rolling Afropop / Afrobeats / Afrodance 2019

Let’s get started right away in this new year!

Once again, we set ourselves the impossible task of keeping track of all the good pop and dance music to come out of all of (sub-Saharan) Africa.

For reference:

Last year’s thread: rolling afropop / afrobeats 2018

Some related artist-specific threads that are currently active:

Wizkid (aka Starboy)

Burna Boy – OUTSIDE (2018)

Sun-El Musician - Africa to the World - also for Simmy (do check out her album!)

Aya Nakamura, Naza and the new french urban scene - for that Eurafrican vibe

(...and check out our f/k/a-World-Music colleagues at
Rolling Global Outernational Non-West Non-English (Some Exceptions) 2019 Thread Once Known as World Music)

Yes, there is a Spotify playlist that will be very regularly updated:

ILM rolling Afropop / Afrobeats / Afrodance 2019

NAIJA:

Something old - here’s to, hopefully, another Year of Wizkid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCVOi03QZXM

DJ Tunez ft. Reekado Banks & Wizkid • Turn Up

Something new - because 2018 was also the Year of Burna:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0l_BY6axlE

Burna Boy x Zlatan • Killin’ Dem

(Burna put this up on SoundCloud as a freebie for his fans ahead of his big Xmas concert in Lagos. Not clear if there will be an official release)

Zlatan (Ibile), who’s on that Burna track, is hot and happening right now.

His current dance smash, “Zanku (LegWork)”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpQF7GbC5wg

(no official video, but there’s plenty of dance tutorials and stuff for/with it)

He’s on this big pop hit too:

Chinko Ekun ft. Lil Kesh & Zlatan • Able God: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvSyIqZSzHw

And also on this afroblisstastic track, produced by Young John, who’s back after a bit of a hiatus:

Prodit ft. Zlatan • Rora: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpNJ1OzV7Zg

Two dance tracks from Ghana:

Eddie Khae ft. Medikal & RmvMnt • Speak In Tongues (SIT): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhJIg261AFY

(Eddie Khae had a hit last year with “Do The Dance”)

Patapaa ft. Article Wan • One Leg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxIdi9IzQnQ

(Patapaa was featured on last year’s “Akwaaba” and is the man behind 2017’s the riotous “One Corner”, a true phenomenon, and one of the biggest tracks never to have been posted on this thread)

Tanzania:

Rayvanny ft. Diamond Platnumz • Mwanza: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8eUTOYrkDM

A pleasure, as always.

And three from South Africa:

I like this: Pap’zo ft. Nuna • Teka (Afro House Mix): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW3dkgV_WB0

Big in SA: Manqonqo ft. Dason & Saviour Gee • Eyadini: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wc3hf7Zmrk

Big across the continent: King Monada • Malwedhe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hoUCH0BOq4

*mandatory check in*

I took the liberty of starting the new thread right away - hope you don’t mind!

Not at all! Good work!

Noted on the obituary thread that I had no idea Geoffrey Oryema died in I think June 2018.

Duly noted, and RIP. Probably more relevant to the Global Outernational thread linked above.

that Killin' Dem track is fantastic

Expecting nothing but great things this year. Teni has released a slow soulful song, if you listen intently to her voice you can almost understand Yoruba.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVQbyIEK_jQ

Less meditative, Patoranking - Everyday has some energy and clear Sauti-Sol-vibes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HabnZEf4DFY

A big song that wasn't posted last year: Naaa Mean (Nadia Nakai and Cassper Nyovest). Completely obnoxious and completely addictive.

Teni has released a slow soulful song, if you listen intently to her voice you can almost understand Yoruba.

Actually funny you say that cause this is one of the few Yoruba songs I have trouble immediately understanding.

Always forget how many dialects there are and how subtle differences throw you off if you're not hearing/speaking daily.

that Killin' Dem track is fantastic

https://uproxx.com/selection/ph-city-vibration/

Marko Orlic votes for a Burna Boy track in the Uproxx poll

xps

The new Lil Kesh is another reminder that yes, there are language barriers and sometimes a lot goes over (many/most of) our heads because of it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22BRl_SqXro

Lil Kesh feat. Olamide • Logo Benz

It’s controversial, to say the least: https://filterfree.ng/features/logo-benz-nigeria-needs-more-artists-to-tell-her-diverse-stories/

Outrage or not, my favourite moment is when the beat drops out just as Kesh starts delving “pata pat-pata” into the chorus and his voice sounds just like percussion.

(That elastic beat is courtesy of Rexxie btw, who also did “Zanku (LegWork)” and “Able God” posted above.)

On a much more innocent tip, from Cameroon: I love this track from Tata’s No Holidays EP:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThlCVcsj2qE

Tata feat. Reniss • Ambiance

the link to that Logo Benz article is dead and afaict there's no article on that site about it--what's the controversy?

Here's a link to another article about it:
https://punchng.com/olamide-continues-romance-with-controversies-on-logo-benz/

lol I'm afraid this remains more or less over my head, but thank you

Yeah, Nigerian controversies seem to follow their own set of rules, lol.

Basically witchcraft or juju in this case "blood money" operates at such an elevated level of taboo in Nigeria that its unwise to satirise it in ways that aren't immediately obvious.

That was the impression I got too: it hit a raw nerve.

This article looks at it from the satire angle as well. It zooms in on the moral outrage and is firmly in the condemnation camp:
https://www.pulse.ng/entertainment/music/olamide-lil-kesh-slammed-over-logo-benz/qjdf0x1

The “could the song have been satire?” section starts somewhere halfway. Olamide’s defense, however, (it’s at the end) is more or less “we’re just reporting from the ground”. The FilterFree article I posted above took a similar stance. As the lede said: “Nigeria needs more artists to tell her diverse stories”. I wonder if that level-headed approach (at least, that’s how it appears to me from here) is the reason it was removed from the site?

That a couple of songs "probably created the infamy of entitlement toward a woman’s body which our society now suffers from in rape and sexual harassment" seems like a bold statement. But then what do I know.

I'm guessing the whole pop artist as cultural anti-hero thing never really caught on in Nigeria. Iirc this was something we discussed in relation to Fela a while back.

Yes, even though this seems to be a bigger transgression than most, what strikes me every time there is a similar controversy (mostly around internet fraud or drugs or other “vices”) is the uneasy relationship the music press seems to have with “street music” (and I guess street culture in general).

That same FilterFree website now features a long-winded article (possibly by the same writer who wrote the removed piece) about the Zanku dance craze. Informative and quite sympathetic, but also very much from the vantage point of an outsider looking in, making it kind of awkward:
https://filterfree.ng/features/zanku-origins-and-its-relationship-with-other-things/

On that note, Zlatan’s “Zanku (LegWork)” now does have a fun official video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tupb4xV-15w

And, since the phrase “ijo ope” was mentioned in that piece:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oCA4fQNA2k

Rahman Jago ft Zlatan, Chinko Ekun & Junior Boy • Ijo Ope

(So many great bangers in this vein. It’s the continuation of shaku shaku that’s NOT taking its cues from gqom.)

Sometimes it's also the problem of the privileged class taking the traditional sphere as artistic subject, with the usual risk of caricature, projections, unwelcome commentary etc. I'm just talking in general here, I haven't followed the controversy.

I'm just reminded of the controversy around the film Inxeba (which I haven't seen; translated as The Wound, 2017), that deals with Xhosa rites of passage, homosexuality etc. It struck a nerve too.

I'm guessing the whole pop artist as cultural anti-hero thing never really caught on in Nigeria.

No “Popcaan”s, “Masicka”s or “Bounty Killer”s in Naija music, as far as I can tell, no.

Sometimes it's also the problem of the privileged class taking the traditional sphere as artistic subject, with the usual risk of caricature, projections, unwelcome commentary etc. I'm just talking in general here, I haven't followed the controversy.

Maybe I'm about to embarrass myself here, but I cannot figure out why you included Popcaan in that list.

Just that in dancehall (not just there obviously) the stage names of artists quite often refer to crime and violence.

I got that, I just wasn’t aware Popcaan refers to those things

Like does it mean something other than popcorn?

