Africa Is a Country

Friday Bonus Music Break, N°30

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

Friday Bonus Music Break, N°30

By
Tom Devriendt

Let’s start our weekly round-ups of new music videos this year with some bangers. Representing Congo this week, rapper (and professional dancer) Dinozord: above. Next up, there’s new music and visuals from Art Melody (representing Burkina Faso):

“Lefteneh” by Bajah and the Dry Eye Crew — by the way, about the meaning of that Sierra Leonean “dry eye”:

Ty (born Ben Chijioke — Nigerians claim him) has a new video out as well:

From Liberia (Alloysious Massaquoi) and Nigeria (where Kayus Bankole’s parents come from) via Scotland (Graham Hastings’s place): Young Fathers:

Lee Fields played a set in a Dutch church last year. Yes, we’ll feature all of his videos:

Another acoustic performance; by France-based Oxmo Puccino (né Abdoulaye Diarra):

Judging by the rate at which Laura Mvula is putting out quality videos recently, it seems she’s intent on making the year 2013 hers. We don’t mind:

And in response to what’s happening in Mali, Fatoumata Diawara and her label have brought together a big group of musicians to record the song below. Artists performing on the track include (I’m copy-pasting) Amadou and Mariam, Oumou Sangare, Bassekou Kouyate, Vieux Farka Toure, Djelimady Tounkara, Toumani Diabate, Khaira Arby, Kasse Mady Diabate, Baba Salah, Afel Bocoum, Tiken Jah, Amkoullel and Habib Koite. Bruce Whitehouse’s got the details on the meaning of it all; and wonders where the Tuareg musicians are:

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.