Summertime Vibes

Hipsters Don't Dance "Top World Carnival Tunes" for February 2015.

Sherise, via Unsplash.

One week after the World Carnival holiday, we are back with our first chart of 2015. Enjoy this round of tunes, and remember to visit the HDD blog for all the great up-to-the-time-ness out of London. Also, see the archives of posts.

Gino Brown x MercyO

South African house guy Gino Brown teams up with Nigerian MC Pinky Jay, the groove on this is great and Gino really has something going by putting these two styles together. House may have an affinity to powerful divas but now it’s time for Sh@t talking women.

Martel B x Badda Dan Dem Remix (Feat. Bigz, Frisco & Young Spray)

Martel B’s hit is bubbling up and this year has seen two remixes appear. This is the better one with UK legends Frisco and Bigz hopping on it. Also like Kanye at the Brits, you can peep Skepta in the back.The Naija remix deserves a listen as well.

Moelogo x Sweetie

His first release on a major label is a cover/interpolation of Bunny Mack’s classic Let Me Love You. Every family function should have played this, now the kids can now pretend it’s their own.

Yanga X Awuth’Yam REMIX (Feat. KiD & AKA)

This month’s chart is slightly skewed towards South Africa because we just came back from an incredible trip to the country. Effectively the same combo that came up with Run Jozi are back with this jam. Summertime flows and vibes.

Cassper Nyovest x Ghetto (Feat. DJ Drama & Anatii)

First of all shout out fellow Africa Is a Country contributors writers Dylan and Antoinette (as well as Leila) for putting us on in South Africa. One of the things we were recommended was Cassper. Lo and Behold a week or so later here he is teaming up with DJ Drama for Ghetto.

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.