Oh dear... I just always assumed it was patois for (a) “pop gun”, so I guess you’re not the one embarrassing yourself here!

I did just now find this on Urban Dictionary (I know) though:

Popcaan is the Jamaican Patois spelling for the English word Popcorn. Popcaan means that you pop a corn caan, in other words Popcaan really means you pop or fire gunshots or bullets. A Caan is the Jamaican Patois word for corn, caan another word for bullet or shots.

“I use my brand new gun to popcaan or fire bullets when i am in danger.”

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Popcaan

So maybe we can split the difference (please)?

Ha that’s interesting! Popcorn is definitely a weird nickname so I could see that definition being true

Okay, people. So which songs have you been voting for this time around? I'll enter my ballot soon but thought I'd probe for some minimal consensus first.

I will probably compile my ballot at the very last minute (Friday night), like always.

Sure shots are “Soco”, “Fake Love”, “Akwaaba”, “Banomoya” (and “Club Controller” too, probably), “Logba Logba”, and either “Gbona” or “On The Low”, or maybe both.

No Ye?

I was asking myself that very same question. Still haven’t made my mind up about “Ye” - I think I prefer the other two, but...

(and thanks for reminding me of Ne-Yo. Queuing up “Miss Independent” now!)

"ubala" and "on the low" are definitely on my ballot as well as the sun-el musician, mlindo, and busiswa albums

Not the Simmy album? Will probably my number one.

it's definitely in contention but i'm not sure if it'll make my ballot, this year's been too good

I think I entered something like 8 African pop songs. I also left out Ye. Two each for Wizzie, Burna and Kaybee, one each for Nini and Teni. Also two danceall songs, including a late exchange of Juggernaut for Stay So. I was surprised that no one nominated Black Hypocrisy.

I should have nominated the whole Spice album/mixtape. Def one of the stronger releases of 2019.

I had Outside so high on my albums ballot, I decided to just vote for Gbona. Narrowing down the Wizkid noms was extremely hard--so much so that I voted for Fever, Fake Love, Kana, and Soco. Plus Macala, Drogba, and Akwaaba.

Narrowing down the Wizkid noms was extremely hard

...and “Commando”, “Master Groove”, “Lagos Vibes” (and “Immediately”, and, and...) weren’t even nominated.

(Also, I ultimately decided against nomming “Manya” again - I was the only voter for it last year. It was probably to fresh then (late-Nov release), and now it also misses the 2018 EOY. Shame really, because it’s the song that heralded Wizzy’s Golden Year)

Listening to ILX Listen: 2019
respect to your own playlist; will be adding music on here into the big ol' everything in the hopper one as well

Ghanian Hausa rapper Kiryani Ayat (f/k/a “AYAT”) is on a track-dropping spree right now. I looove “Memuna”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6ouZ2yh7wg

That’s just the audio - hope there will be a video for it, and that it will be as stunning as the one he did last year for “Guda”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMVa8BS_SrQ

Sorry, his name is Kirani Ayat, not Kiryani.

At once very 80s housey and very recognisably 2018-19 SA clubby, I love it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ge_zyYIn6U

Kwiish SA ft. C’Buda, Macfowlen & Vukani • Iskhathi

(This is the vocal mix, the instrumental ‘Main’ mix seems unexplicably to be more popular in South Africa)

A great song from a year ago I had completely forgotten about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zivT9GVayPc

Zirra ft. Koker • Agbada

The kind of track that doesn’t fit in current trends, even though Zirra’s singing style is unthinkable without Wizkid’s example. (Is that guitar riff a “Going Back To My Roots” sample?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4_xrzuPgDU
Danish remix (by Nandu) of a South Sudanese song (by Nyaruach) on the inevitable MIDH afro-house label. One day I'll just check all their catalogue.

Was just looking at the Shazam charts for Atlanta and fall by davido is currently at number 2?

Very interesting. More here:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/davido-fall-us-radio-shazam-780079/

Seems consistent with someone (here? I forgot) mentioning hearing Davido blaring from cars in New York all the time these days.

After a disappointing 2018, “Cette Année” things might be looking up for Serge Beynaud:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TObwKz8RjvM

(I am a bit shocked by the fact that he seems to have lost his dance crew though)

The new Vanessa Mdee is interesting in that it’s the first time Distruction Boyz venture across the border (apart from a Mr Eazi remix) and also the first time they’re doing a pop production:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI3SlwH_dXc

Vanessa Mdee ft. Distruction Boyz, DJ Tira & Prince Bulo • That’s For Me

Naija Dance Special, Vol. 1

“Change your style, another style”:

Things are moving really fast - DMW and Davido have traded in the FreshVDM sound for that brand new Rexxie + Zlatan thing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBs9vrPS9oc

DMW feat. Davido & Zlatan • Bum Bum

I like Rexxie (and hey, there’s Zlatan again) better on stuff like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2jLq7aKxqk

Akintunde feat. Zlatan • Capable

I can see this sound burning out real fast with all the exposure it’s getting. Better enjoy it while it lasts!

The wonderful thing is that there are all kinds of crazy dance tunes coming out of Naija right now. Check this one with an almost Ghanian feel (compare it with Eddie Khae’s “Speak In Tongues” upthread, for instance).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h_B8liZdEQ

DJ Wizziano ft. BaseOne, Mr. Real & CeeBoi • Malokako

I love that skittery hi-hat or whatever it is, and what’s that brass thing doing there?

Those Rexxie tracks sound to me a lot like the circa 2012 "afrobeats" that kicked off ilm's interest in this stuff: Lapaz Toyota, Skelewu, etc. Things got so lush last summer, I'm not surprised if there's a swerve back toward these lower-fi, dancier sounds

61: Wizkid (Starboy) – “Soco” – 180 points – 6 votes – 1 first place vote in ILX 2018 top 77 tracks vote

Cause for celebration, for sure.

But still: Too fucking low!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMuFO9nhtfA

this is from last year but just discovered it and i love it, chill nigerian rap

Yeah, nice one, and alté at that!

(for searching purposes, that’s “Rapid Fire” by Santi ft. Shane Eagle & Amaarae)

I like this Ghanaian rap track, “Pawa” by Worlasi:

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

Naija Love & Blessings Special:

• Teni is going from strength to strength. Here she is helping out Boj on “Obe”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao5yjF_qZoQ

• Adekunle Gold and Simi celebrating their marriage on “Promise”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXZBrx_H-yA

• Simi solo, produced by Legendury Beatz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3dymeqbtOU

• Tekno low-key celebrating gender equality on “Woman”. It’s a good look for him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obadozWVeCo

ok I think that's the first Teni song I've really liked, was really wondering what I was missing with her

(btw, the title of the Simi is “Ayo”)

BREAKING NEWS:

The Sun-El Musician - Africa to the World thread has been repurposed. From now on, and with immediate effect, it will be known as THE HOUSE OF SUN-EL: Sun-El Musician, Simmy, Mlindo The Vocalist, and other related artists, I repeat: “THE HOUSE OF SUN-EL: Sun-El Musician, Simmy, Mlindo The Vocalist, and other related artists”. And if you don’t know, now you know.

Nice.

Interesting P Sherburne piece on "Township Funk": https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/the-strange-story-of-township-funk-the-unlikely-hit-that-helped-south-african-dance-music-go-global/.

I had no idea about Dissensus's role in its popularity, that is wild

This was playing in a sneakers shop here in Oslo today:

https://youtu.be/K3zRmjY6Vcg

It’s nothing special but I was delighted to hear the Spellz drop while I was trying on shoes.

Ha, did you get bored during the rollout too, longneck?

Narrator: longneck posted Bils ft. Kida Kudz & WavyTheCreator • DND

Lol, yeah. I’m afraid the best part of the poll is over now.

lol hence my reviving the soca thread yesterday

Mayorkun’s voice and the Killertunes sound gel really well, so this is fun:

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

Busta Pop ft. Mayorkun • Masha Kilo

Naija Dance Special (Interlude)

Fuji gqom anyone?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsvAJ69YNvA

Qdot • Gbese

Damn, this is a GREAT video. I remember “complaining” a year ago that Naija shaku shaku dancing was kids play compared to what the Angola kuduro crews were doing, but they’re catching up!

