Africa Is a Country

Summer in Paris

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

Summer in Paris

By
Hinda Talhaoui

In what may be the last in a while of my posts highlighting the latest in French music culture, here's a list of tunes for the northern summer.

Screenshot of Atheena in her and Kamelac's music video for "Pas Besoin."

What’s good in Paris this summer? The city’s airwaves of course. And it being France’s capital and its largest metropolis, the country’s most talented musicians congregate there. First up, representing the city’s music is Kamelanc’ (born in Oujda, Morocco) and Atheena (representing Senegal) with ‘Pas besoin‘:

Then Orelsan (born in Alençon). ‘La terre est ronde‘:

Kayna Samet’s (born in Nice) comes with her ‘Ghetto Tale Remix‘ feat. Youssoupha (born in Kinshasa, DRC), Médine (representing Algeria) and Leck (Mokobé’s protegé).

Alonzo (government name Kassim Djae, and originally from the Comoros Islands off Africa in the Indian Ocean, but who grew up in Marseille, Paris’s southern rival, brings ‘Avoir une fille‘:

Princess Sarah, from Avignon (with a Lebanese father and French mother) prefers autumn over summer.

Collectif Métissé’s (just above, many nationalities here but based in Bordeaux) brings us the heavily Caribbean influenced summer tune “Z dance” (I wouldn’t mind if we forgot about the song by autumn).

M.A.S (né Malik, representing Morocco) riffs off Lil Wayne and Bruno Mars’ ‘Mirror’ in his ‘Des regrets.’

Kenza Farah’s (born in Béjaïa, Algeria) presents “Quelque part.”

Tal (representing Yemen and Israel) featuring Mokobé (representing Mali) on ‘Je prend le large.’

Finally, there’s Matt Houston (born in Sainte-Anne, Guadeloupe) collaborating with Nigerian superstar duo P-Square.

Further Reading

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.