Long time readers of this blog may know that I have always been wondering why we’ve seen bands like “Matata” (with the then awesome Steele Beauttah) coming to success in East Africa during the 1970s – closely followed by a vacuum in the 1980s and early 90s that was only dominated by a) Congolese Soukous (Franco & Co), b) local Gospel, c) local tribal music and d) international Pop music (Michael Jackson & Co.).
At first, I tried to explain this seemingly sudden disappearance with the political situation(s) back then, but I guess it’s just an international thing as the music also changed in many other parts of the world.
Anyhow, it is against this background that I am always filled with great joy when I stumble upon really cool modern music videos (yes, videos – the visual age of YouTube, our beloved pop archive) – created in Africa, showing the world that Nairobi, Lagos or Luanda aren’t that much different from the rest of the world.
Heavy Metal band Ree-burth from Soweto South Africa
(see also this post on vice.com)
FALASTE O QUE
shot in the area of Sambizanga in Luanda, Angola with MC Sacerdote and his artist crew
Breakdance Project Uganda
(too tight!)
Anto & Paragasha – QWERTY LOVE (filmed in Nbo)
The Very Best – Yoshua Alikuti (also filmed in Nbo)
(which is a play on the clip for Lil Wayne’s “A Milli”)
Ma Bhoom Bhoom Bhoom
One of those vids from the BLNRB project
Liz Ogumbo “Maro pa more”
(filmed in Olepolos / Corner Baridi and in Nbo)
Muthoni “Mikono Kwenye Hewa”
(yup, a bit older, but reposted here because when her album went live on Bandcamp.com many month ago, I instantly bought it.)
…and then there’s (still) this:
Matasia Star “Life History”
(Ndombolo cruelty mix for those who still live in the 1990s)
(ati, the producer is some guy from Ujerumani? ;-)
