Africa Is a Country

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Boima Tucker

Boima Tucker is a music producer, DJ, writer, and cultural activist. He is the managing editor of Africa Is a Country, co-founder of Kondi Band and the founder of the INTL BLK record label.

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Africa is a Radio: Episode #17

In the shadow of the Brexit vote, on this episode of Africa is a Radio, we celebrate the UK Afrobeats scene - another homegrown, immigrant enriched culture out of London and its surrounding environs. Along with that, we do the usual visit to the African continent and its diaspora to see what's going on around the various towns. Also, be sure to tune into TheLotRadio.com this Sunday at 6pm New York time, where Africa is a Radio will be broadcast live! Tracklist

1 DJ Juls - Teef Teef feat. Mr Eazi, Eugy & Sarkodie 2 Kano - My Sound 3 Los Rakas - Me Enamoró 4 Geko - Baba 5 Belly Squad - Banana 6 MHD - Afro Trap pt. 4 (Fais le mouv) 7 Cobhams Asuquo - Boosit feat. Falz 8 Rihanna - Bitch Better Have My Raba (DJ Triplet & DJ Shabsy Remix) 9 Reniss - La Sauce (prod. by Le Monstre) 10 H Name - We Live Together (Nga Yan) feat. Stanley Enow 11 DJ X-Trio - Africa 12 Luke Howard - Lo Life 13 Novalima - San Antonio (Aero Manyelo Remix) 14 John Sofakole - Sofakole

 

Weekend Music Break No.97

Here's another Music Break to soundtrack your weekend! This round up is the "other countries" edition with a selection of tunes starting out in Latin America from Cuba to Brazil, and ending up around the rest of the African diaspora. Check it all out via the Youtube playlist below! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLseDnIPw8h8LDAhgGmBQ-NZFcXgpEkh4U Music Break No.97 1) We kick it off with what I've been told is Cuba's biggest tune of 2016, "Hasta que seque el Malecón." 2) Then we go to Puerto Rico with Ifé and their Orisha-tronica sound (h/t Pablo Medina Uribe). 3) Next up, inspired by the movie "Manos Sucias," and one of the most heartwarming scenes about music I've ever seen recorded on film, Grupo Niche and their classic salsa tune "Buenaventura y Camey." 4) Then we move from Colombia's Buenaventura, to the Chocó and rap group ChocQuibTown's "Nuqui (Te Quiero Para Mi)." 5) I love the idea from a recent article in Globo that Funk is more Baiano then ever -- MC Menor da VG runs with that idea and visits Salvador da Bahia during carnival, at the same time showing how o cavaquinho ta conquistando o Funk. 6) UKs Afrobeats don, Fuse ODG, turns in a new video for his tune "Only." 7) Brussels residents Badi and Boddhi Satva team up on an Afro-Hip-House anthem on "Integration." 8) South Africans scattered about the world Mo Laudi, Gazelle, and DJ InviZAble unite in the Pantzula dancer featuring "Speak Up." 9) South African originated Norweigian Nosizwe teams up with Georgia Anne Muldrow on "The Beat." 10) And finally, Nigerian-American Tunji Ige takes it from Philly to LA with both a West Coast visual and sonic vibe on "War." Have a happy weekend, and sports fans, enjoy the many tournaments going on around the world!

Weekend Music Break No.96

Back to our regularly scheduled music break for your weekend! Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that what we're taking a break from, so this week labor is a theme. However, so is liberation, and therefore perhaps fittingly, Haiti is too. To kick the series of videos off, we have a nice premiere from Burkina Faso's Art Melody! Check that out and the rest of this week's music break via the Youtube playlist below. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLseDnIPw8h8LMY3QWP3M8QDeFiDV_bYal Music Break No.96 1) Like mentioned above the first video is a special premiere of Art Melody's "Ki Kanga." The video, directed by Bastien Papillier, likens the struggle of life to hard labor, and connects the drive needed for liberation to the discipline of a boxer. 2) Up next, a really nice surprise out of Nigeria from Dremo, I'll let you reveal that one on your own. 3) Then, Stonebwoy goes global reggae with a shout out to the various Black Atlantic cultures the genre has touched down, as well as drawn from. 4) Chance The Rapper has what might be one of the most surreal major label debuts I've seen, turning in the most positive song I've ever had the pleasure to hear 2 Chains or Lil' Wayne grace. 5) Then we change pace a bit and head to Haiti... Lakou Mizik warms us up with a bit of a live jam, and visual preview of their album. 6) Then, Poirier and Fwonte leave the Montreal cold and head to Haiti showing us a side of Port Au Prince we might not be used to seeing. 7) Next, we get to a little more mainstream fare from the island of Haiti, with X-Men and Carimi and their Zouk-dancehall cross over party jam. 8) Finally, from Haiti, the island goes afrobeat, tying Yoruba to Voodoo culture on this monster jam from the Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra. 9) Switching pace once again, Afro-Mexican rapper Bocafloja riffs on the liberation theme in a new video with "Dystopia" featuring Immasoul. 10) And last, but not least, Filastine's "The Cleaner" bookends our theme with a dance meditation on domestic laborers. Enjoy your weekend!

