Video playlist 2: Five new African music videos to check out

CENTRAL AFRICA

Guigui Love - 'Bébé Je t’aime' (Cameroon)   This song (meaning ‘Baby I love you’) is a declaration of love from a young man to a woman. The artist talks about true and honest love, while the video conveys a warm atmosphere and sound that makes it hard not to enjoy the song. Guy Serge Vouffo (aka Guigui Love) is a Cameroonian artist living in the US, where he has built a loyal fan base. A singer whose poignant messages of love and peace embrace the diversity of African and tropical rhythms, Guigui Love has released four albums: You are the One, Reprend moi mon Dieu, Afrique mon Afrique and Fusion d’Amour.  

WEST AFRICA - French Amkoullel - 'Djiguitigueba' (Mali)   Amkoullel is arguably one of the most talented African hip-hop musicians of his generation. His music is rooted in both the music of the griots of the Mandé Empire and in contemporary hip-hop culture. He is also a committed to social causes and always carry a message of unity and positive changes for Mali and for Africa in general. He has performed at festivals around the world, such as the Festival in the Desert (Mali), the Nice Jazz Festival (France) and Ollin Kan Festival (Mexico). Today he is undoubtedly one of the most influential musical voices of Mali worldwide, and on his latest video 'Djiguitéba' he echoes the message of peace and unity that he is been promoting since the start of his career.  

WEST AFRICA - English Azizaa - 'Black Magic Woman' (Ghana)   The point of Azizaa’s video for 'Black Magic Woman' is rather clear. Two men meet a young lady, a Bible between them. To convert her, they talk and then begin to touch her. She squirms and flees. They give chase and find themselves in a strange place where a priestess - chanting ‘I’m the black magic woman from the African jungle’ - holds sway. There’s something not quite right with the religion these young men are preaching, the video infers. There’s something even worse about the preachers’ hands-on approach. The music works in tandem with the visuals: thrilling, somewhat foreboding, and necessarily compelling. Sure it will anger more than a few Christians, but that may just be the plan...  

SOUTHERN AFRICA

Reason ft. HHP & Nova - 'Endurance' (South Africa)   Behind the hype of South African hip-hop drama queens AKA and Cassper Nyovest, MCs like Reason and HHP continue to consistently drop more intelligent tracks with real messages, while struggling to enjoy the same amount of airplay or media attention. On 'Endurance', off his latest album Audio HD, Reason takes an honest, autobiographical look at where he comes from, paying tribute to those who raised him and giving us a glimpse of where he's heading ("world tours and encores", among other things). HHP chimes in with a catchy hook and Swedish-born poet Lebohang 'Nova' Masango ends the track with some spoken word insight. The video, done by Joburg-based company Studio Space Pictures, opens with some bonus interview footage of what the title really means. With a simple video concept that sees Reason getting inked (the words "Living off the art God gave to me heart"), there's no need to dilute the message with typical hip-hop cliches.  

EAST AFRICA

A Pass – 'So High ' (Uganda)   A Pass (aka Bagonza Alexander) is one of the leading lights in Uganda's thriving reggae/dancehall scene. With his career skyrocketing, he has managed to sign big endorsement deals with the likes of Airtel and has also collaborated with Lillian Mbabazi, Mckenzie and Ivory, among others. He released this new video on 1 September for the song ‘So High’, ending the long wait for his fans who had been anticipating the video since he first dropped the track in early 2015. It was produced by Nesim of Badi Music and the video was done by Gayle, the man behind most of Busy Signal’s videos. For reggae lovers this is a great song that one can dance to, or simply chill out and follow the singer's example. As he aptly puts it, “I am so high, I can never go so low” - this young Ugandan star is on the rise.