Resilient Malian band Songhoy Blues partners up with the U.K.'s MC Elf Kid to uplift their people in their new song, "Mali Nord." As they seamlessly thread guitar solos and melodic vocals, the artists amplify the voices of refugees while championing their strength in spite of opposition. Elf Kid highlights the immigration experience of the diaspora, sending out a call to reclaim his homeland he raps, "Rise up 'cause Africa's waiting."
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"We wanted to talk about something close to both the band and Elf Kid: refugees and immigration," Songhoy Blues told the FADER over email. "It's something that surrounds all of us, whether it's from Libya before the fall of Gaddafi, or Syria, or within Mali itself. All these refugees who are in camps, those who cross the Sahara to the sea to go to Europe to find a better life, many have lost their lives in the desert. Good lives. We wanted to deal with that because it feels like a point the media misses a lot of the time.”
