http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xIgq13mX3A No, they’re not Africans. It’s just a great TV ad campaign for The Guardian newspaper.

On ‘Super Mc’, a group of rappers (Omar Offendum, Lou Piensa, Ceschi, Jarabe Del Sol, M.O.A, Hadjii — all residing in the US — and Outspoken, above– from Zimbabwe) flex their bilingual skills in a single verse over beats and cuts by Dj Nio and Dj Boo. Nomadic Wax has the details. ‘Super Mc’ is […]

Kicking off this week is the 4th Marrakech Biennale. The opening days will see performances, debates, talks and screenings as well as the opening of the main ‘Higher Atlas’ visual arts exhibition. “Through partnerships with African and international voices,” the Biennale hopes to “promote the status of the artist and contemporary culture in North Africa […]

An older Cabo Snoop tune (kuduristas in Angola and elsewhere have been dancing to ‘Zagala’ since 2010) but it comes with a new video in which he gets away with dropping his name (and record) among the Kenyan Maasai, while effortlessly branding the South African clothing label Amakipkip in a next shot.

To mark 80 years of international broadcasting, the BBC World Service is hosting a day of live programming today. And we’re part of it. During the 5-6pm time slot (that’s 5-6pm GMT; 12-1pm EST) Focus on Africa will take a look at “the creative energy and entrepreneurship coming out of Africa.” Some topics up for […]

French cellist Vincent Segal and kora master Ballaké Sissoko (from Mali) recorded the 2009 ‘Chamber Music’ album in Salif Keita’s Moffou Studio. Three years later, this is their Take Away Show. (First part here.)

It seems rather arbitrary to pick out the African artists from ‘The Ungovernables’, the New Museum’s triennial show. The first thing that appears (if, like me, you start on the fifth floor and work your way down) is a neat stack of Zimbabwean billion dollar bills, put there by Thai artist Pratchaya Phinthong. The show brings together thirty-four […]

A quick survey of Western media suggests Tuareg nationalist claims don’t carry the same weight as Malian, Nigerian or Algerian claims on Tuareg territory. For example, the current violence in Niger and Mali are covered as either a humanitarian crisis (sympathy for Tuareg refugees), Gaddafi’s legacy (rumored weapons support for the rebels from his fallen […]

Talk about efficiency, how’s this for a developmental scheme. First, encourage, both directly and by ‘principled non-engagement,’ a civil war in a mineral rich area. Make sure thousands are displaced, especially the rural populations. Help to build so-called refugee camps which are located a great distance from everyone’s homes and which are places in and […]