Weekend Music Break No.95—Afro-Europe special!

Fresh of a trip to the UK and Germany, with stops in Afro-European strongholds of London and Berlin, I thought I'd theme this week's Music Break around some of what I saw and heard there. So enjoy this brief (and not comprehensive by any means) trip around young Afro-Europe, with stops in London, Paris, Berlin, Lisbon and Rome. [embed width="650"]https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLseDnIPw8h8L0IotJXYBTkZVTKtdUMoEe[/embed] Music Break No.95
  1. MHD was a revelation for me on this trip, first getting hipped to his #AfroTrap series by a friend in Bristol, and then being treated to an onslaught of it in Berlin for their Carnival weekend.
  2. Belly Squad out of London come with a bit of a naughty song and video to show the youthful energy of the UK-Afrobeats scene.
  3. Amsterdam via London's Jaij Hollands's gravely flow is taking Afrobeats in a little harder edged direction.
  4. Maître Gims' Sapés comme jamais was also on repeat in Berlin, also coming from the Paris scene.
  5. YCEE who bursted on to the scene with Jagaban last year takes his new video to the streets of London, showing how many artists, even those based in Africa, prefer to go to London for their aesthetics.
  6. Aina More is killing it over this beat by DJ Juls!
  7. On the other side of Berlin, Daniel Haaksman recruits Spoek Mathambo for this chugging Mbaqnga influenced Afro-house jam.
  8. Lisbon's Throes + The Shine recruit Argentina's La Yegros for this high tempo Afro-latin-rock number.
  9. A few years old classic out of Rome, Pepe Soup's Pump Tire!
  10. And finally, the absolute Dona of the Lisbon Afro-electronic scene in her Boiler Room Lisbon appearance to take you out!
Happy week's end!

Weekend Music Break No.94

A break from the routine of the work week, a weekend music break for you all to enjoy this May Day! https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLseDnIPw8h8JvQ-b3bY16Igjx3mqvG7mr&v=c5GwxKs3yTA   1) Rest in peace Papa Wemba 2) Netherlands-based Cape Verdean singer Gery Mendes asks if our world is really ready for positive change, is it? 3) I'm in the UK right now, so I had to share Stormzy's latest. 4) London Global Hip Hop outfit Subculture Sage's video for "Gold" stars two Zimbabwean gold miners. 5) There's an H&M in Brixton now -- M.I.A. invites AIAC profile subject Dope Saint Jude along for her collaboration with the brand. 6) Sean Jacobs spotted this, trap rap video from Northern Nigeria. 7) I've noted Kahli Abdu as one to watch for awhile, and he did not disappoint with this banger! 8) The Mavin Records crew out of Nigeria dropped a new one this week. 9) I don't know much about them, but Chloe and Halle are interesting. 10) And finally, a new Azaelia Banks video just for the hell of it. Happy weekend!

Africa is a Radio: Episode #16

Africa is a Radio is back for April with both classic and contemporary sounds out of Africa and its diaspora. Tracklist: 1 Ricardo Lemvo - Habari Yako (Rumba Rock) 2 Papa Noel - Bon Samaritain 3 Fuego & Sango - Se Me Nota 4 Wyclef Jean - Leve'l Pi Wo feat. Power Surge 5 Willie Colon - Eso Se Baila Asi (Uproot Andy Remix) 6 Shadow - Killing Me (Subculture Sounds Remix) 7 Hugh Masekela - In the Jungle 8 Carlos Lamertine - O Dipanda Sondo Tula Kia 9 Amara Toure - Salamouti 10 Neg'Marrons - La Voix du Peuple 11 Booba - Validee feat Benash 12 MC Soffia - Menina Pretinha 13 Khuli Chana - Money 14 Serge Beynaud - Okeninkpin 15 Linegras - Malandra

