Africa Express Presents... Bahidorá Africa Express

• 1 Soledad (feat. Damon Albarn, Luisa Almaguer, Nick Zinner, Seye Adelekan, Joan as Police Woman & Mexican Institute of Sound) 03:22
• 2 Otim Hop (feat. Otim Alpha, Bootie Brown, K.O.G & Tom Excell) 03:12
• 3 Mi Lado (feat. Alansito Vega, Poté & Mare Advertencia) 02:41
• 4 Seya (feat. Onipa, Fatoumata Diawara, Abou Diarra, Mélissa Hié & Ophélia Hié) 02:57
• 5 Tayhana (feat. Tayhana, Moonchild Sanelly, K.O.G, Mare Advertencia & Mélissa Hié) 03:00
• 6 Kuduro (feat. Fatoumata Diawara, Moonchild Sanelly & Tom Excell) 02:27
• 7 Defiant Ones (feat. Son Rompe Pera, M.anifest, Ophélia Hié, Mélissa Hié & Mexican Institute of Sound) 04:24
• 8 Raise a Glass (feat. Django Django, Mare Advertencia & Seye Adelekan) 02:31
• 9 Ofrenda de Sangre (feat. Luisa Almaguer, Mare Advertencia & Alansito Vega) 02:23
• 10 Chucha (feat. Son Rompe Pera, Joan as Police Woman, Otim Alpha, Abou Diarra, Ophélia Hié, Mélissa Hié & Mexican Institute of Sound) 02:47
• 11 Quisiera (feat. Luisa Almaguer, Alansito Vega, Nick Zinner & Joan as Police Woman) 03:16
• 12 The Sky Above You (feat. Seye Adelekan, Luisa Almaguer, Joan as Police Woman, Nick Zinner, Imarhan & Damon Albarn) 03:33
• 13 Dorhan Oullhin (What the Heart Desires) (feat. Imarhan & Damon Albarn) 04:17
• 14 El Niño (feat. Eme Malafe, Los Pream, Mélissa Hié, Ophélia Hié, Joan as Police Woman, Marco Carrión & Alansito Vega) 05:22
• 15 Invocation (feat. Onipa, Jupiter Bokondji, Otim Alpha, Damon Albarn & Joan as Police Woman) 02:12
• 16 Hacernos Así (feat. Luisa Almaguer, Damon Albarn, Seye Adelekan, Nick Zinner, Joan as Police Woman & Mexican Institute of Sound) 05:27
• 17 Frenemies (feat. Hak Baker, Bonobo, Damon Albarn, Otim Alpha, Mélissa Hié & Ophélia Hié) 05:21
• 18 Kelegusta (feat. Tayhana, Otim Alpha & La Bruja de Texcoco) 03:16
• 19 El Diablo y La Bruja (feat. La Bruja de Texcoco & Los Pream) 04:24
• 20 Pánico (Cuelga al DJ) (feat. Mexican Institute of Sound, Damon Albarn, Los Pream, Nick Zinner & Montana Kinunu Ntunu) 02:45
• 21 Adios Amigos (feat. Baba Sissoko, Luisa Almaguer, Joan as Police Woman, Abou Diarra, Mélissa Hié, Ophélia Hié & Yendé Balamba) 05:43
• Total Runtime 01:15:20

Info for Africa Express Presents... Bahidorá

Globally acclaimed music phenomenon Africa Express is back with a brand new studio album titled ‘Africa Express presents... Bahidorá’, recorded in Mexico and set for release on 11 July 2025 via World Circuit Records. Partners can stream the album privately via the player below.

Africa Express is a collective of African and Western musicians. It started in 2006 in Mali, connecting local stars Toumani Diabaté, Bassekou Kouyaté and Amadou & Mariam with visiting artists including Martha Wainwright, Fatboy Slim and co-founder Damon Albarn. Now it is a globally known project, ready to release its sixth studio album.

Africa Express went to the Americas for the first time in 2024 to headline the Mexican festival Bahidorá, a trip which saw an extraordinary group of musicians, singers and DJs from around the world come together to rehearse, perform and write new music ahead of an epic 5-hour show on the banks of the ancient springs of Bahidorá. Afterwards, they stayed on to record together in field studios, tents and hotel rooms. The result is this remarkable collection of 21 tracks - the project’s sixth album and first since 2019’s ‘Africa Express presents…Egoli’, which was recorded in Johannesburg.

An album like no other, ‘Africa Express presents... Bahidorá’ is a joyful and mind-blowing sonic trip which distills the joy of a musical adventure in Mexico into 21 extraordinary songs that are perfect for our times.Featuring artists from four continents but with roots firmly planted in Mexico, it entwines rich musical traditions ranging from cumbia, hip-hop and kuduro through to soul, salsa and the sweetest pop. The first two singles ‘Mi Lado’ (ft. Alansito Vega, Poté & Mare Advertencia) and ‘Kuduro’ (ft. Fatoumata Diawara, Moonchild Sanelly & Tom Excell) are out now.

First track ‘Mi Lado’ is the catchiest of Latin pop with soulful vocals over a reggaeton beat. It features quickfire Mexican rapper Mare Advertencia - a feminist activist whose lyrics often explore issues such as misogyny and gang violence - alongside St Lucia-born electro artist Poté and LA-based producerAlansito Vega.

‘Kuduro’ is the fast and furious second track in which two of the most distinctive African female voices - Mali’s Fatoumata Diawara and South Africa’s Moonchild Sanelly - swap vocals over a pounding beat laid down by Tom Excell of Onipa. ‘Men come and go’ sings Moonchild resignedly. ‘They come back crying as if it was not them.’

From the following couple of singles, ‘Soledad’ is a stunning cinematic duet sung in Spanish by Damon Albarn and Luisa Almaguer, a melancholic and beautiful track with mournful lyrics that intone ‘Soledad soledad soledad sin fin’ (Loneliness, loneliness, endless loneliness). It is accompanied by ‘Otim Hop’, a cool slice of laid-back hip-hop with Bootie Brown’s slick tale of a hustle spliced with Ugandan Afrofuturist Otim Alpha’s autobiographical lyrics about ‘Big man running trying to escape poverty’.

Hacernos Así’ and ‘Invocation’ are the fifth and sixth singles to be taken from the forthcoming studio album.

Africa Express

Africa Express
started in 2006 in Mali, connecting local stars Toumani Diabaté, Bassekou Kouyaté and Amadou & Mariam with visiting artists including Martha Wainwright, Fatboy Slim and co-founder Damon Albarn. Now it is a globally-known project - yet it never loses its capacity to surprise, whether live or on record. It has invited Western artists to countries such as Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Mali; staged collaborative concerts lasting up to seven hours from Liverpool to Lagos; taken a train filled with musicians around Britain to mark the London Olympics; reformed a Syrian orchestra divided by civil war; and recorded the first African interpretation of Terry Riley's minimalist classic In C. Participating artists have included Baaba Maal, Blur, Charli XCX, Faia Younan, Femi Kuti, Flea, Franz Ferdinand, Kano, Oumou Sangaré, Paul McCartney, Paul Weller, Rachid Taha, Rokia Traoré and Tony Allen among many others.

This album contains no booklet.