The Pop Corporation

If you haven’t heard of the ace supergroup made up of African women, you need to sort that out now. They’re called Les Amazones d’Afrique, and they have a new single out called ‘Kuma Fo (What They Say)’, and it’s ace electronics with trad African music sung in native languages from Mali, Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Congo-Brazzaville.

The group are made up of Mamani Keïta, Fafa Ruffino and Kandy Guira, joined by new members Alvie Bitemo and Dobet Gnahoré.

“‘Kuma Fo’ is about women’s freedom of expression.” Bitemo says. “It’s about speaking up — not asking, not waiting for us to be given the floor. We need to seize it.”

“When you look at the Amazons of Dahomey, it was female warriors who made the decisions and took power. It feels like since colonization, certain countries in Africa have moved further away from women’s rights. And in this song, we say that if you bring life into the world, you educate, you organise the family, then you should reclaim your power: your female power.”

Get on this. Life affirming stuff.