Rolling Afrobeats / Afropop 2016

Did we post Lucy yet? She's on P-Squares record label and I like her single.

https://soundcloud.com/freemedigital/lucy-special-driver

And this one, from Davido Music Worldwide (lol), is nice too:
https://soundcloud.com/avantepr/dmw-featuring-mayorkun-dremo-ichaba-davido-back-2-back

Okay so this one came on automatically and since a) it's a hit and b) includes the lyrics «Hasta la vista / Can I be friends with your sista» followed by rhymes on «mista» and «barista» it needs to be posted:

https://soundcloud.com/youths-digest/koker-kolewerk

Reunited and it feels so good: Olamide x Young John "Konkobility".
https://soundcloud.com/freemedigital/olamide-konkobility

No attempts at emulating "Bobo", it seems very much informed by Kiss x Coublon's "Good Time".

Yeah it's interesting to me that so many artists seem to be gravitating towards the more specifically "african" sounds of DJ Coublon at the moment when they're finally getting some attention from the west - sounds that are far less suited for western dancefloors than azonto and the whole afrobeats wave of a few years ago when d'banj and don jazzy were on the verge of an international breakthrough.

As in... even Yemi Alade's album seems kind of old fashioned when you put it next to Kiss Daniel or even Kesh and Tiwa Savage, as if the sound has moved on and become less westernized than it used to be. Most of the tracks on the Yemi Alade you could blend into a «western» sets and it would come off as a bit of spice but the coublons and the young johns will often sound unfamiliar in a pop/club context. Something like Good Time would obviously work anyway but mainly because it reaches back to even earlier paradigms.

I'm very open to objections here, btw. So please bring them on.

The Yemi Alade album is interesting in that Ferrari, to me, is one of the least impressive tracks - I like it but I rarely find myself thinking about it. And yet it's the DJ Coublon track and so it's the single. I remember we had this conversation when Woju and Laye first arrived and I didn't "get" it at first. Well now what I didn't get seems to be the standard. And that's not a bad thing - I appreciate this new sound but it seems evident that something has shifted and it's also interesting that THIS sound, which maybe perhaps doesn't have much crossover potential dominates Nigeria at a moment when the potential for crossover is very much a thing.

Good Time is basically more afrobeat than afrobeats.

Konkobility is going to rule my summer, btw.

Ycee's Su Mi just suddenly clicked into place for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcdftCJDyTE

(xposts)
Not sure I agree about afropop becoming more "African" (and/or western-dancefloor-unfriendly) just recently (since "Woju"?). Go back another year and the big Naija hit is "Dorobucci", for instance, no chance of a crossover there either (and that's a Don Jazzy joint!). Afropop by definition heavily features African beats and styles along with elements from dancehall, hiphop and what have you. Azonto was not just Fuse ODG and "You Go Kill Me" but also "Sorkode" and "Lapaz Toyota", the D'banj/Don Jazzy international almost-breakthrough consisted solely of the totally unrepresentative "Oliver Twist", and P-Square have been there through everything. But if you're (also) saying that afropop is in a constant flux and artists and producers are not slowing down their pace for "the West" to catch up with their sounds and styles, then well, yeah, I would agree with that. (Keeping my fingers crossed that not every song from Nigeria for the next two years will sound like "One Dance" though - much as I enjoy that one).

Afrobeat is obviously a big influence on DJ Coublon 2.0-tracks like "Good Time", (Yemi's "Ferrari" is definitely Coublon 1.0 - more highlife than afrobeat), and on "Konkobility" as well. I'm guessing it's not coincidental that Olamide is singing about a girl who's "fine like Diana Ross". A 1970s themed video might be in the works.

Reekado Banks wants in on this particular action too (horns: check, fuzzy guitar: check) His new one, "Standard", is scorching hot.
https://soundcloud.com/mavinrecords/reekado-banks-standard

As for Young John, he's diversifying his sound in other directions too.
Empathy's "Kondo" sees him trying out alkayida, for instance.