Gqom fuji would be more apt, I guess. Anyway, great track, and once again, GREAT video.

Mayorkun - Sope (from his nov. 2018 album)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwIdk6EWbEg

only just started delving into Kenya's Muthoni Drummer Queen album but it's terrific so far

https://youtu.be/KpgCf5ZlDqk

I’m going to personally will Serge Beynaud into a great 2019. His new one (so quickly!) is a lot more fleshed out than mission statement “Cette année”. Most importantly, the dancers are back!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv7zREjc9f0

Serge Beynaud • Kota na Koto

Any thoughts on this Okayafrica piece?

Call Us By Our Name: Stop Using 'Afrobeats'

It does seem to me to be a very reductive name, but at least it's better than "world music."

"kota na koto" rules so much, glad serge is as great as ever

that piece is interesting and pretty agreeable. it would also make it easier to talk about and dig further into african pop in general beyond my current dabbling if i knew what all the various genres and regional scenes were actually called, hopefully i'll get there eventually

A much simpler and respectful solution, is to refer to what is currently known as Afrobeats as pop music from a specific country (i.e. Ghanaian Pop Music) and to other established musical styles by their local names—"highlife," "fuji," "gqom," "bongo flava" and so forth, equipping new listeners with the right vocabulary to experience the varying cultures.

This seems pretty inarguable; the comparison to k-pop/j-pop/c-pop is also a good point. We talked at one point last year about separate threads for different scenes/countries but the feeling was that ilm couldn't sustain it. Idk, maybe we should have done it anyway?

I guess it's really down to context isn't it? I mean, I have trouble explaining to most people what I mean when I say I like 'afrobeats' or 'afro-pop', so trying to describe it in terms of 'Gqom' and 'Shangaan' etc (not to mention my own dilletantism when it comes to the various countries and genres) can be a bit dizzying. Of course in the context of journalism and online discourse, yes be as accurate as possible.

A general afrobeats thread is suitable for ILM and it's great we've seen spinoff threads for Sun El Musician and Burna Boy etc etc

Yeah I retract my thread question--generally everyone is good about identifying which country tracks are from. And I was going to mention I don't know what "bongo flava" is so I'm not sure how reasonable "call it what it is" is in practice. On the other hand I usually tell irl people I like "Nigerian (pop) music" rather than "afrobeats," which tbh doesn't have a lot of currency in north america afaict but obvs may be different in UK

I live in fear of needing to pronounce gqom in real life

oh gqod yeah

I though 'afrobeats' was a fine name when it was specifically referring to pop music from Ghana and Nigeria that was being played at parties with West African immigrants in London. But it quickly became meaningless, and even more so once everything from Serge Beynaud to Sauti Sol and Sun-El Musician was included.

That's true, and in that case the connection to Afrobeat was an intentional if ultimately wrong-headed nod to afrobeats being West African

Of course they (=OkayAfrica) are absolutely right. Afrobeats has always been an extremely clunky name. Afropop is more neutral at least, even if it’s even more of a catch-all term really. I understand it to mean “African pop music in all its many forms and manifestations”, not as a single type of music.

Having said all that, I’m continuously in two minds about this when it comes to ILM.

As I wrote just last week on the repurposed Sun-El thread: “In a perfect ILM world we would have separate Rolling South African, Rolling Nigerian, Rolling Ghanaian, Rolling East African, etc etc threads, but with the current level of participation/enthusiasm being what it is, one catch-all Rolling Afropop thread is enough imho.”

My fear is that the low-level focus there currently is will dwindle into insignifance, with two or three people frequenting the Ghanian thread, one person occasionally posting Tanzanian stuff [there’s your bongo flava, rob] elsewhere, etcetera. But maybe I’m just (self) concern trolling here. For all I know, it could actually ground and nurture posters who like to focus on one particular sound or region.

Country vs genre is another interesting issue.
I would prefer a Naija Pop thread to separate threads for fuji, highlife, etc (unless of course we’re down for some real hardcore specialisation) because all these genres coexist and mix and mingle so much within Naija’s ever fluctuating music machine.
South Africa feels different (to me anyway). It will be interesting to see what the repurposed Sun-El thread will become: will it remain a thread for the extended Sun-El family, smooth Afro(!)house plus smooth SA r&b (which is a misnomer, but I’m not familiar with the SA genrefication) of the likes of Mlindo (Sjava has already shown up)? But how about gqom? Where will I post the next banger? And how about SA rap? I’m still leaning towards the Rolling thread, but it’s becoming more and more arbitrary.

(I wrote this after rob’s first post, some of you may have addressed some of these points already)

Country vs genre is another interesting issue.
I would prefer a Naija Pop thread to separate threads for fuji, highlife, etc (unless of course we’re down for some real hardcore specialisation) because all these genres coexist and mix and mingle so much within Naija’s ever fluctuating music machine.
South Africa feels different (to me anyway). It will be interesting to see what the repurposed Sun-El thread will become: will it remain a thread for the extended Sun-El family, smooth Afro(!)house plus smooth SA r&b (which is a misnomer, but I’m not familiar with the SA genrefication) of the likes of Mlindo (Sjava has already shown up)? But how about gqom? Where will I post the next banger? And how about SA rap? I’m still leaning towards the Rolling thread, but it’s becoming more and more arbitrary.

(I wrote this after rob’s first post. Some of you may have addressed some of these points already)

Sorry for double posting!

Gqom and other SA house are starting to blend a bit too - Club Controller seems like a good fusion

Re: thread splitting, I immediately changed my mind and dog latin is otm with: "A general afrobeats thread is suitable for ILM and it's great we've seen spinoff threads for Sun El Musician and Burna Boy etc etc".

separate genre threads would be madness, though iirc there actually is a highlife thread

If you're curious: Tell me stuff about highlife music

I wouldn’t say so. While it’s true that some old-school kwaito/house producers and artists are incorporating gqom in their sound, there is a world of difference between the (mainstream) gqom of “Banomoya” and for instance the recent Busiswa album, and the Sun-El sound of “Akanamali” and everything Simmy.

And then we haven’t even mentioned people like DJ Sumbody and your beloved Master KG who are doing something else altogether, somewhere halfway the smooth <> hard-hitting spectrum.

xps to dog latin

well yeah, can't argue with that - there's definitely a spectrum of sounds

The thing with highlife: there’s “classic” “old school” highlife - that’s what that thread is about, I think, and there’s highlife as it is understood within current West African pop music (which is what OkayAfrica was referring to). In Nigeria, Kiss Daniel brought highlife back to the pop frontline with “Woju” and “Laye”(not that it’s ever not been a presence), and I guess Teni would be highlife as well.
In Ghana, Bisa Kdei is modern highlife, but Kidi and Kuami Eugene are pop highlife as well (and then if course there’s hiplife).

Same thing with fuji in Nigeria. There’s classic fuji for the older generation, but it’s also changing and adapting with the times (a lof of “street music” is in fact just that afaiui). I posted a gqom-informed take on fuji just yesterday. Do treat yourself to Qdot’s “Gbese”!

A general problem for me with all of this music is that I'm reasonably informed about 60s/70s (esp. the latter) African music--not every country of course--but I really don't know what was going on in the 90s and 00s. So while I noticed you calling that song fuji, the lineage is pretty hard for me to discern. (I'm also not trained in music, so if the connections are more abstract things like rhythm patterns I'll probably miss that too.)

Like I think I have a decent sense of what 70s highlife is and could identify previously unheard tracks as highlife, but it wouldn't have occurred to me to call Kiss Daniel highlife as much as I recognized what he was doing sounds older/classic-al compared to say D'Banj or Wizkid

I live in fear of needing to pronounce gqom in real life

Me: - less than reasonably informed about pre 2010s African musics
- no musical training to speak of

Make of that what you will...

Oh, and of course Flavour has been a mainstay of contemporary Nigerian highlife for a decade or more.

I want to make a drum sound out of that YouTube video.

Me: - less than reasonably informed about pre 2010s African musics
- no musical training to speak of

Make of that what you will...

