Africa Is a Country

Weekend Music Break No.86 – The WOMEX (2015) Edition

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

Weekend Music Break No.86 – The WOMEX (2015) Edition

By
Boima Tucker

Pierre Kwenders representing Congo via Montreal

The 15th edition of WOMEX, Europe’s premiere World Music trade show is happening next week in Budapest Hungary. As African music grows in popularity globally, it is events like WOMEX that serve as a first port of entry into the continent for many non-European artists; whether traditional, experimental, or pop. In light of this year’s headlines around European migration, the need for programs such as WOMEX that inherently celebrate the diversity of human experience, and thus a truer vision of contemporary Europe, has become all the more sharp. As for the interest of Africa is a Country specifically, this year’s showcases will host a series of artists with origins in the African continent. They will be putting their talents on display with the hopes of getting picked up by European record labels, touring agencies, and/or festival promoters. So, for this weekend’s music break, Africa is a Country is happy to team up with WOMEX to present all ten artists presenting at this year’s festival:

Blick Bassey brings us “One Love” from Cameroon, a Central African smooth jam with Cello, Trumpet, and Slide Guitar accompaniment, Moh Kuyate represents with Mandinka Rock from Guinea via France; The Sarabi Band from Kenya sings against political corruption in an uplifting Ndombolo-inflected pop tune; Pierre Kwenders gives us Congolese Soul-Rap via Montreal; Vaudou Game hits us with West African Funk from France, rooted in Togo and Benin; Aziza Brahim, a displaced person from Western Sahara currently living in Spain, sings for her land and people, while showing how African Flamenco really is; Senegalese Mbalakh innovator Cheikh Lo is receiving a lifetime achievement award at this year’s conference; Pat Thomas & The Kwashibu Area band revive classic Highlife for a new generation of audiences; Mamar Kassey from Niger a updates a repertoire descendant from the ancient Songhai empire, and is here performing it live in Amsterdam; and finally, Tarek Abdallah & Adel Shams El-Din perform Egyptian classical music on Oud and Riq, live in Montpellier, France.

Visit WOMEX’s website to see the full artist lineup, and read more on the artists featured above.

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.