Gata Misteriosa and Lee Bass (the Mozambican-Portuguese-Ghanaian-German duo who go by the name of Gato Preto) dropped this new video for “Pirao” last night: no longer strictly kuduro, not yet sure what to call it, but right in time for our weekend special of ten. Video above. Janka and the Bubu Gang (Sierro Leone via Brooklyn) also surprised with this belated video for “Feba”, lifted from their 2012 record “En Yay Sah” out on Luaka Bop:

NPR did a nice feature on Jeri-Jeri recently, the collaboration between the Senegalese Bakane Seck-led drum collective and German producer Mark Ernestus, and premiered their new video, “Gawlo”, featuring Baaba Maal (below). Remember Jeri-Jeri. But there’s more. They’ve been uploading some other studio material onto their YouTube channel as well. Here.

Navio and Unique lay down their rhymes over “1960’s Ugandan beats” on “Leka Kwenyumiriza”.

More conscious Hip-Hop: Senegalese rap group A-J One (feat. Xuman and Ceepee) on “Ndjite” (there’s so much rap coming out of Dakar recently it’s hard to keep up; we’ll write about it shortly):

When Maître Gims (real name: Gandhi Djuna) isn’t collaborating with Sexion d’Assaut or his dad (Franco band singer Djanana Djuna) he’s putting out records by himself. This is from his latest: “VQ2PQ”:

Recorded in Bamako, Mali, in September 2012, ‘Troubles’ is the new album from Dirtmusic, the band headed by Chris Eckman (The Walkabouts) and Hugo Race (Fatalists/True Spirit/Bad Seeds), featuring musicians Ben Zabo, Samba Touré and Zoumana Tereta amongst others. Here’s “Fitzcarraldo”:

Aline Frazão also has a new record out (hoping Claudio might have time to review it soon). Here’s the first single, “Tanto”, with a lovely video:

Omar’s “The Man”, taken from his forthcoming album of the same name (where has he been all those years?):

And finally, Charles Bradley, who we can listen to any day. Live @ KUTX:

H/Ts this week: Zachary, Sean, Ts’eliso and Claudio.

Further Reading

Slow death by food

Illegal gold mining is poisoning Ghana’s soil and rivers, seeping into its crops and seafood, and turning the national food system into a long-term public health crisis.

A sick health system

The suspension of three doctors following the death of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s son has renewed scrutiny of a health-care system plagued by impunity, underfunding, and a mass exodus of medical professionals.

Afrobeats after Fela

Wizkid’s dispute with Seun Kuti and the release of his latest EP with Asake highlight the widening gap between Afrobeats’ commercial triumph and Fela Kuti’s political inheritance

Progress is exhausting

Pedro Pinho’s latest film follows a Portuguese engineer in Guinea-Bissau, exposing how empire survives through bureaucracy, intimacy, and the language of “development.”

The rubble of empire

Built by Italian Fascists in 1928, Mogadishu Cathedral was meant to symbolize “peaceful conquest.” Today its ruins force Somalis to confront the uneasy afterlife of colonial power and religious authority.

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.