Tag: African Hip Hop
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Kassmasse’s Wish for Ethiopia
By Dagem Teferra When it comes to reflective music that analyses society and advocates for positive change, there aren’t many that do it as well as Kassmasse. His trailblazing genre of Hip-Hop is almost always accompanied by historical reminders and nods to the vast culture in Ethiopia. In his song, Sewasew, he chooses to skip the
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“Fii” by Hakill
In today’s culture, many rappers tend to have significant impacts on major issues that face their nation and influence many people to be the change. Hakill has embodied the experience of many Senegalese people and their sentiments about their country in his work entitled “Fii” (which translates to “here” in English). His work has inspired
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“Nairobi” by BURUKLYN BOYZ
In the BURUKLYN BOYZ’s single “Nairobi” the artists address the adverse impacts of the construction of the Nairobi Expressway and skyscrapers on their community. This song is being used to start a discussion on how the government is leveling communities down for this construction and not thinking about the effects on the people. Throughout the
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South African dance music during apartheid
The Toyi-Toyi Link to the dance:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGs4mRObEio Toyi-Toyi Playlist:https://open.spotify.com/track/2hKPU03v1fWgLPq4pL9gne The video explained how when the police system was being unjust and treating the citizens badly they came up with a dance that expressed their feelings. The name of the type of dancing they do is called Toyi-Toyi. The dance Toyi-toyi is a Southern African dance used
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Teddy Yo arrested after releasing new music video
By Dagem Teferra The well-known Ethiopian rapper Teddy Yo recently released a song entitled “Wenberish” that landed him in jail within a day from the original drop on YouTube. The self-proclaimed originator of Ethiopian Hip-Hop, Teddy Yo is seen in his new music video in a prison jumpsuit getting interrogated while his head is dumped underwater by
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The importance of “Johnny” by Falz
by Zainab Ahmed “Eyan melo lo ma ku?” – Falz in “Johnny” Falz released the video for his song “Johnny” on November 10th, 2020 in order to highlight the ENDSARS protests occurring across Nigeria. The video starts with showing Falz and others portray the Nigerians murdered by SARS policemen. They are covered in a pool
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Dip Doundou Guiss “CALIFAT”
Dip Doundou Guiss’s music video “CALIFAT” goes so hard! I found myself watching his music video several times just in awe of the visual aspects and musicality of the song. Maybe this is coming from an American standpoint, but I truly adore the fact that most of the song is in Wolof since all I
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Love & War by Stogie T
The song I will do my second blog post about is “Love & War” by Stogie T featuring Lucille Slade. Reports say this song speaks of the strange state of heroism and delinquency. The composer sampled the Tommy Butler song. The instrumentals are very soothing, the message is great and clear, the chorus is catchy
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Asake: a breath of fresh air!
by Zainab Ahmed New Nigerian superstar Asake released a collaboration, with the head of his label Yahoo Boy No Laptop Nation, Olamide. The song was released February 16, 2022 and in the song Asake and Olamide sing and rap in Yoruba and Nigerian pidgin. They talk about being braggadocios while also cautioning against feeling yourself
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Bongo Flava’s Heartbreak Anthem
“Mapenzi! Yataniua!” is a phrase that has taken Swahili pop culture by storm this past holiday season, and it is all thanks to Mbosso. In October of 2022, Bongo Flava artist, Mbosso, released “Yataniua”, a song part of his second studio album, Khan. The album includes 6 songs of which there is a mix of