AfricaIs aCountry

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

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.

Empire’s middlemen

From Portuguese Goa to colonial Kampala, Mahmood Mamdani’s latest book shows how India became an instrument of empire, and a scapegoat in its aftermath.