There was an Afropop Worldwide show about gqom a while ago, and after listening to that, and hearing it said about a dozen times including by the American producer, I think I could have given it a shot but my confidence has waned since.

breastcrawl, have you done any exploring of the past since getting into the contemporary stuff? I'm listening to Franco (who's Congolese) right now and I'm sure you'd love it

makes me curious as to where people itt are actually based, as I have mostly no idea. think I've mentioned it lots of times on ILM but I'm Bristol, UK

Montreal, which I also assume everyone knows but I'm probably overestimating my memorability

I’m Dutch, from Amsterdam. Sorry I had to close shop. It was getting way past my bedtime and I had to work in the morning (i.e. now).

rob, I do listen to older African stuff on occasion, but not in any systematic way (like I feel sometimes I should, in order to get more historical background). Just like with the singles vs albums issue, it’s a matter of priorities and time management, and I don’t even have enough time to enjoy and keep up with all the good new stuff that’s coming out.

And yeah, (classic) soukous is one of the genres I would love to explore more.

So many jams, so little time...

fwiw Franco one of my fav artists of any country, any genre

^

I forgot to mention another important player in contemporay Nigerian highlife: Adekunle Gold (see above).

A current highlife-inflected fav:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDabcMUdq5Q

Patapaa ft. Article Wan • Enemies

oh, and while we’re in Ghana: Koo Ntakra, “Bam”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b4ny4r4TEo

(for that Akwaaba-ey vibe)

Reposting the links to the tracks posted just ahead of that long convo we had the other day. Wouldn’t want them to get snowed under!

Busta Pop ft. Mayorkun • Masha Kilo

Qdot • Gbese

Mayorkun • Sope

Muthoni Drummer Queen • Suzie Noma

Serge Beynaud • Kota na Koto

New Niniola. Producer Sarz gets the co-credit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ku_TK7tsEs

“Designer”

I posted the new Prince Kaybee on the Sun-El thread, because it fits there. But if you crave that Club Controller/Banomoya sound (albeit slightly smoothed out) look no further than NaakMusiQ’s new one:

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

NaakMusiQ ft. Bluelle • Ndakwenza Ntoni

Sarkodie is Ghana’s biggest rapper, but I find his singles very hit or miss these days. This new one is banging though, thanks in no small part to Akan, Ghana’s best new rapper:

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

Sarkodie ft. Akan • All Die Be Die

(Akan’s Onipa Akoma album, released in 2017, is extremely good btw. It was #4 on my 2018 ballot, although I somehow never stanned for it.)

The okayafrica debate seems to anticipate on an in-force US market entry, where commodification and simplistic labels might be a nascent risk. But so far, what I observe is that fans are, besides Africans themselves, people who have a direct connection or interest in the continent, and few others. For all of those, a catch-up term seems inevitable, given how the current pop culture has shot up and found obvious common points from Ghana to Tanzania, and from Ivory Coast to Cameroon and Congo, when it's obvious that everyone's paying attention to the success of a few stars. The pop scene presents itself as pan-African (with individualities), or as individualities with a pan-african inspiration. It's everyone's individual responsibility to engage intelligently and perceive the dynamics rather than a monolith. I understand the basic lack of trust in Americans and Europeans ("c'est de bonne guerre" as we say: all's fair in love and war) but I'm very resistant to another semantics war. Afro-pop is my preferred catch-all term, which I slightly prefer to descriptive terms like "pop from Ghana", just as I use, say mpb as a short-term for all Brazilian pop whether the influence is Samba, Bossa, Tropicalia, Vanguardia P., or genres from the North / regional traditions whose applications I don't master anyway. You can call something pop while recognizing specific influences without having to name them, so I don't insist on calling something Bongo Flava just because it's Tanzanian if: 1. it sounds pop to me 2. I don't actually know what Bongo Flava is and how to recognize it.
I don't know, I try to keep it flexible.
I'm Swiss btw.

I'm finally listening to the Bucie album from december and it's... really good? The sun's out today and it all just sounds gorgeous.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tjk0nHlT49A

Linex Sunday - Too Late ft Lady Jaydee

speaking of Bongo Flava I've been listening to this one a lot in the last week. Lady Jaydee's vocals are very sweet, feels summer-y.

You can call something pop while recognizing specific influences without having to name them, so I don't insist on calling something Bongo Flava just because it's Tanzanian if: 1. it sounds pop to me 2. I don't actually know what Bongo Flava is and how to recognize it.
I don't know, I try to keep it flexible.
I'm Swiss btw.

― Nabozo, Friday, February 8, 2019 4:17 AM (six hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I agree with this. I normally call all african music from the 70/80s and onward Afropop when i'm talking about it. Unless i'm having a genre specific convo. I would prefer to just call it pop really though if i had a choice. I dunno if k-pop or j-pop fans feel the same, but (and maybe its too utopian) its all just pop music written for broad audiences and why can't we just ignore where its from. Maybe the location specific markers won't matter as much in time, but i get them from a marketing perspective, and I get that the language barrier means something to some people as well.

I'm from Canada, but lived in Kenya for a time, my mom grew up on a farm outside Nairobi but her parents were decedents of the British 1820 settlers in SA so the majority of my extended family is still in SA.

Should we start a pre-2010s Afropop thread? I won't claim to be an expert in any way. But it would be awesome to post what we know/can find and go from there.

a thread for everything that came out before this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N70tdfvuaOs

The afrofunk-ish beat on that Sarkodie/Akan track is awesome.

Should we start a pre-2010s Afropop thread? I won't claim to be an expert in any way. But it would be awesome to post what we know/can find and go from there.

To come back to rapper Cassper Nyovest, who’s mentioned in that OkayAfrica piece: Sure, he’s “hip-hop”, not “afrobeats”, but he’s also an artist working within the South African and wider African pop context. Last year alone he did a single with Davido, and scored hits with DJ Sumbody and old school vocal duo Shwi Nomtekhala. I mean, good luck trying to sell this as “hip-hop” in the US:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kej8eH6CNK8
Cassper Nyovest ft. DJ Sumbody • Remote Control

(or try “Tseya Ukwe”, the other Sumbody jam on his recent album)


To further confuse matters: South Africans are now doing *afrobeats*?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOJ31xKTH1s
DJ PH ft. Rouge & ManuWorldstar • Go Down

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-19tB50H7YM
DJ Yanga ft. MarazA & MJ Washington • Dancia Dancia


Another interesting sound from SA, gqom-related but very much it’s own thing. I think it’s awesome:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Grlp2OGeQIc

Shado M • Inhliziyo Yami Ithi Hey

(I’m still trying to parse that video)

Still in South Africa...

This is fantastic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-IWRr6ohzw

TNS ft. iNdlovukazi • My Dali

Apparently there’s som beef between Prince Kaybee and TNS at the moment. TNS accused Kaybee of exploiting him economically. Then Kaybee literally posted the receipts on his FB page. Looks like TNS was... ahem... exaggerating.

*some

Hadn’t heard of that. So, how do you rate their new tracks?

My bad I guess, I never even realized TNS was a producer. I thought his credit on “Banomoya” was for the male vocal part. (Of course, he’s got a credit on “Club Controller” as well, but I never made the connection.) Judging by their respective new tracks, TNS played a big part in creating that sound though.

I organized a small battle between two of my favourite tracks right now. It’s over here: Gqompetition time: two songs, two videos - QDOT vs SHADO M

Feel free to take a look and participate!

More Kaybee collaborators, with a fun jam:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb5RXKRZ-3Q

LaSoulMates ft. Oskido & Busiswa • iStory

catching up on some 2018 tracks. sho madjozi's huku is amazing

You might like the one right before your post as well then

In my search for context for the Shado M song posted above that I’m currently obsessed with (as discussed here) I came across this banger:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KLgVIyoHPo

Setro Beats x Diloxclusiv • Makwenzeke

Is everyone aware that kruezer2 went ahead and started an Old School Afropop thread? It’s actually busier than this one right now, for shame lol!

