This week, NPR's Heavy Rotation series features Emmanuel Nado, co-host of Africa Mix, heard Thursday nights from 9-11pm on KALW.

Emmanuel highlighted the song "L.A." by Habib Koite. Hear the Morning Edition feature with Emmanuel here.

"For his latest album, Soo, Malian singer-songwriter and guitarist Habib Koite let go of his standard rhythm guitar and replaced it with the banjo, one of the few times I've heard a contemporary African pop artist use what's essentially an African instrument. "L.A." is particularly great; I like the way Koite's banjo player uses the instrument at times as rhythm guitar, at times for the melody. The lyrics are funny for those who understand Bambara, the popular language of the Malian people — they poke fun at Koite and American blues artist Eric Bibb's tour in the U.S., and compare various landscapes of California to those of Mali." --Emmanuel Nado, Africa Mix