But if it's that classic Young John sound you crave, please redirect to Pheelz. Check out DiDi ft. MayorKun "Gat Me":
https://soundcloud.com/freemedigital/didi-ft-mayorkun-gat-me

(Second mention of MayorKun by the way. He is Davido's protege and his debut single "Eleko" is a big hit. I quite like it, but I'm not blown away)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQTE2vWk7RE

And there's a new Wizkid out, "Like This", that's not actually THE new Wizkid. It's credited to (Dutch-Ghanaian) DJ Henry X.
https://soundcloud.com/starboymusic/dj-henry-x-ft-wizkid-like-this

The actual real first post-"One Dance" single, which may or may not be called "Sweet Love", is apparently imminent too. Wonder if (and how) he's going to try and promote it worldwide. "Like This" was premiered on Drake's OVO Sound Radio, so he might have something planned.

Wizkid recently signed Ghanian acts R2Bees, Mr Eazi (who is Nigerian but based in Ghana) and Efya (all of which he has worked with before) to his Starboy Worldwide label.
Efya released her second album "Janesis" earlier this year (before this deal). It's a mixed bag - I'm not a fan of the kind of ballads she does - , but "Decepticon" is undeniable:
https://open.spotify.com/track/0eu5qys2jnY6wbHYAsWtiy

I phrased it a bit harshly but I think we agree, mostly. My point is more that there have been two main currents for a while now - one drawing heavily on traditional african sounds and not likely to cross over to western audiences - stuff like Dorobucci, Young John at his densest and also Coublon drawing on highlife and afrobeat - and one that's within arm's reach of western dancefloors - most of Wizkid's material would fit in here. I'm mainly speaking from experience here - you can play Skales or Wizkid or Yemi Alade's Johnny for white people and they will dance to it. Drop Mama or Dorobucci or Ferrari and the floor is cleared - it comes across as "ethnic" or something, I guess. A lot of the Nigerian stuff is smack deep in the middle - I often reference the stuff Don Jazzy did with D'Banj as Roc-A-Fela-Kuti when explaining it to "outsiders" and I'll stand by that description: The signifiers are pretty obvious and you can choose which ones you want to focus on.

What I'm getting at is that it seems like Nigeria's current vogue is for the stuff that's less likely to cross over into the western markets - Phyno's Alobam would go down easier than Fada Fada (Ghetto Gospel), for instance. And that's perfectly fine with me - I do think Fada Fada is probably the better song. But it will be interesting to see what - if anything - finally makes it out. Why did Ojuelegba kind of cross over, while Ojé still hasn't, for instance?

Or rather, stuff like Good Time or even Ojuelegba could cross over because it fits into a narrative where afrobeat kinda seamlessly morphs into afrobeats. That doesn't feel quite right either. Idk.

The wizkid/Dj Henry track seems weak to me. Standard is great though!

I guess what I'm trying to understand is the question of when cultural differences become productive and when they just function as stop signs. One Dance does it very neatly by pulling all sorts of specific references to the US, Nigeria, SA, Jamaica and England together and somehow subsuming them all to Drake. It opens a door to Africa but not just any door - it's got to be done right if the door's to stay open.

Don Jazzy is an interesting case, imo. Since Dorobucci most of the stuff he has made has had an explicitly african populist edge, often bordering on the downright corny - Oga Thomas, Mungo Park, Adaobi, etc. His young artists, like Korede Bello, Di'Ja and Reekado Banks all seem to be pulling towards a PG rated version of afropop, often with great results (Oluwa Ni is in my top 5 or so this year), but also distancing themselves from the more edgy Wizkid, Davido, Olamide, Kesh, etc, where in particular Wizkid seems hellbent on becoming Africa's Chris Brown and Davido is flirting with hip hop tropes in what I guess is an attempt to cross over to the US, while the YBNL guys are making street music, mostly. What's refreshing about Kiss Daniel is that he has found a way of making «mature» afropop, light on the pangolo,but still fun, and never boring or self-conscious, thus creating a new centre of gravity, I guess.

I've listened a bit to the Tiwa Savage album lately and it's so good - but I keep wondering if the female subjectivity she's projecting will ever work in Europe or the US. She's no rebel, no child-woman and her sexuality is very much kept in check. She can be the good wife, the suffering wife, the woman who is so much better at what she does than anyone else that she always gets the work done - and that also goes for her guest appearances. She's never half-hearted but burns with a certain very compelling, yet always respectable intensity. It speaks to me, but I get the feeling that it might be a tough sell here because of a certain Nigerian... perspective, I guess. In comparison, Yemi Alade's "african-ness" seems a lot more suited for western consumption because it offers itself up as a bunch of familiar, external signifiers - "Mama Africa" - while her persona as the tough girl never gets as culture specific as Tiwa's does - not to my notice, at least. It's mostly *like* western pop, but with a bit of african spice. If "Johnny" had dropped right now, it could very well have been *that* moment in a way that If I Start To Talk or even African Waist almost certainly won't be.

