Listening to T-RAN and his new single "Don’t Stop the Fight" creates the sensation of finding a frantic heartbeat returning to a steady, confident rhythm after a near-miss on the highway. There is an immediate urgency here, a sonic landscape that refuses to sit politely in the background. https://open.spotify.com/track/7BAbhLJoHZYcwAMH6BvnhV?si=1d371859cf294456 The production fits the moniker of "gospel firestarter" perfectly, though perhaps not in the way you’d expect...

It's outstanding to honor those who have made significant contributions to society. Great people ought to be honored in every way possible. The motivation behind Mariaa Siga's "Mame Bamba" tribute to Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba is obvious, but there are other reasons for the song's existence as well. Poet, brave resistance fighter, and nonviolent theist Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba founded the Mouridist and Touba movements. That aspect of...