Weekend Music Break No.93

Welcome back to our Music Break, after it took a bit of a break itself. Enjoy this selection of tunes from around the African diaspora, and beyond. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBkZ0xQcXKI&feature=youtu.be&list=PLseDnIPw8h8IqjMoMC-4YDmWPRUsZaJbF This week, we kick off with Afrikan Boy and his latest video for his song "Kunta Kinte"; then, Eazzy brings the neo-Alkaida Hiplife vibes via Ghana; Tanzania's Vanessa Mdee goes neo-Soukous Afrobeats style with "Niroge"; and Temi DollFace rounds out our Afrobeats section with School Your Face. Off to the Francophone world where Collectif Bassam brings Coupe Decale uplifment vibes after the March attack by extremists on their beach in Cote d'Ivoire; Uganda via London's Michael Kiwanuka travels to LA, channels Mississippi, and contemplates being a "Black Man in a White World"; then, Africa is a Country favorite Badi performs "Na Lingi Yo" on the Dan Late Show to great effect. Bahrain via London psychedelic rock act Flamingods give us insight into a cultural side of Dubai that is not only often overlooked, but difficult to see in their video for "Rhama"; and we round it out with some cool Latin vibes -- joining in the Cuba fever sweeping the former Western Bloc nations with Alexander Abreu y Havana D'Primera's "Me dicen Cuba"; and Paulo Mac on his sweet Kizomba tune "Perfeita Demais". Enjoy!

Weekend Music Break No.92

It's time again for another Weekend Music Break with Africa is a Country! Enjoy this round of tunes and visuals from the continent and its sphere of cultural influence. The music thing that excited me most all week was coming to find out that Booba joined Sidiki Diabate on stage last December in Paris during his rendition of "Inianafi Debena", and launched into a live mashup of that song and "Validée", making all right in the world of Africa-Europe sampling/inspiration/dedication relations; another Bambara-themed hip hop collaboration, Kinté, Le Prince Héritier and Zarkawi Djatta are a revelation out of Cote d'Ivoire (h/t Afropop); Saharawi singer Aziza Brahim releases a video for "Calles de Dajla" to promote her latest album, and to celebrate her people still forced to live outside of their rightful land; A more explicit call to political action is embedded in the video for Jackson Wahengo's "Eliko la Namibia"; Sammus delivers a sermon on higher education (and mental health) that I'm sure some Africa is a Country readers can relate to; Show Dem Camp, show up with a sunny love-pop video; Throes + The Shine add a third leg to their team up in the form of DRC via Montreal rapper Pierre Kwenders, on their song "Capuca"; the remix of YCEE's monster hit "Jagaban" featuring Olamide, gets its own video to go alongside the original; I missed the video for this Samini and Popcaan collaboration from two years ago, so here it is now!; and finally, Runtown last year teamed up with Uhuru for a really smooth Naija and South Africa collaboration to take you into Sunday morning! Happy Weekend!

Africa is a Radio: Episode #15 – World Carnival 2016 Special!

The first Africa is a Radio episode of 2016 goes to Carnival with special guests Hipsters Don't Dance! This month we run down some of the sounds of the World Carnival sound from Trinidad to Rio to Lagos and back! Tracklist Samito - Tiku la Hina Baiana System - Playsom Buju Banton - Champion (Maga Bo Remix) Angela Hunte - Mon Bon Ami Machel Montano & Timaya - Better Than Them (Jambe-An Riddim) Runtown & Walshy Fire - Bend Down Pause Remix ft Wizkid & Machel Montano Olatunji - Oh Yay Patoranking - My Woman, My Everything... (feat. Wandecoal) Banda Vingadora - Metralhadora Delano - Devagarinho Eddy Lover - Baja Pantalones feat. Aldo Ranks, JR Ranks & Mach & Daddy Wizkid - Final (Baba Nla) Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band - Amaehu

Weekend Music Break No.91

We're back with the first Weekend Music Break of 2016. A series of videos for you to enjoy as you ease into relax (or catchup) mode: https://youtu.be/zk8CmSUwopE?list=PLseDnIPw8h8IBkqsoZfPw2-7r3mneJd6v   1) Our selection this weekend starts off with a video shot by AIAC film editor Dylan Valley -- Niko10Long hips us to the real Politrix going down in Cape Town, South Africa. 2) Brooklyn staple with Guyanese roots, Jahdan Blakkamore ushers in an upliftment anthem to end all sufferation. 3) The multi-talented, Boston-based Sierra Leonean scientist/rapper David Moinina Sengeh brings a positive Afrobeat jam and video. 4) Mozambican-Canadian singer Samito releases a dance art video for his epic Tiku la hina. 5) Keeping it in the Mozambique realm, Spoek Mathambo reveals Batuk, his new partnership with Aero Manyelo, a deep house project inspired by the Afro-luso house scene based out of Maputo. 6) Daniel Haaksman proposes to Rename the Streets in the former colonial capitals (his being Berlin) to not celebrate the war criminals and crimes of the nation's past, #NamesMustFall -- respect Daniel. 7) Stephen Marley celebrates the great innovations from African history, alongside Wale and the cast from the Fela! musical. 8) Renown coreographer Maimouna and Les Ambianceuses out of Paris call for all women to take their power back via a little "Booty Therapy." 9) Christain Scott aTunde Adjuah brings us back to an age where Jazz and politics were one, via an integral #BLM lens, at NPR's Tiny Desk concert series. 10) And finally, Seattle based Zimbabwe-DRC crew Chimurenga Renaissance reveal their new EP Girlz with Gunz via a beautifully executed thematic streaming video. Have a great weekend, and enjoy!