And yet, these things don't always turn out as one thinks they might. As noted above, Ojuelegba made waves where Show Me The Money did not, and maybe it simply did so because it's the better song of the two. I still feel like there are some other factors here to think through though. So any comments would be appreciated.

There's a new Ball J EP btw. He still raps like Jay Z.

https://open.spotify.com/album/51mZL9xTZHtCJzZZ8NxKrz

Poolside Jam seems to be the only keeper, at a skim

I don't really see the point in looking at this country's output entirely thru this binary of whether or not it appeals to outsiders, like the whole reason this stuff is interesting is because it's playing with that tension and you're out here trying to reduce every song to one of two categories when it's way more interesting to look at in terms of the mess of internal and external pressures that shape each individual song

It feels like you're over-determining everything, like this is not how the music functions for its creators really

It's more me looking at what's been charting in Nigeria lately and trying to understand what might actually work outside of an african context and why (not) - but okay, if all you can see is a stupid binary then let's leave it at that.

The binary I'm operating with is quite simply that what works in Nigerian markets won't necessarily work elsewhere. That what won't necessarily work elsewhere might in fact be better than what will is a given - and I have no problem with liking stuff that a Nigerian listener would turn their nose up at: the Pulse album review of the Yemi Alade album explicitly states that "Koffi Annan’ freestyle is a disservice to this LP." And well, I guess it might be, but I still love it.

But that "the mess of internal and external pressures that shape each individual song" also includes the pressures that at least a couple of the Nigerian stars are feeling at the moment to break through outside of Africa is also pretty undeniable, I would think. It's at least partly why Wizkid and Davido haven't dropped their new albums yet, right? My dichotomous point: right now it feels like the artists who seem the least interested in crossing over are flourishing the most.

My perspective here is simple and pragmatic: how do you "sell" the current state of affairs to listeners who are not already familiar with the scene - without skewing what's actually going on? That should be a legitimate concern to non-Nigerian fans, djs and critics, shouldn't it? Even as recently as a year ago picking a handful of great Nigerian hit songs that would totally work on the radio or in a club setting wasn't quite as hard as it is now. As in, Tekno's Dance is still an easier sell than Wash or Duro. And Kcee's Pullover is still an easier sell than, say, (Harrysong's) Reggae Blues. The crossover-friendly songs definitely exist but it takes a bit more work to find them.

So whether you agree with me or not, I'd appreciate some help in singling out some fairly recent songs - preferably legitimate hits - that you would use if you were to put some n00bs onto this stuff.
I'd probably put Good Time up front, then maybe Koffi Annan, If I Start To Talk, Konkobility, I Like The Way, The Money and Romantic - perhaps also Romantic and Oluwa Ni? Mr. Eazi's Dance For Me, and maybe Skin Tight too?

Please add on - or subtract.

Adding Soweto Baby to that list.

I'd say "bad" by tiwa savage but I don't think they realize how much "badder than bad you know" sounds like "better than vaginal"

lol

In other news, I'm stuck on this one today. The Mr Eazi sound makes so much sense in the sun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv5sDMYP_eY

So did Fela actually mentor D'Banj in any real way or did he just grow up listening to a lot of Fela? I'm trying to find a legit source for the mentorship but all the stupid websites are just quoting each other so I'm starting to think it's the latter.

Just some good new music:

Sarkodie, "Wofa Kwame"
https://soundcloud.com/sarkodie-290419681/sarkodie-wofa-kwame-prod-by-gafacci

The Ezi Emela x Omeiza partnership keeps on giving: "No Lele"
https://soundcloud.com/eziemelamusic

I could almost hear (or wish that I could!) Ciara singing this. (The Ezi obv.)

i interviewed yemi alade recently and she basically said that when making her new album, mastering a pan-african sound that could appeal to the continent as a whole was more of a priority than catering to western markets, not that she's averse to the idea of crossing over there

Yeah that's what I was getting at, basically. In the Fader Davido piece he's worrying about whether there will be room for two african crossover artists - him and Wizkid - and explicitly says that he's trying to find an ojuelegba. So at that level we have maybe two artists thinking they have a chance to be "that african guy" american artists call when they want a hook, and a whole range of artists that aren't even trying to look in that direction. And as much as I love Wizkid and Davido, the most interesting stuff musically seems to be happening among the people who are mostly looking inwards or toward a pan-african market. Also, the Davido article stated that he had paid Meek Mill $200 000 for the Fans Mi feature, which seems... weird to say the least. I understand that the stakes are high for these guys but still...

