Africa Is a Country

Friday Bonus Music Break, N°16

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

Friday Bonus Music Break, N°16

By
Tom Devriendt

Above is how people keep warm in Johannesburg winters. And below is what you hope to bounce to during long summer nights.

Southeast from Johannesburg. Music video made in Durban. Band’s from Durban. And they’re named after Durban:

Okayafrica tipped us off about the video for Ajebutter 22 (yeah…). Clubby:

Gazza’s ‘Friday Special’ (the song; turn down the bass a bit — quality’s grainy):

Elliot ran into revoluçionista rapper Azagaia eating prawns in Maputo this week. Here he is with ‘Minha Geração’:

More conscious hip hop, recorded between Kinshasa and Brussels, by Didier Awadi, Fredy Massamba, Steve Mav and Lexxus Legal:

Haven’t heard Mikko–admittedly, in his spare time 1/3rd of Chuck D’s Planet Earth Planet Rap program–as excited about a new release as over the past days. Must be the return of Public Enemy:

Two from Kenya. Xtatic…

…and Rabbit’s ‘Swahili Shakespeare’ (in a slower mode):

And to wrap up the week: I didn’t know about Malian Sibiri Samaké until top music blog Tropicalidad (one day they’ll drop the “world music” tag) mentioned him this week. This recording in Studio Bogolan is exceptional:

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.