Africa Is a Country

Weekend Music Break No.108

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

Weekend Music Break No.108

By
Boima Tucker

This time no theme, just another Music Break for your weekend!

Weekend Music Break No.108

1) This week starts out with Morocco via Bronx rapper French Montana’s approach to the current Afropop zeitgeist in the USA, and obligatory accompanying video shot in Africa… a trip surely inspired by Ugandan youth’s propensity towards “viral dance videos,” Nice, but what’s up with that ending French!? 2) Awesome Tapes From Africa recently reissued the hit 1980s album from South African Bubblegum artist Umoja. Here is the original video for the hit double platinum song “707.” 3) Up next J Hus, the catchy-hook-laden UK street rapper of Gambian origin, releases the long awaited first single from his forthcoming major label debut. 4) Fellow UK Afrobeats artists, Omo Frenchie, Kwamz, Flava, Sona, Selimax and GB team up for an Africa Is a Country all star lineup. The results are hypnotically spectacular. 5) Then, we head to Nigeria, with Burna Boy, and the visuals for his new single “Hallelujah.” 6) That is followed by another standout performance from Nigerian artist YCEE, “Juice,” featuring production by super producer Maleek Berry. 7) We love anything that brings together the Americas with Africa. So, Sean Tizzle, and his salsa-afropop hybrid “Latin Lover” takes us to Central America and the Caribbean. 8) Heading a bit South from there to the Pacific Coast border of Ecuador and Colombia, Rio Mira play “Román, Román” live at the Petronio Alvarez festival in Cali. 9) Cuban Hip Hop is getting a lot of attention these days. Last week saw the release of the Afro Razones album. This week, we have Cuban Hip Hopper La Dame Blanche showing us a bit of her recent trip to SXSW in Austin, Texas. (Side note, it’s amazing for me to hear the connections between traditional Pacific coast Afro-American music and the Cuban melodies in La Dame Blanche’s flow.) 10) Finally, we have to pay homage to the cradle of contemporary global pop music, Jamaica, with Alkaline and his new single “After All.”

Have a very happy weekend!

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.