The Fans Mi crossover moment was quite literally thwarted by the Meek/Drake beef, which left Meek and his collabos decidedly uncool there for a while. And then Wizkid comes up with... Drake? It's both funny and sad.

So at that level we have maybe two artists thinking they have a chance to be "that african guy" american artists call when they want a hook, and a whole range of artists that aren't even trying to look in that direction.

this seems like a pretty big leap

Well yeah, perhaps. How would you put it then?

Someone like Olamide is obviously not looking to cross over into the western markets yet, but he's still affected by the gravitational pull that started with Ojuelegba and deepened with Good Time. And what Olamide does still seems to dictate what's going on on the «ground level» of Nigerian music. As for Tiwa Savage, I'm curious about how they're going to try to present her outside of Africa if that's indeed what the Roc Nation signing means.

i dont think ojuelegba or good time were written with western markets in mind

They weren't. But the crossover success of Ojuelegba clearly tilted the market in favor of afrobeat-flavoured hits. Hence Good Time and now Konkobility.

Wizkid didn't pay Tyga to jump on Ojuelegba, he wanted him on Show Me The Money. That didn't really work and Ojuelegba became the biggest song on the album - even outside Africa. So the dynamic changed.

Ojuelegba is afrobeat? Good Time follows from Ojuelegba? You make some good points, but this: no.

Let me just quote this piece on Ojuelegba from Allafrica.com (july 2015) for you:

"In the lyrics, Wizkid recounts the episodes of his painstaking effort at promoting his music, from one studio to another, with different producers in that axis. He expresses his appreciation for his mother’s support through the years in this feel-good song.
Technically, the song has a cross-over appeal with the easy flowing Afrobeat rhythm; one that could make put it on replay while driving through traffic with your grandparents and young cousins in the backseats. There’s no Fela fan who would not be reminded of “Confusion Break Bone” when Wizkid’s chants his “Ojuelegba” chorus over an Afrobeat instrumental.

While Fela’s reference to Ojuelegba was to expose social-economic depravity, Wizkid’s intervention is in congruence with the overall theme of his album, dedicated to his undying passion to succeed in music. Unlike Fela, Wizkid gives room for praising God for his mileage in music in most of his tracks including “Jaiye Jaiye” which was highly influenced by the legendary musician’s Afrobeat.
In it, he sings, “Are you feeling good tonight?/This thing got me thanking God for life/ I can’t explain..”. “Ojuelegba” has a sample of electronic instrumental from Dr Dre’s collaborative track with Snoop Doggy Dogg titled, “Nothing But A ‘G’ Thang” from the master producer’s debut solo album, “The Chronic”, which was released in 1992, two years after Wizkid was born."

http://allafrica.com/stories/201507200223.html

ojuelgba blew up internationally because the biggest rapper in the world hopped on it, not bc of some inherent quality of its sound

you know what was always interesting to me was how nothin but a g thing was actually sampled on this record before ojuelegba

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhGhs8S4UZw

I know. That song is really slept on. And OF COURSE it blew up because Drake jumped on it. My argument is more along the lines of a) why did Drake jump on that song and not another one, and b) what could you emulate about Ojuelegba given that most people won't get Drake to jump on their song.

Would be interested in hearing how breastcrawl would classify Ojuelegba musically though. It does strike me as different from other Wizkid / Legendury Beatz collabos.

I like the new Legendury Beatz single btw, even if it probably would be better with the real Wizkid instead of this understudy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxpdQOMWWGw

To my ears, at least, even something like Cobham Asuquo's Boosit seems to lean ever so slightly towards afrobeat in a way that it maybe wouldn't have done just a year ago. There's a lot of R&B in there as well, of course - i'm speaking about vibe here, mostly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMBM-MbFj-c

