Each Wednesday, The World Africa presents three new musical releases from or inspired by the continent. This week, focus on collective works that bring together several artists, from Senegal to Reunion, to promote the sharing of water resources, fight racism and defend the status of women.
“Senegal River”, by Daara J Family & The Voices of the River
« Water No Get Enemy », sang, in his time, Fela Kuti – “water has no enemy”. However, this scarce resource can be the source of conflicts. And it is in order to call for peace that several artists from the countries bordering the Senegal River have come together, at the initiative of the French label Milk Music, the Organization for the Development of the Senegal River (OMVS) and of the Geneva Water Hub, to record a six-track album, Voices of the River, Pathways to Peace, published on March 22 on the occasion of the World Water Forum, the ninth edition of which was held in Dakar. The epilogue title, Senegal River, brings together Daara J Family, Baaba Maal and Noumoucounda for Senegal, Noura Mint Seymali for Mauritania, Fatoumata Diawara for Mali and Sékou Kouyaté for Guinea.
“Sanga Bo”, by Cheick Tidiane Seck
“Music is the weapon of the future”, also said Fela Kuti. And it is because this slogan is still relevant that producer Stefany Calembert, of the Belgian label Jammin’Colors, has brought together around twenty artists from various countries in a double album, Black Lives, From Generation to Generation, published on March 25. The objective: to fight against racism by joining the tradition of the American movement Black Lives Matter, which became famous after the death of George Floyd under the knee of a police officer, in Minneapolis in 2020. Among the artists who responded present , Americans of course, but also Africans, like the singer Tutu Poane (South Africa) or the musician Cheick Tidiane Seck (Mali) who, in the piece Sanga Bo, surrounds himself with young rappers to advocate living together.
« Meute », de Maya Kamaty
“When I express my crushes and madness, I don’t want it to be diverted into feminine hysteria”, Maya Kamaty told us in December 2021. Spokesperson for the feminist cause, the Reunionese singer released on March 8, on the occasion of International Women’s Rights Day, the song Pack, in which she surrounds herself with about twenty artists from this French island off the coast of Africa (including Gwendoline Absalon, Eat My Butterfly, Katy Toave…) to bring the voice of women through a text written with Marie Lanfroy, from the Saodaj group. “They come from everywhere and make the wolves tremble”, they sing to say the need to join forces in order to overcome the patriarchal pattern. Maya Kamaty is set to release an EP titled Sovaz.
Find all the musical favorites of the editorial staff in the YouTube playlist of the World Africa.