Seun Kuti is a Nigerian musician, singer, songwriter, saxophonist, and activist, best known as the youngest son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti and the leader of his legendary band, Egypt 80. Having joined the band before the age of 12, Seun took over leadership in 1997 following his father's passing and has spent his career preserving and expanding Fela's musical and political legacy through powerful performances and socially conscious music. Beyond music, Seun is an outspoken pan-African activist who has participated in major social movements including #OccupyNigeria and #EndSARS, and has revived his father's political party, the Movement of the People (M.O.P.). Seun Kuti & Egypt 80's latest album, Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head), was released in October 2024 and executive produced by Lenny Kravitz. The critically acclaimed project features collaborations with Damian Marley and Sampa The Great, while the 2025 deluxe edition expanded the album with contributions from artists including Kamasi Washington, Posdnuos (De La Soul), Adi Oasis, and others. Over his career, Seun has released multiple albums with Egypt 80, including Many Things, From Africa with Fury: Rise (co-produced by Brian Eno), A Long Way Beginning, and the Grammy-nominated Black Times, which featured Carlos Santana. He has also collaborated with artists such as Black Thought, Janelle Monáe, Talib Kweli, Madlib, and Vic Mensa. In 2026, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 continue their evolution with the release of the new single “NA DEM,” featuring Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine.

The West African nation of Togo is a bit of a musical black box, long overshadowed by nearby musical powerhouses like Ghana, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire. But Togo has an untapped wealth of music traditions, as well as a few breakout artists, including singers King Mensah and Bella Bellow. Singer and guitarist Serge Massama Dogo, aka Dogo du Togo, is the latest Togolese artist to bring his country’s musical traditions to international stages, mixing alagaa trance music with contemporary African pop sounds to fashion a distinctive sound rooted in Togolese music and ritual.  Togo is long and narrow, wedged between Ghana to the west and Benin to the east, running from the Gulf of Guinea in the South to Burkina Faso in the North. The country is home to 40 ethnic groups—with the largest being the Kabye in the North and the Ewe in the South—and the wealth of indigenous music runs deep. Local instruments include kologo and goje lutes, gyill xylophones, and various flutes. But drums dominate across all regions and styles—especially among the practitioners of Vodun, a religion whose rituals gave rise to the unique Vodun sound. Driven by intricate polyrhythms pounded out on a battery of hand drums and punctuated by distinctive percussive iron bells, Vodun music is ecstatic and trance-inducing, and animates the sound of Dogo du Togo.   Massama was born in the capital city of Lomé in 1972 and was drawn to music early on, learning from elder musicians and playing in various bands as a teenager, despite his father’s opposition. In 2000, he moved to the United States, landing in Washington, D.C., where he founded the band Elikeh in 2006. Known for their high-energy live performances and original sound, Elikeh combines Afrofunk and rock with Togolese polyrhythms. The band garnered a loyal local following and released three albums and an EP to date, receiving rave reviews from The Washington Post and NPR.    Prior to 2020, Dogo began splitting his time between D.C. and his homeland, digging deeper into its musical traditions and reconnecting with the local music scene. There he recorded his first solo album, Dogo du Togo, in 2022, topping radio charts at home and attracting critical acclaim in Europe and the U.S. For his next album, 2024’s Avoudé, Dogo assembled the Alagaa Beat Band, recruiting his former guitar teacher Oya Yao and other old friends with whom he grew up playing music on the streets of Lomé.    Dogo draws from a deep well of sounds from across Togo, including bobobo, kamou, and kpanlogo rhythms, melodies, and scales drawn from Vodun religious rituals and others. But the bedrock of his band’s sound is the driving alagaa rhythm, a dizzying dance between snare drum and rhythm guitar, modeled on gankogui kinka bells. Alagaa means “trance” in the Ewe language, and its driving, irresistible beat is transporting. “When you listen to this music, if you don’t get in a trance, then something’s wrong with you!” Dogo explains. “The alagaa beat brings the energy right away. As soon as you bring it in, it just feels different; it takes you somewhere else.” 

Native to Logan Heights and co-founder of We Dig Crates Record Collective Flying Disc has collected records for 20+ years. He's made my bones volunteering for community based events spanning from markets to galleries and cultural centers like El Centro Cultural De La Raza & El Cine Bujazan ( Tijuana ). Since the resurgence of vinyl culture he's had the privilege to expand into venues such as Athenaeum Music & Arts Library and the World Beat Center. The collective has held residencies at The National City World Market & Friends Of Friends Listening Bar. His experience in art & cultural spaces has pushed his selection beyond cliché genres and sounds. In his digging pursuits across the country (New York, Chicago, San Francisco) he's acquired an eclectic selection specializing in Afro Indigenous genres from across the globe. Currently he holds a vinyl monthly “Coffee & Records” dedicated to the listening experience. You can find some of his recorded sets with Roots Locker West (Ska & Rocksteady) and SD Analog Signals (Afrobeat & World Music