When I was in school, being African was a diss

Here's Hipsters Don’t Dance's monthly installment of "Top World Carnival Tunes" for July 2015.

Alistair MacRobert, via Unsplash.

Hipsters Don’t Dance are back on Africa is a Country! We’re webcasting direct from London out to wherever you are. Enjoy this month’s selection of tunes, and be sure to keep up with all the latest and greatest from the World Carnival on the HDD Blog and our archive of HDD charts.

Patoranking x My Woman My Everything (Feat. Wande Coal)

Filmed in London, this video for Pato’s latest release is clean and pretty typical of the Afropop music video template. The song however great, hitting an “alkaiyda” tempo of 110 bpm but still plays to Pato’s strengths. VP is doing a good job of letting the artist be the artist.

Ayo Jay x Your Number (Feat. Fetty Wap)

We once declared New Jersey the most creative space in the world about 2 years ago. Little did we know that Fetty Wap would come out as the singjay star of the moment. No clue about him teaming up with Ayo Jay on this afropop romantic single. Now if only Fetty released the afro remix of Trap Queen.

Krept & Konan x Freak Of The Week (Remix Feat Jeremih, Wiz Kid, Davido, Fuse ODG & Ice Prince)

In true World Carnival vibes we have Nigeria, Ghana, America and UK all on 1 track. Throw in the classic Jeremy Harding production that was sampled and you have Jamaica as well. Hootie Who would have liked 1 of the A-team (AKA, Burna Boy and Da L.E.S) on here as well. A true summer jam just got more international.

Wizkid x Oluejeba (Feat. Skepta and Drake)

It’s been an interesting few months for afropop, on one hand you have artists realizing what they are worth cough BET cough. On the other you have major artists embracing them fully and not just for a check (we see you Snoop Dogg). Drake sleepwalked through his verse but Skepta’s description of an immigrants struggle is everything (Samples: “When I was in school, being African was a diss / Sounds like you need help saying my surname, Miss …” and “I had to tell my story cause they’d rather show you / Black kids with flies on their faces on the television.”)

Sauti Sol x Lipala Dance (Feat. President Barack Obama)

We have all been at family functions where you have had to dance in front of people. Now it’s Obama’s time.

Further Reading

Double Time

We are back with the monthly chart of the “Top World Carnival Tunes” for March 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. …