African Swim: A Hip-Hop Sonic Journey To South Africa

Written By: Nani Hapa—As Research Editor, I usually spend hours (mainly online) looking for all news Africa, hoping to find just one noteworthy story to cover in the magazine. Every now and then, however, a gem magically falls in my hands. This was the case with the free African Swim album (yes, free).

First, the what: African Swim is a free compilation album of some of the finest South African hip-hop artists (Zola, Jozi, Magaz) that was released in 2008 by Adult Swim. Which brings me to the who: the Adult Swim network released the album; bringing South African hip-hop to an audience likely unfamiliar with hip-hop from outside the US is definitely a good look for the network. Where: the entire album is available online for free download (again, yes, the album is free) at this link www.adultswim.com/williams/music/africanswim/index.html. When: I'm nearly two years late in "discovering" this album, but better late than never right? And finally the how: as I mentioned when I started this post, this album landed in my hands (figuratively speaking that is since it's a digital download) because a MIMI reader thought to email us about it. Thank you MIMI-ista!