I revisited Sho Madjozi’s debut album Limpopo Champions League, and damn, it’s good! (thanks for reminding me, |||||||||!)
It’s fun, sassy and colourful, just like Busiswa’s Highly Flavoured, but musically it’s much more of a grab bag. It has several gqom jams (like “Huku”), it has shangaan electro, a cool track with Kwesta, but also an EDM track, and an r&b love jam. And then there’s my two favourite tracks, which may or may not fall into the xibelani, xitsonga and xingondo genres she cites as influences.

Highlight #1: “Yaz’ Abelungu”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ascPO9HhkiY
(produced by She’s Drunk - their collaborative track “Amadoda” was recently posted on the Rolling Reconstructed Club Music thread)

Highlight #2: “Changanya” ft. Marioo & Aubrey Qwana:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_wzdXg90Z4
(sung in Swahili - more on Marioo later)

It was released in December, ufo nominated it for the album poll. I’m pretty sure I will nominate it again for the 2019 EOY.

As good a time as any to post this gqom track and video by queer performance art duo FAKA:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHCN8bynfF0
FAKA • Uyang’khumbula

(From 2017, but I only found out about it late last year, and then was reminded of it and them again through this: https://www.okayafrica.com/bigger-nzuza-faka-south-africa-music-interview/)

A helpful YouTuber translated the hook:

Do you remember me,
we used to sleep together on a sponge,
and on a different day we slept in a bush
My father beat us when we were eating each other (having sex) in the kitchen
from the morning until midday

Replacing some dead YouTube links:

DJ Yanga ft. MarazA & MJ Washington • Dancia Dancia

LaSoulMates ft. Oskido & Busiswa • iStory

Tanzanian Marioo (who’s on that Swahili Sho Madjozi track) is a relative newbie. He’s similar to Rayvanny, Harmonize and other post-Diamond Platnumz singers, but his jams are meatier, “Wauwe” being a case in point:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN1m37Y2ZFw

Also, the Arab elements in the instrumenation seem to be more pronounced (does that mean it’s “taarab”-influenced? maybe kruezer2 can help me out here?) “Manyaku” is a case in point:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIgmVc6sDaY

Through Marioo I also found out about Gigy Money, a husky-voiced rapper/singer who’s got some nice tracks:

Gigy Money • Papa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuWmarlfdxo
(there’s a remix with Marioo now too)

Gigy Money ft. Whozu & Sanja • Kiki Ni Gigy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skYyXRSxPgU

(not sure about that remix, I think both versions on Spotify are actually the same, but Marioo is credited on the most recent one only. he’s not in the vid though, that’s for sure)

Ghana update:

GuiltyBeatz ft. Mr Eazi & Kwesi Arthur • Pilolo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzfAuw_zu6s (the *actual* follow-up to “Akwaaba”)

A-Star • Balaya: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSYi_JkTJmU (his “Kupe Dance” was one of last year’s biggest Afropop hits, although it was never posted here. I like this one better)

FOKN Bois ft. Medikal • Wo Nim Mi:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsmM4PXMANk (FOKN Bois is the side project of rappers M3NSA and Wanlov the Kubolor. This is from their new album Afrobeats LOL)

a star track is so great

There’s a video for Zlatan x Burna’s “Killin’ Dem” (just as well, cause the link upthread went dead):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EfSs6-Pxx8

At once very 80s housey and very recognisably 2018-19 SA clubby, I love it:

Kwiish SA ft. C’Buda, Macfowlen & Vukani • Iskhathi

(This is the vocal mix, the instrumental ‘Main’ mix seems unexplicably to be more popular in South Africa)

Ha yeah Spottie, I agree!

xxp

Another Ghanian hit — Pappy Kojo ft. Joey B & Nshorna • Balance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyKqdS9l2uc

(it features legendary azonto producer Nsho(r)na a/k/a Krynkman a/k/a Amadaa, who only raps here and puts in a little shout-out to “Obuu Mo”, the 2011 E.L classic he produced)

High-level Naija collabos:

Patoranking ft. Davido • Confirm:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR6anPLRv6g
(never realized their voices are that similar)

D’banj & 2Baba • Baecation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=h-XMvzgi0eE
(imagine how big this would have been ten years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-XMvzgi0eE

GuiltyBeatz at it again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32HG5UYPs1w
Ms Banks ft. Kida Kudz • Snack

(location: exactly halfway between the UK and West Africa)

(Note: this beat is guilty of resembling the one Samklef made for Wizzy’s “Don’t Dull” - this is not a crime)

Juls at it again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=of8zdBPIWlI
Zlatan ft. Damibliz, Worlasi & Juls • Kokosa

(location: exactly halfway between Ghana and Nigeria)

R2Bees have a new album out (only their third in ten years!), called Site 15. I posted their collaboration with Burna Boy on the Burna thread. This is a new track with their buddy Wizkid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6j5Y3DuSvc

R2Bees ft. Wizkid • Straight From Mars

The new Olamide hit with Killertunes producing is... pretty good, I guess, but Young John has done this type of joint for Baddo more than once before:

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

Olamide • Woske

All of the above are fine and dandy, but this... is the fucking best!!! (or is it my current South African bias?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGVP1HcXQhA

MFR Souls feat. TallArseTee • Bamb’ikhanda

Also: epic party video

(Their earlier track “Glory” is more conventional soulful house, but also very good)

So Babes Wodumo livestreamed Mampintsha beating her up on IG, and it’s pretty terrible. DJ Tira just released a statement supporting her wholeheartedly.

Re Mmino, the new Prince Kaybee album is out. With just six new tracks besides the three singles, it’s not overly generous. The new tracks are solid (with the exception of “AfroTech Thursday”, a real dud imo), but there’s nothing nearly as epic and groundbreaking (and just plain banging) as “Club Controller” or “Banomoya”. I think this is my favourite of the new tracks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8M2qEonOzE

Prince Kaybee ft. Holly Rey • Yes You Do

ANGOLAN AFRO-HOUSE/KUDURO SPECIAL:

Nerú Americano and Os Santiegos (remember “Sem Maldades”?) have teamed up again (as, yes, you could have almost guessed it, “O Team”) for a mini album of six slamming tracks. I love all the ass action in the official video for lead track “Sim”, but the military roleplay is too triggering (literally, and especially now) to post it without a warning, so here’s a TV performance of it instead:

O Team • Sim: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXbkmravNg4


The “Sem Maldades” producer releases a track of his own:

DJ Vado Poster ft. Ed Sangria • Peso: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TS0H65B3Aw

(oh, you enjoyed that TV performance? Here’s another one!)


From last year, also produced by DJ Vado Poster (some amazing dancing in this video):

Cadu Fashion & Mr Brazuca • Andamento: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNSve4vp7AI


Two that are more informed by trap:

Preto Show ft. Teo No Beat • 150 BPM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tst_QFcQAq4

DJ Nelasta ft. Titica & Paulelson • Tonga: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRkL28SzBOk


And finally, an oldie, from 2014:

Staff Paulo ft. Gaia Beat & DJ Ricardo Orange • Sapelemé: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEp9ktHV6Sg

Wed. March 27 - Mr. Eazi at the Fillmore in Silver Spring, Md near Washington DC. Maybe I will go

Great track from Ghana (Naija references notwithstanding):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kBC94pjDYg

RJZ & DarkoVibes ft. Magnom & Nana Benyin • Zanku

”This is not a music video... It’s all fun & games
now LETS ZANKU!!!”

I guess, and it’s also just one minute long. Here’s the full track.

Reminder: we can all help make ILM a less boring place by posting cool music and interesting content!

important public service announcement there!
Zanku is quite good.

X-post- Mr. Eazi dc area gig postponed till April 25

X-post- Mr. Eazi dc area gig postponed till April 25

Visa issues he said in a social media post

just head 'straight from mars' by r2bees & wizkid. so subtle and great.
thanks so much breastcrawl for all the amazing music you've been posting.

Happy to hear that, Nourry! Makes me feel less like some kind of Theresa May, stubbornly trying to push through something nobody is really interested in.

FYI: There’s a duet between Wizkid and Teni coming up that’s also super smooth and subtle from what I’ve heard of it (I don’t have access to the link right now).