Weekend Music Break No.90

To wrap things up for 2015, next week Africa is a Country will have a few best of lists and long form posts for you to ponder into the New Year (as we take our annual December break). But for now let's have a briefer interlude with our weekly music break, the last one for this year. Our selection of tunes this week is honestly a bit of a (holiday work party?) grab bag, but at Africa is a Country we only deal in quality. You won't be disappointed. Kicking things off we have Badi and Youssoupha's ode to the Congo of many names, peoples, and political geographies, so appropriately they just use the telephone country code 243 to signify exactly where and what they mean; To follow up we have the grandmaster of Ndombolo style of the rumba-soukous-decale axis, Kofi Olomide, who proves he can be relevant in the social media age with "Selfie"; Mr. Jayvic brings us uptempo dance vibes from Ghana; and then, Yungsal brings us nice Ghana-inspired downtempo vibes from Sierra Leone; Philadelphia, USA's Doelife turns up for their squad with "Moment"; and then as promised in a previous music break, we said when the clip arrives we'd once again share Scotland's Young Fathers' "Old Rock N Roll", live from Malawi; Boyzn Bucks members Cassper Nyovest and Riky Rick turn in a dark Cape Town tale with "Le Mpitse"; Afro Lisboa's Black Sea Não Maya crew releases one of the few videos coming out of that scene, hopefully many more to come; And finally, we take a holiday pan-African turn to the Caribbean with some Trinidadian-Venezuelan Parang-Soca and Puerto Rican Parranda-Salsa vibes. Happy holidays, and see you at the next music break in 2016!

Bringing Brazil’s Northeastern culture to the world

I've never been to the Northeast of Brazil, but I have paid R$5 to walk through the doors of the Feria Nordestina in Rio de Janeiro's North Zone. Doing so, one clearly realizes they've entered a new world. It is a world that in the United States or Europe would represent an ethnic immigrant neighborhood, a place with all the trappings of a distant home, foreign to the place a certain group of people have chosen to congregate, in search of a better future. The food, the knick-knacks, the clothes, and above all, the music all instantly transport one to somewhere else. Perhaps a familiar unfamiliarity for both tourists and for second-generation Southeastern Brazilians whose parents want to give them a taste of their roots! This is the place where you can get access to musica nordestina, without fail, any time of the year in the Southern metropole thatis Rio de Janeiro. There are hundreds of music venues, from the two big stages on either side of the fair grounds, to the impromptu freestyle sessions of repente in the center, to the reggae sound system of Maranhão roots that wouldn't be out of place in Kingston, Jamaica -- save for that the language they call for wheel ups in is Portuguese. And this is all immediately what I think of when I listen to Kafundo Vol. 3: Electronic Roots from Northeastern Brazil. Rio de Janeiro with its samba, bossa nova, and funk sounds, exported to the world have claimed a Monopoly on Brazilian national identity for too long. And it is the young globally plugged in and hip electronic music producers that may be the ones to develop a take on Northeastern rhythms that might just supplant a conservative Rio de Janeiro cultural scene. Coco, forro, brega, carimbó are the names of the Brazil do futuro, even if most Brazilians are yet to catch on to this reality. Kafundó records' intention to focus on Northern and North-Eastern Brazil, a region with a large Afro-descendant, indigenous, and mestizo population, and a music scene that is heavily influenced by Caribbean sounds, will only speed this process along, as they expose these exciting new/old sounds coming from Brazil's too long underrepresented cultural North. Kafundó Records Vol. 3 is out this week at all your favorite digital stores.

Weekend Music Break – Madiba The 5th December Edition

On this day two years ago, Nelson Mandela passed. Madiba and his legacy has been covered widely on this site already, so for this weekend's music break we're going to jump into the archives and feature a collection of favorites we've already dedicated to him, as well as some new new new... If you have some reading time as well this weekend, check out our Mandela archive here.