After the sudden death of Gabon’s president Omar Bongo, much is at stake for the Gabonese people and their government. Hip hop has been a popular tool in winning the people’s votes, and one of the candidates even tried his turn on the mic - after recording an album with James Brown’s manager in the seventies! Meanwhile, the ruling class is under scrutiny: where did the president and his family get all their wealth from?

This month we take it back to 1980’s Nigeria, an era during which quite some local rap was recorded, often outside of the context of hip hop culture. Together with Uchenna Ikonne (Comb & Razor) we look at Nigerian rap released on vinyl records between 1981 and 1991.

Live with Shenzy is an urban radio show based on hip hop culture, hosted by MC Shenzy, a Nairobi, Kenya based hip hop activist. In this latest episode, MC Shenzy meets with the duo of 125.