The thing is though, I’m only scratching the surface. I wish others would share and discuss their favourites and discoveries here as well, so we would get a bigger picture, and it would become less of a I’m-Listening-To-This-Music-So-You-Don’t-Have-To kind of thing, but maybe that’s too much to ask of ILM in its current state.

I love ILM, but it’s lost a lot of its lustre with so many posters becoming less active or simply disappearing. (Did they migrate to greener pastures, and if so where might these be?).
Retro is the default mode more than ever before. It’s mainly old music that brings all the boys/girls to the threads, and while that’s fine in and of itself, I’d so much rather talk and read about the exciting music I’m listening to now (which does include new-to-me old school African pop tbh) than about music I found thrilling back in the day and only listen to occasionally these days.

Anyway, end of lament. There’s lots of great new stuff to post, but I’m in a YouTube-unfriendly part of the world right now. I might post some Spotify links instead soon, if it’s alright with you folks.

Your lost-lustre lament is exactly how I started to feel about ilm about two years ago (iirc). I think I've mostly stopped feeling bad about it, though sometimes the 180-degree disparity between the general drift of recent discourse and how the ilm I first discovered would have reacted is kind of stunning. I've been absent itt because I haven't been listening to much in this vein, but that's partially because there's been a slew of good to great albums/EPs out (Solange, DAWN, Koffee, Christian Scott, Comet Is Coming, etc).

Anyway, I really came to post this Eugy "Lolo" I just listened to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viLHv8IkcDM

I was enjoying this Kranium song Mind Blown which turns out to be the same (Young John) production as this:

Kizz Daniel, "Fvck You"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGGu65glWpU

Both versions are pretty great imo

I’ve felt this way before too (pretty sure I’ve complained about it once or twice as well) and I actually quit posting for months on end two times because of the lack of feedback. I guess this time it’s the post-EOY blues in large part (you know, with everyone going “Wow, who knew this music was that fantastic. Guess I will start following the Afropop thread now!”, and then, as usual, nothing happens. Nabozo predicted it, I guess I should have seen it coming lol)

But back to the music: I really like the Eugy, hadn’t come around to playing it yet. Especially like that it’s produced by Spanker, further proof of the upsurge of Dutch urban music.

I have mixed feelings about “Fvck You”. ‘Good guy’ Kizz is showing his misogynistic side more and more, and I don’t like it. However: am I reading you right and did Young John produce a track for Kranium? That would be interesting. It’s not on Spotify, so I can’t check.

Oh I didn’t catch barely any of the lyrics on the Kizz, that’s a shame. The Kranium is called Mind Blown and it’s on Spotify in Canada anyway. It’s the same music as Fvck exactly, just different vocals

I did think it was odd that the dude who sang Mama was putting out a song called Fvck You, but I haven’t paid much attention to him since that album

Both versions are good but, yeah, no reason for Kizz Daniel of all people to go there, so I'll probably be playing the Kranium version way more. Is this a general tendency in recent Nigerian pop music or is it just a case of Kizz Daniel trying to rebrand himself as edgy?

I think it’s on Kizz, really. He’s been sexing up his image ever since “Sofa”, two years ago now. However, he could be setting a trend with the video for his recent smash “Madu”, which is very steamy for Nigerian standards. (it has some lyrical raunch as well).

(you’ll have to look up the video yourselves, all I can do is post the Spotify link.

It’s not nearly the best track on his album though, that would be the similarly titled “Maye”, even though that’s another golddigger-bashing song.

oh yeah I do remember "Sofa," I think I liked that one. Lol I forgot he called his album No Bad Songz. In defiance of that title, I didn't get very far into it the one time I tried to listen, but "Maye" bumps. ("Madu" is dull imo.)

But I relistened to "Fvck You" and I still can barely discern what he's singing about, so I think I'm okay with it--all praise to Young John most likely. Also, on the Kranium version he says he calls his dick "Jehovah Thickness", which is hilarious but I'm not sure his version is a lyrical safe haven :)

Especially like that it’s produced by Spanker, further proof of the upsurge of Dutch urban music.

btw, breastcrawl, could you expand on this? I don't know who Spanker is or what the Dutch connection is.

“Jehovah Thickness” is A+

“Fvck You” is about a girl he was seeing who turned out to be an ‘ashawo’ (=slut); the chorus is basically him listing all the colleagues (you might recognize some names) who fucked her apart from him. He feels betrayed, the poor thing.

It does look like Kranium paid a little work visit to Naija. He and Kizz are both on the track “Send Her Money” on the Olamide-supervised YBNL MaFia Family album that dropped late December, and Young John is affiliated with that label too, so it makes sense.

Spanker is one of the biggest producers within the Dutch urban scene, which has basically taken over the Dutch music industry in the past five years or so. Afro vibes are a non-negligible part of this.

I should add: some of these producers are making waves internationally too (this does include working with/for Diplo/Major Lazer). I’ve mentioned it elsewhere, but one of last year’s biggest latin hits, “X” by Nicky Jam and J Balvin, was produced by Dutch producer duo Afro Bros.

dang I kind of wish you hadn't spelled out those Kizz lyrics. I had noticed some famous names but didn't get why he was saying them--in fact it sounds more like he's dissing them if you don't know what's going on...oh well, 2016 already feels like a special moment in naija pop that I have nostalgia for, so I guess I can add "that was when Kiss Daniel wasn't a dickhead" to the list of reasons why.

interesting stuff about the Dutch scene, thanks!

Also, on further listens I really really like "LoLo." It's so airy and sprightly, it reminds me of "Ghana Bounce"...just don't tell me what it's about lol

There is, fyi, also a "clean version" of Fvck You on Spotify. I can't make out what he's saying there either, but I'll stick to it.

xp

Sorry about that, rob! Realized I should have added a spoiler alert after I posted it lol.

in fact it sounds more like he's dissing them if you don't know what's going on

As promised, some current faves - with their Spotify links, as I’m in a YouTube-less part of the world.

First up, seven smooth tracks with trademark Naija sweetness:

A) Fireboy DML • Jealous (an absolute beauty, originally on the YBNL MaFia Family album - and plugged in Olamide’s “Woske” video posted upthread) Spotify link

B) Tee Y Mix ft. Teni • Bilo (it’s Teni, baby, need I say more? Oh yeah: duet with Wizkid upcoming) Spotify link

C) Skiibii ft. Reekado Banks • Sensima (posted last year, but still in the mix, this song won’t quit!) Spotify link

D) Oxlade • Shugar (bringing that sweetness!) Spotify link

E) Reekado Banks • Maria (exquisite, produced by Young John) Spotify link

F) Iyanya ft. Duncan Mighty • Halle Spotify link

(Iyanya “celebrated” this (very good) sort-of comeback single by coming clean about his partnership with label boss Ubi Franklin. It’s yet another story of complete dysfunctionality in the Naija music industry.

G) Rema • Dumebi (new signing on Don Jazzy’s Mavin Records) Spotify link

Two more:

H) DJ Prince ft. Olamide & Phyno • Piom Piom (highlife pop alert!) Spotify link

I) IBK Spaceshipboi ft. Always Good (?), Waje & Praiz • Because Of You (possible Alté alert! loving this vibe) Spotify link

Legwork and other street and/or dancefloor stuff, times four:

J) Reminisce • Oja (produced by Sarz) Spotify link

K) Lil Kesh ft. Fireboy • Le Le Yi (another track of the YBNL MaFia Family album; can’t check, but this sounds like a Sarz production as well) Spotify link

L) Qdot • Koshi Danu (follow-up to “Gbese”, it’s another good one) Spotify link

M) DJ Xclusive ft. Zlatan Ibile • Gbomo Gbomo (another Rexxie joint) Spotify link

All of course to be found on this Spotify playlist: ILM rolling Afropop / Afrobeats / Afrodance 2019

epic post, breastcrawl, wow. To quickly clarify: I by no means think it's all been downhill since 2016--last year was huge!--it was just packed with personal favorites (some actually from 2015...really the whole "good year/bad year" thing is a little silly).

oh my god "Jealousy" is sooo good, thank you

sorry "Jealousy"

pretty obsessed
lil frosh / small doctor "firi yahoo"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4VFJDVywak

^^^ You found my Exhibit N!

