The latest BBC Bush House music session filmed in studio S6 by Owain Rich.

Late October, Pushking Noize came down to Accra to enjoy some time off in the sunshine, and record a few songs with Arc Djébé. Then in September, while he was editing the music back in Zurich, we headed over to Lomé to film Arc performing some of the songs we recorded. This is the first video pieced together by fellow Swiss homie Tillup. Our goal is to turn this video into live shows for Arc all over the world. Wanna be part of this adventure? Holla!

“Kichwateli” is an Afro-Scifi music-mentary performed by the super nerdy African boy band Just A Band, Berlin’s top electronic act Modeselektor and Nairobi’s talented art group Maasai Mbili.

This video is Studio Ang‘s contribution to the BLNRB project, a cooperation of Kenyan and German artists initiated by Goethe-Institut Nairobi and Gebrüder Teichmann, anad released by our friends from Outhere Records.

We saw the puppets, we saw the background, and we couldn’t wait to see what they would look like on film – FINALLY!!! The song is adapted from a Romanian folktale. Vevi the squirrel disobeys an elder by climbing the sacred tree…he falls and injures his leg…his friends hear him cry, but come only to laugh at him…one of them finally calls a doctor who bandages Vevi…Vevi is still in pain and accuses the doctor of being fake…everyone leaves rude Vevi in the forest by himself… Get the full lyrics on the youtube page.

This man is unstoppable… pair him up with one of our favorite new videos and… how could we miss out on this?

Loooong overdue. We connected with Ikenna a couple of years ago (already!!) in Amsterdam, and we’ve been avidly watching his What’s Up Africa webisodes. Give Ikenna a couple minutes of your time… cheers to Boima and Ghetto Bassquake for bringing Liberian flyness to his ears!!!

Also a past favorite…

Interesting timing: although there hasn’t been any mention of it on here, Benjamin Lebrave just got back from a wild journey in eastern Congo, starting off in Goma, where this VERY exciting video was shot. Goma has gone through hell for most of the last decade, but it is calmer now and the arts are flourishing again.

Music in Congo is something else. Often times music seems to be the only common ground for the Congolese: if you like rumba, if you dance rumba, well then you’re Congolese. This phrase is not as benign or naive as you’d think. For instance, in Goma alone there are 4 shops MAKING guitars. Not to mention places where you can purchase imported guitars. And this is Goma, one of many mid-sized Congolese cities. As a point of reference, Accra, capital of Ghana, has – to our knowledge – not a single shop making guitars. Point being, music and live music play a fundamental role.

We’ll share more about this exciting journey to the east, but for now this video can do the talking. Please do check out the full story over at africanhiphop.com and have a look at Yolé! Africa‘s site, they are the ones behind this project – which got the Economist‘s attention.

A few minutes with Wanlov the Kubolor, half of the FOKN Bois. He and M3nsa connected with the Irie Maffia in Budapest, giving birth to some infectious, futuristic Afropop. Akwaaba, chaleh, welcome 2 d future.

Via our new Lungu Lungu column over at The Fader:

Apparently the end of the world has been either canceled or delayed. The reason is pretty clear to me: FOKN Bois just released their latest album, The FOKN DunaQuest in Budapest, and it needs a bit of space before we can all proceed with the end of times. Surely it will happen—on Ghana time.

The FOKN Bois, aka Wanlov the Kubolor and M3nsa, are not your average Ghanaian rappers. They reside far from the shady world of payola and corporate sponsorships that seriously limits the recognition of creative artists in Ghana. The Bois are closer to the streets, as exemplified in their amazingly fresh Coz Ov Moni pidgin English musical. They’re no payola policy means they’re not the most played artists on Ghana’s radio stations. However, after spending about 5 seconds on the streets of Accra with Wanlov, it’s pretty clear he is incredibly popular, a genuine artist recognized by people from all walks of life.

But forget Ghana for a second. Their latest collaboration with Hungary’s Irie Maffia can hardly be pigeon-holed as “Ghana music”—whatever that may mean, anyway. Instead of paraphrasing the story of how the album came to be, I’ll let Wanlov tell it. Check the video, below, to find out how these dudes ended up in Budapest, and better understand the double meaning of lungu lungu, a phrase that alludes to zigzagging through back streets, and also, corruption.

Speaking of Lungu Lungu, here’s the song, free download: