Alec Lomami - CLV ft. Sammus, Badi Banx

That the Cape-Town-based Congolese producer and rapper Alec Lomami managed to release a handful of impressive singles and videos in the last couple of years might not sound particularly impressive, until you learn that he did so despite losing two years' worth of music when his hard drive crashed, and while relocating more times than most people do in a lifetime (U.S., Harare, Kinshasa, Cape Town).

We can't even imagine how painful it must have been to lose so much unreleased music, but when you listen to the tracks that have seen the light of day you know the loss isn't his alone.... It's not for nothing that has received as much positive coverage as he has done in music and culture blogs and websites like Africa is a Country, AfricanHipHop.com, afriPOP!, MTV Iggy, Dynamic Africa, Afropop Worldwide, Stocktown, and Okay Africa

 CLV (featuring fellow Diasporan Congolese rappers S▲MMUS and Badi Banx is from Alec's debut EP Mélancolie Joyeuse, which you can, and should, download for free from his Bandcamp page. We're keeping our fingers crossed that Alec settles in Cape Town long enough to release a full length album. Follow Alec on Soundcloud and on Twitter.