I’m becoming ever so slightly addicted to this slice of Angolan kizombo myself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL5z4_xFEBE

Yudi Fox • Baixinhas

By the way, did anyone catch Mr Eazi (& GuiltyBeatz) and/or Burna Boy (streaming) live at Coachella (on Friday and Saturday respectively)?

I guess not...

Two big East African smash hits from the House of Wasafi:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teejx562wxg
Harmonize ft. Burna Boy & Diamond Platnumz • Kainama

(video features Burna in a bathtub)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6pCgzHMJY8
Rayvanny ft. Diamond Platnumz • Tetema

Video for Niniola’s “Designer”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib7YN4jK-oM

She also has a cute song with Mr. P:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe5KxFF4n8w

Mr. P ft. Niniola • One More Night

Designer is very good. Her and Sarz are such a great team.

New DJ Sumbody:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7kIa3OXsdU

DJ Sumbody ft. Kwesta, Thebe, Vettys & Vaal Nation • Ngwana Daddy

More from South Africa:

KayGee DaKing & Bizizi ft. Killa Kau • Kokota https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5Qj7HwJCws

Boss track.

*Killer Kau

Wizkid getting grief on twitter from North American based fans for being a live appearance no-show a lot. Read elsewhere a guess that Wizkid’s band had visa issues, but it’s not clear why he missed 2 DC area gigs & Coachella (both weekends). The afternoon DC gig was a big rap/ r'n'b stadium fest w/ Childish Gambino & Lil Wayne where Wizkid was scheduled to be the sole Afrobeats act; the evening DC bill in a 5,000 seater was all afrobeats I think

I'm really digging that Yudi Fox track and pretty much all the "Introduçao" album

“Moça Louca” off that album is an all-time kizombo classic.

This is spectacularly delightful:

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

Manqonqo ft. DJ Tira & Airic • Ngibambe

Is this the first track to be informed by the “Inhliziyo Yami Ithi Hey“ beat?
And man, those synths!

Manqonqo - whose big hit “Eyadini” I momentarily forgot has a similar beat (must be all those current AmaPiano hits confusing me) - is also on this amazing track from the recent-ish (and very good) Dbn Nyts album, SeXtion 3:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fbIF3eoL6g

Dbn Nyts ft. Manqonqo & Cueber • Bawele

G) Rema • Dumebi (new signing on Don Jazzy’s Mavin Records) Spotify link

― breastcrawl, Saturday, April 6, 2019 4:07 AM (one month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Hey this song is pretty sweet and seems to be blowing up a little? There's a cute video now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUU1bIWpH5c

thank you to all of you posting this stuff. i'm really having a great afternoon listening to all of it and going down youtube rabbit holes related to it, etc.

sincerely, thanks!!

Good to hear! What are some of your favourites, whether from this thread or from the rabbit holes you fell into?

Dumebi is officially the jam.

So how do you (all) rate the new Wizkid?

You can find it here, on the designated Starboy thread.

breastcrawl, the DBN NYTS stuff is undoubtedly my favorite of the recent stuff you've posted. "Bawele," "Shumaya," "Gqom User," they're all pretty dope!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAg2iLMEf-Y

I’m behind on just about everything but the new Wizkid is good and Jealous(y) is excellent.

not too sure about what is exactly being said here. it's been described as "prayerful," but i do like this a lot, the chorus is hype.

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

Some background on the “prayerfulness” of Zlatan’s “This Year”:

https://thenativemag.com/music/zlatan-shares-inspirational-prayerful-new-single-year

(props to producer Rexxie for making his highly recognizable sound still sound so fresh here)

finally caught up on the last two months or so of this thread and I really like "Designer"! a lot of the gqom posted lately has been really nice too

Runtown has an EP out, called Tradition. This is the Spellz-produced single: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwVAm41vHng
Runtown • Emotions

Patoranking is playing it quite safe on his second album Wilmer, trying to cover as many African markets as he can. I like the DJ Coublon-produced “Nakupenda” with Kenyan singer Nyashinski: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nkEWbUGIFA

But the biggest album in Naija right now is Mandy & The Jungle by Santi. A similar hype to Odunsi surrounds him, but he’s the more interesting Alté artist, I think.

Santi • Sparky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpc-qsVY-BA
He’s also on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD1Ce3Xft7s
prettyboyDO ft. Santi • Pull Up

As for Rema: yes, “Dumebi” is the jam and it’s most certainly “blowing up a little”. It’s been the biggest song in Naija practically from the day it dropped (so that’s two months and counting), and “Corny” (another goodie) off his EP is doing very well also. The song is also big in Ghana and crossing over to other African countries as we speak.

I liked this profile on him: https://thenativemag.com/featured/meet-rema-kid-benin-world-feet

This single with mentor D’Prince is also good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGIwGyW6X14

D’Prince ft. Rema • Lavida

love that first Santi track, thought it really does sound like he's saying "i'm a lawyer" during the bridges? am i hearing things?

i've started following the Native more closely because of this thread!!

love "Lavida," too. good stuff.

am i hearing things?

ohhh sparki is awesome

xpost to breastcrawl: god, i'm such an idiot, i should've figured that.

Maybe these love jams can lift your spirit?

Both from Ghana (with some Nigerian input in one case):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXoWrKHp9f8

Amaarae ft. Wande Coal • Spend Some Time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I5898XrWlg

T’neeya ft. Kwesi Arthur, B4bonah & TimiBOI • Bend It

(Some badly needed female voices as well)

Spottie, Sparki or Santy? I think we need to poll this...

xps

Just climbed aboard the Santi train. Thanks, guys.

It’s DEFINITELY lawyer though, lol

My only question would be why Santi seems to be getting some sort of push that other african artists aren’t getting in the West atm? He deserves it but it’s not as though that usually matters.

Another yes for Santi

"Lavida" is awesome, and Rema really makes it what it is. Not surprised it's doing so well in Nigeria, but ftr when I said it was blowing up a little, I meant I saw it on the Fader lol

I don't recall the Odunsi album well enough to articulate why I like that Santi more, but "Sparky" is dope, I'll have to check out the whole album.

Also I don't want to give the afrobeats thread its very own "that's where I'm a viking" clusterfuck but it's clearly LIAR

oh it's "liar" for sure - but I heard "lawyer" first and can't unhear it.

X-post - Seems like the Fader is almost only one giving the crossover coverage

yeah it seemed meaningful to me at the time since the Fader feels more parochial to me these days (meaning, at least, that their dancehall and afropop coverage has significantly dwindled compared to a few years back)

picking up on longneck's question, it's p interesting to see Santi on a list/site like this: https://music.avclub.com/5-new-releases-we-love-a-sexy-riff-heavy-collision-a-1835105291

ok scrolling through Reeves's twitter it makes more sense now

Well... when I tried to pitch Santi to some of my closest musical friends recently it turned out they already knew about him from another friend who usually doesn't follow this kind of music too closely. So I'm thinking he must have hit some sort of trendy nerve and could actually blow up.

It'll be interesting to see how the new Goldlink single featuring Maleek Berry (and Bibi B) does. He's on the Santi album so there might be some sort of connection here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP3YqHqDVVY&frags=pl%2Cwn

Btw, I stumbled upon this Big Zulu feat. Kwesta and it's growing on me fast:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR7R_8LXGIY&frags=pl%2Cwn

ouch pitchfork does not like the Santi album

pffftfork

tbh his problem with Santi is similar to why I wasn't taken with Odunsi--though he's more comfortable with basically saying "this doesn't sound Nigerian enough" than I am--so I'll admit I'm less enthused about listening to it now. Does anyone here rep for the whole album?

I listened to the album twice so far, and though I quite enjoyed it, apart from the singles there was hardly anything that stood out for me or that I felt like playing again afterwards (well, maybe “Raw Dinner”), and the review does a good job of pinpointing why that might be. And yes, it’s very similar to the Odunsi situation, although I feel, as I said upthread, Santi is the more interesting of the two.

Don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate and enjoy the genre as an extra flavour on the Naija (in this case) smorgasbord, it’s all that “heralding the future of Afropop” (© The Native) stuff that bugs me. If that’s the future, I can’t say I’m looking forward to it. I much prefer the present, thanks.