The afrobeat component is there in "Ojuelegba", that was a gross oversight on my part - I guess it's because don't have the Fela Kuti engrained in me. But it's just that, a component. Is that gentle beat really out of the afrobeat book? The strings and the g-funk synth certainly aren't. It definitely has an old skool vibe, but I'd say in a not specific way. It's very much its own thing. In fact, I wouldn't know of any other track in this style. Certainly not recent afrobeat-influenced songs like Burna's "Soke" and Moe Logo's "Penkele" that wear their Felaisms on their sleeve. Did they come out with those tracks because of "Ojuelegba"? Maybe, but I'm not convinced. There were popular Fela tributes before it too, like LNC's "Ko Sere" and Oritse Femi's "Double Wahala", and of course the biggest of them all in recent memory, Wizkid's own "Jaiye Jaiye", also mentioned in the article you linked to. As for "Good Time", I see it primarily as Coublon further honing his sound. The horns (notably absent from "Ojuelegba"!), were already introduced in Tekno's "Duro", for instance, and then he went full-on with "Good Time". Influenced by "Ojuelegba"? Again, who knows. But then why hasn't anybody tried to recreate/copy the actual way "Ojuelegba" sounds, if they feel that's the way to go? Or have they and did I miss something?

(Perhaps Bular's gorgeous "Shamajo", produced by Blaq Jerzee, that I posted back in March? But no, the focus is very much on the horns again - and besides, it wasn't a hit.)

Meanwhile, Kiss Daniel's buddy Sugarboy has just released the followup to "Hola Hola", called "Double".

https://soundcloud.com/gworldwideent/sugarboy-double

Hey, I've recently come across a few "Afro Trap" compilations. They look potentially dubious, and mostly consist of songs by artists about which I can't find much information. Anybody know anything about them?

https://open.spotify.com/user/glennpmcdonald/playlist/25juWkTqXuMm0HdiROhMbt

Afro Trap, Afro Pop & Afrobeat Hits, Vol. 1 (Remastered) [ CD Run Presents ]
Afro Trap [ Sushiraw ]
Afro Trap X Kizomba [ Sushiraw ]
Afro Trap Infinity [ Sushiraw ]
Afro Trap Session [ Sushiraw ]
Afro Pop & Trap (African Rythm & Beat) [ Melynga ]

I really like the stuff on them, and want to find more of it! Whatever it is.

The afrobeat component is there in "Ojuelegba", that was a gross oversight on my part - I guess it's because don't have the Fela Kuti engrained in me. But it's just that, a component. Is that gentle beat really out of the afrobeat book? The strings and the g-funk synth certainly aren't. It definitely has an old skool vibe, but I'd say in a not specific way. It's very much its own thing. In fact, I wouldn't know of any other track in this style. Certainly not recent afrobeat-influenced songs like Burna's "Soke" and Moe Logo's "Penkele" that wear their Felaisms on their sleeve. Did they come out with those tracks because of "Ojuelegba"? Maybe, but I'm not convinced. There were popular Fela tributes before it too, like LNC's "Ko Sere" and Oritse Femi's "Double Wahala", and of course the biggest of them all in recent memory, Wizkid's own "Jaiye Jaiye", also mentioned in the article you linked to. As for "Good Time", I see it primarily as Coublon further honing his sound. The horns (notably absent from "Ojuelegba"!), were already introduced in Tekno's "Duro", for instance, and then he went full-on with "Good Time". Influenced by "Ojuelegba"? Again, who knows. But then why hasn't anybody tried to recreate/copy the actual way "Ojuelegba" sounds, if they feel that's the way to go? Or have they and did I miss something?

(Perhaps Bular's gorgeous "Shamajo", produced by Blaq Jerzee, that I posted back in March? But no, the focus is very much on the horns again - and besides, it wasn't a hit.)

― breastcrawl, Wednesday, June 15, 2016 8:15 PM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

When I talk about "influence" I mean it in the subtlest way you can imagine. The afrobeat influence on Good Time and Konkobility strikes me as way closer to the afrobeat component of Ojuelegba than that of the full blown Jaiye Jaiye, for instance - and mainly because of the gentleness. That gentleness suggests a new, more subtle approach that I think maybe, perhaps goes back to the success of Ojuelegba more than anything else: suddenly an understated song/beat became the biggest of them all. Maybe there's even a trace of the Ojuelegba beat's gentleness in the loose groove of Who You Epp? I don't know but it seems at the very least possible that the massive success of an atypical song like Ojuelegba - which I believe only sort of became a single after most fans and critics singled it out as Ayo's saving grace: it doesn't even have its own single cover in iTunes - impacted the sonics of nigerian afropop in ways that will probably become more evident to us as time goes on.