Album Review: Afrolution Vol 2-The Original African Hip Hop Collection-Various Artists

Afrolution Vol 2 is an impressively diverse collection of African Hip Hop that represents artists from multiple regions of the continent and highlights the emerging African hip-hop movement. This album makes an excellent introduction to African hip-hop to an interested observer or a great addition to the collection of a connoisseur. Representing French or English speaking countries, this album is a masterful collection of songs that represent the cutting edge of African music today.

Negrissim - My People by afrobeatblog

Afrolution is a UK-based website, label, and web TV station offering videos, interviews and more, all focused on the ongoing wave of young musical acts emerging from the continent. This is their second African hip-hop compilation. Their first, Yes We Can, featured artists like K'Naan who have left the continent. This album features mostly artists who still reside, representing twelve nations in East, West, and Southern Africa.

My favorite track off the album is Green Card by Wanlov the Kubolor from Ghana. It details a common predicament immigrants face, "Just to get of the slave yard, I must fight to get us a green card." Other tracks that distinguish themselves from the rest are She Smiles Easy by Goreala from Kenya and My People by Negrissim from Cameroon. Some tracks incorporate live instrumentation into their presentation such as Trenton and The Free Radicals and Tumi and The Volume, both from South Africa.

The wide range of nations represented on this album shows how wide ranging the African hip-hop movement is becoming, and outlets like Afrolution are greatly contributing to its proliferation.