This summer has had us out and about more than online, so the month’s list is short. Three of these offer more of a calming respite from the dog days of summer than boogie and celebration. Feels right to us. But, we start with a true standout from Paul Beaubrun, guaranteed to get you moving!
Check out the full Afropop Top Videos playlist for all our recent selections. And remember, if you have suggestions of videos our fans would love, send them to [email protected] with the subject line “Top Videos 2025.” Enjoy!
Paul Beaubrun feat. Dadi Beaubrun: “Gade Sa You Fè Mwen”
Haitian roots royalty Paul Beaubrun and his uncle Dadi Beaubrun of the Boukman Eksperyans family kick out a truly joyous song. Beaubrun is on a roll collaborating with his uncle on bass and vocals. He says this song is a “call to action, a movement demanding justice and reclaiming dignity. Haiti has been held hostage for too long. It’s time to break free.” Uncle and nephey trade high-spirited vocals over a sizzling groove rooted in a perky, clean guitar riff. Speaking of demanding justice, he images here suggest a mystic preparation for war, complete with painted faces, a libation of rum, and machetes!
The Good Ones – Rwanda Sings With Strings – album teaser
This video introduces more unique and soulful music from the stable of Ian Brennan, one of our most adventurous music producers. Think Zomba Prison Project, songs of Albinism from Tanzania, I’ve Forgotten Now Who I Used to Be from a “witch camp” in Ghana, and so many more. Some of these releases are challenging to the ear, but this one is pure sweetness. The Good Ones are a duo of singer-songwriters from Rwanda. This is their fifth album and it adds to their spare art gorgeous string accompaniment that lifts their sometimes melancholy sound to a new level. As Brennan puts it, the sound “is steeped in a romanticism, longing and sense of resigned grandeur that harkens back to Nick Drake, Big Star’s Third/Sister Lovers, early Leonard Cohen, and Astral Weeks.” I could not have put it better. The album drops on August 29 from Glitterbeat.
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Meklit feat. Brandee Younger: Tizita
Meklit is an unclassifiable original with equal measures of jazz, pop and her own Ethiopian roots in her sound. This slow, sensual, jazzy take on the Ethiopian classic comes from her first album on Smithsonian Folkways, A Piece of Infinity (out September 26). Here, Meklit’s voice carries a breathy, high waver, with the unmistakable stamp of Ethiopian vocal style. The images are abstract, a woman and man with heads made of flowers. Floating in in a sea of tranquility. Dreamy stuff, but beautiful!
Mr. Eazi: Corny
Mr. Eazi is a more adventurous and sophisticated artist to be confined the the genre of Afrobeats. This slow brood, with hints of underlying, unstated groove is moody and evocative. The artist wanders the landscape around a lake in what might be Wales. He begins with half-spoken vocals that rise to a high tenor, in a declaration of romantic intent. “I’m not going to do you corny.” More ground-breaking stuff from the future-minded emPawa record company.
