Each Wednesday, The World Africa presents three new musical releases from or inspired by the continent. This week, we take stock of the next Anoumabo Urban Music Festival (Femua), which will be held from April 25 to 30, mainly in Abidjan but also in Bouaké, the city chosen for the “decentralization” of the event.
Initiated in 2008 by Salif Traoré alias “A’Salfo”, leader of the group Magic System, the Femua will obviously offer concerts, but also meetings, workshops and seminars on the theme of “food security and sustainable agriculture”.
On the music side, the festival, which is aimed primarily at Ivorian youth, focuses mainly on hip-hop and Afropop. After the remarkable performance of Kaaris in 2019 (interrupted by excesses), the Femua hits hard this year by presenting another French rapper headlining, and not the least since it is Booba. Ivorian artists will not be outdone, with notably KS Bloom, Roseline Layo, Safarel Obiang and Samy Succès, joined by Ferre Gola (DRC), Nourat & Les Lions (Burkina Faso) and, in a more traditional genre, Baaba Maal ( Senegal).
For this musical selection, we have chosen to highlight three other artists programmed at Femua: the Ivorian Didi B, the Congolese Alesh and the Togolese Santrinos Raphaël.
Didi B
At 30, Bassa Zérehoué Diyilem alias “Didi B” is already a heavyweight in music in Côte d’Ivoire. But the former rapper of the group Kiff No Beat sees further and intends to impose himself as “a legend of African music”, as he confided to World Africa in May 2022, during the release of his second solo album, History. To do this, he signed with 92i Africa, the label founded by Booba, and is committed to giving an international dimension to his career, as evidenced by his latest clips: Shogun, released in mid-March, was shot in Senegal and has already accumulated more than 1.8 million views on YouTube, followed a week later by Trophy Room, where the artist displays his success in the streets of Paris.
Alesh
Born in 1985 in Kisangani, in the center of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Alain Chirwisa alias “Alesh” is the author of two solo albums, including Throat, published in 2021, which earned him the Découvertes RFI prize the same year. The rapper, who does not have his tongue in his pocket and makes a point of honor to propose “sharp texts that tell, remind, challenge and claim when necessary”, nevertheless regularly allows himself lighter and more festive songs, as with his latest single, Vu, released in mid-February and in which he has fun with the practice of reading a message on social networks or services like WhatsApp… without deigning to answer it.
Raphaël Santrinos
We end this musical selection with Santrinos Raphaël (Atassé Elpidio Hounou of his real name), who will represent Togo, country invited to this edition of Femua. Born in 1996 in Lomé, this singer with a golden voice has two albums to his credit, Believe in me in 2018 and Heart stroke in 2021, in which he navigates between R’n’B and afropop with hits with unequivocal titles, such as Love sickness, Coco darling or Engagement. But it’s a different kind of love that’s at the center of his new track, L’Eminence, whose clip, posted online at the end of January, has already been viewed more than 1.5 million times on YouTube: the young man gives thanks to God there with as much fervor as in his rose-water songs.
Find all the editorial staff’s musical favorites in the YouTube playlist of the World Africa.