Last week, Puerto Rican hip hop artist Ikol Santiago released this video for a track from his April ’13 album Iguacas.

“A story of poetry, graffiti, and medicine for all you who have ever felt abused by discourses so damaging and boring, when what we need is beauty.”

Essential hip hop. Pataphysics is Pat Marks, Melbourne-based soulful guerilla hip hop artist. Musician and revolutionary poet with insightful rhymes, in both English and Sri Lankan. Latest video hits home, hard.

Cuban-Jamaican, Brooklyn born, Paris-based. Poet, activist, teacher, Aja Monet’s beautiful, inspiring video with Cam Be.

Essential hip hop. Senegalese activist hip hop collective Y’en A Marre (Fed Up) have united with Amnesty on the single ’100 COUPABLES : Impunité! Nous avons besoin de Justice’.

New video from Australian poet Omar Musa. “A beautiful moment of clarity I experienced in Amsterdam.” Only two minutes of your time, a meditation from a rapper with a tender heart.

Just dropped from Benin City, video by Charlie Behrens and free downloads of new single My Love:

Just found this, hot track! (thanks to Groovalizacion for the heads-up on this album tonight!) Trinidad-born, UK-based poet Anthony Joseph (featured in last December’s Caribbean-flavoured La Danza Poetica) collaborates with Andrea Benini (Italy/Berlin) and Mop Mop, funk/afro/jazz/Italo band.

Please take some moments to watch this. This is more than spoken word ‘artistry’ – though there is such artistry in this, such command of the art of storytelling by this Canadian poet and such incredible animated emotion by many different artists. But this is more than art. This is the best example of why storytelling is one of our most necessary crafts, as well as one of our most powerful healers…

Va faire ta guerre (Go make your war) was written in 2011 for Amnesty International project Partners for Peace. A letter to the fat cats, to the warmongers, to “M. le Grassouillet / Le Souillé / Le Suprême de Poulet”.....

A new track from Ghana’s Mutombo, first release from an album coming in 2013. This time – and foreshadowing many collaborations – Mutombo works with M3NSA.

“São blogueiros, escritores, cantores, dançarinos, atores / Djs, médicos, artistas plástico, palhaços, cineastas de guerrilha.Poetas / Porque a palavra não tem fronteira.”

“I get most of my wisdom from woman. I practice it on my brothers.” In the track Us, Aja Monet roll-calls her women as the track cites James Brown’s It’s a Man’s World … “my litany for survival”. The track sets up an album that quietly but firmly secures Aja’s place in my own roll-call of inspirational women.

If you want a global update on the hottest women Hip Hop artists right now, check this generous mixtape from Nomadic Wax.