath our feet

A powerful new documentary follows Evelyn Wanjugu Kimathi’s personal and political journey to recover her father’s remains—and to reckon with Kenya’s unfinished struggle for land, justice, and historical memory.

What comes after liberation?

In this wide-ranging conversation, the freedom fighter and former Constitutional Court justice Albie Sachs reflects on law, liberation, and the unfinished work of building a just South Africa.

The cost of care

In Africa’s migration economy, women’s labor fuels households abroad while their own needs are sidelined at home. What does freedom look like when care itself becomes a form of exile?

The memory keepers

A new documentary follows two women’s mission to decolonize Nairobi’s libraries, revealing how good intentions collide with bureaucracy, donor politics, and the ghosts of colonialism.

Making films against amnesia

The director of the Oscar-nominated film ‘Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat’ reflects on imperial violence, corporate warfare, and how cinema can disrupt the official record—and help us remember differently.