The New Breed of Lesotho Hip Hop
An idea of what's going down in Lesotho with the emcees whom I think will be making a considerable amount of noise in 2013.
Culture
In search of ‘African redemption’
Traveling 'off the beaten path' in Africa seems to have become the next 'big thing' for recent graduates looking to set themselves apart from their peers.
The darlings of the continent
While fans of Ghana's Black Stars are confident in the 2013 team’s skills, until this team is able to win a major victory, a sense of historical foreboding will weigh on them.
Afcon 2013 Preview: Bamako expects experienced Mali team to go far
Guest Post by Samira Sawlani* We won’t be surprised if Malians don’t care much for football right now as conflict ravages through the country’s north and east (separatists and Islamists are occupying much of the north of Mali, engaged in a standoff with French and Malian government troops). So I asked a friend who lives […]
Africa Cup of Nations Preview: Cape Verde’s Blue Sharks ready to make a big splash
By Amílcar Tavares* Almost one fifth of Cape Verde’s population would fit in the stands of The Calabash, the 95,000-capacity stadium where the Blue Sharks will today play their first ever Africa Cup of Nations match. Being recognised as one of the 16 best African national teams is a milestone in the country’s sports history, and […]
Friday Bonus Music Break, N°30
Let’s start our weekly round-ups of new music videos this year with some bangers. Representing Congo this week, rapper (and professional dancer) Dinozord: above. Next up, there’s new music and visuals from Art Melody (representing Burkina Faso):
Our African Cup of Nations 2013 predictions
So first we gave you the back story. Now here’s our official predictions for the African Cup of Nations 2013. We’ll have more detailed team profiles by fans of each country coming up in the next few days, and if you think we’ve got it horribly wrong about your team don’t be shy about calling […]
Yoruba Cool
Africa is everywhere on "Landing on a Hundred," the new album by American guitarist and singer, Cody ChesnuTT. It's in the instrumentation, the arrangements and in his voice.
The ‘Promised Land’ in Mozambique
Gregor Zielke’s photos capture a coal mining company’s broken promises to a Mozambican community, but also the communities’ resilience.
To hear musicians breathe
An ode to The Mahogany Room, the pre-eminent live jazz venue in Cape Town, South Africa.
God is a profitable and deadly business in Angola
In post-socialist, growth-oriented Angola, the rich are getting richer and the poor have only their faith.
The Discovery Channel’s Africa
Plying potential audiences with expansive vistas, mystery, exotic landscapes, and ancient holdovers are time worn formulas when presenting Africa to Western audiences.
Is Chester Missing blackface?
He performs to packed-out theatres and is a regular correspondent on a satirical television news show, Late Nite News with Loyiso Gola (LNN) on South African private TV channel, Etv. He’s at times raucously funny and almost always on point. He writes, he tweets and he tjunes white okes (for the non-South Africans: he gives […]
S is for Samora Machel
We asked about a dozen Africa Is a Country contributors what their favorite books of 2012 were. Here are their picks.
The Top 10 Soundclouds of 2012
Every few years my mode of music discovery changes. I went from browsing the racks of my local corporate music chain as a teenager, to digging for hours in the back rooms of second hand record shops, to scouring obscure blogs and doing random YouTube searches. This year marked another change in my listening habits […]
My Subjective List of The Best Albums of 2012
In any case, here's 10 albums I liked this year; in no particular order. It includes Alabama Shakes, Isaac Mutant, Kendrick Lamar and Bruce Springsteen.
10 Albums You Might Have Missed in 2012
Janka Nabay, Ben Zabo, Sinkane, Jagwa Music, Kanyi, Youssoupha, Kyle Shepherd, Ebo Taylor, Karantamba and Francis Bebey.
When the moving picture merges with the sonic beat
Our very biased selection of the top 10 music videos of 2012.
Styles and Genres
The best films of 2012 with African subjects as their focus: incredibly powerful and moving activist filmmaking that has documented the shifting politics of the continent.
Kuduro’s International Wave
If Os Kuduristas is problematic, there’s no one to blame for its existence but perhaps us, the international community and the media.