I guess I like the idea of Afropop infiltrating and upsetting the Drakosphere much better than the idea of the Drakosphere infiltrating and overtaking the world of Apropop.

Apropop? Yeah, that would be the perfect hybrid.

The song that ended Rema’s reign: Mayorkun + Kizz Daniel + Young John = the throwback that is “True”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLpfxDFSN7E

Footnote: So last week I left out something about Don Jazzy probably pinching his arm about Rema’s unexpected success after the protracted slump of his Mavin Records and the loss of Reekado and Tiwa - too much inside baseball, I felt. But lo(l) and behold, that very same day he came out again with his Mavins, pretending it’s still 2014 and we’re still living in Dorobucci Land. Will order be restored?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-pwj2SEUd8
Mavins ft. Don Jazzy, Korede Bello, Rema, DNA & Crayon • All Is In Order

(not sure how well this fits in with the plan outlined in that Native piece
to develop Rema as a not-your-typical-afropop artist)

In other news: Wande’s still got it (see also the Amaarae track posted over the weekend):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Snpa4_kUkkg
melvitto ft. Wande Coal • Gentility

All is in order does sound very 2014, but it sure made me realize how much I've been missing the sound of Don Jazzy's voice.

And no, the Santi album isn't all that great and is not the future of anything, but it does have about three really good songs on it from a brand new artist and that's what matters.

In other news I woke up wondering if there had been a better artist producer combo in any genre over the last couple of years than Niniola and Sarz? Designer is sooooooo good.

Also... on the evidence of Diet I think Tiwa Savage could benefit a lot from working more with Sarz - he loosens up the tiny stiffness that is often holding her back just a bit.

hum. I tried a few Santi tracks (Sparky, Rapid Fire, Maria...) and... I don't really get the excitement : it's not bad at all but it's nothing special imo.

listening to the Santi album and "RX-64" is really lovely at the very least

i haven't really kept up with whatever hype there's been surrounding Santi in the western press lately but the album is quite enjoyable overall, though not really exciting. it is interesting to see the influence go back the other way, and he does this sound a lot better than Drake ever has

Santi is also on this nice Juls song:
https://youtu.be/BxHLZMeb7-Q

...and he provides the flourish at the end of my favorite track on the Kwesi Arthur album (the hottest thing in Ghana right now):

https://m.soundcloud.com/kwesiarthur/kill-my-spirit-ft-sarkodie
Kwesi Arthur ft. Sarkodie & Santi • Kill My Spirit

#standingupforsanti

South African interlude - also to let you all know that there is some good new stuff on the House of Sun-El thread.

Two recent discoveries from 2018:

Muzi • Bantu Space Odyssey:
Spotify link

(brought to me by my Spotify Discover Weekly. It’s from his album Afrovision, which is good, as is his new EP.)


Tendaness ft. Bholoja & LO • Jika:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPHn3UTNSZQ

(this is actually from eSwatini/Swaziland. The guy’s got a new album out, which I haven’t heard yet but I’m very curious about)

LOVE that Tendaness track.

It’s wonderful, isn’t it? Love the video as well.

i'm legit playing it on a loop. (it was released last year? cannot really believe that the vid has so few views!)

I did the same after I found out about the track this morning. It felt like a little miracle.

It was mentioned in this interview with singer S-Tone, one of the guest vocalists on last year’s Sun-El Musician album.

Yeah! Very nice. It has about 8 000 streams on Spotify at the moment, lol.

I like that Tendaness album. Sure, “Jika” is the best track, but it’s consistently good, different vocalists and all (including a Slovakian singer!).

(which reminds me: the new Mafikizolo single has a verse in German!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMBWFJYpe1k

Mafikizolo ft. Joy Denalane • Bathelele)

Whoa, the new Kizz (yes, another one) is really good! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As1fCxmMBQ0

Kizz Daniel • Eko (with PhilKeyz, low key of one Naija’s most interesting producers of the past years)

It’s been a while since I liked an Orezi single this much: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0Xt6enVKY0

Orezi • My Queen (produced by Mystro)

Some discussion (from 28 May onward) on of all places, the Rolling herky-jerky thread about the three singeli albums (by Jay Mitta, Duke, and Sisso) released by Ngyege Nyege Tapes in the past months.

These albums are all instrumental stuff, with one exception: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AJtXChPuIU

Jay Mitta ft. Dogo Mjanja* • Tatizo Pesa

(*not to be confused with bongo flava artist Dogo Janja)

Good recent article on singeli: https://www.residentadvisor.net/features/3442

So... here is where I’m trying to make sense of the shifting movements in South African house:

Let’s start with some good old spanking gqom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C2ywdq5aa4

Aquatick ft. DJ Tira, Joocy, Pianola SA, Rooh, Mamoliza & Fezy Gold • Sunday Morning

And this, from last year, but so fucking good (and also involving DJ Tira): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxp9WxVTngU

CampMasters ft. DJ Tira, Thuli Chesah & Mapopo • Izingane Zama Extreme

I love Mreyza’s Ethekwini EP: “Anger”: Spotify link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRoCpCi_TLQ
Mreyza ft. Madanon • eThekwini
Soundcloud link, just in case.

But… the dominance of gqom in the charts appears to be over - for now at least. Now it’s the Amapiano/amaPiano/amapiano/Mapiano sound that reigns supreme.

Even apart from the Sun-El and Simmy stuff, smoother (like Malumz On Decks’ epic “Shay’iNumber”) and sparser (think DJ Sumbody) house sounds had been on the rise during 2018, contrasting with the frantic Wall of Beats and Sound that is gqom, but amapiano feels like the real anti-gqom. It’s jazzy, dreamy deep house, with very characteristic p(l)opping bass, and of course, as the name suggests, keyboard-heavy (piano or organ).

The sound (mainly instrumental at first, I think) has spread from Pretoria, where it originated, to the rest of the country in the past few years. I have the impression that the addition of chanted catchphrases (by MCs) and vocal toplines is relatively new, but I might be wrong. It’s difficult to find good sources on SA music (hint: if anyone has any suggestions…) This is about the only informative article on it I could find: https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/sundayworld/lifestyle/2019-05-28-amapiano-a-new-movement-period/
(btw Amapiano must be the only known musical genre known to man that is critiziced for being both too “ratchet” and a “snoozefest”.)

I already posted some examples in the past few months: Kwiish SA’s “Iskathi (Gong Gong)” (a big hit, and one of my favs of this year); Kabza De Small’s “Amabele (Shaya)” (Kabza is a big player, it was posted on the Sun-El thread); MFR Souls’ “Bamb’ikhanda” (for that MC thing, plus: great video); and most recently, KayGee DaKing & Bizizi’s “Kokota” (top 10 in SA, check that bass sound!).

Here are some more:

The biggest track in SA right now (is Larry Heard in the house?): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAFzhL7XbCo

DeMthuda ft. Njelic • Shesha

This one is a bop! Another pop smash: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SldyCVP02VM

Zero12Finest ft. ThaMagnificent2 • Baby Are You Coming?

...and when DJ Maphorisa steps in, you know the deal is sealed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTlR3vyIjkY

DJ Maphorisa & Kabza De Small ft. Kaybee Sax • Scorpion Kings

(They have a collaborative EP out – not on Spotify yet, but it’s on Maphorisa’s Soundcloud.)

Other kwaito veterans like the highly adaptable DJ Vetkuk vs. Mahoota, Oskido, and DJ Cleo have amapiano tracks out as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AluaRRyCc70

DJ Vetkuk vs. Mahoota ft. DrumPope, Soul Dictators & Leehleza • Abagezi Labafana

btw, besides all of the above, the AmaPiano mix compilations are good as primers. Volume 4 is the most recent edition (and a #1 album in SA, that’s how popular the sound has become)

All of this means that “Club Controller” and “Banomoya” were the culmination of gqom-as-chart-music, and not the beginning of a new exciting sound, but here we are (again, for now).

It looks like Prince Kaybee himself had already seen the writing on the wall. When it came out, I heard “Fetch Your Life” as a throwback to his older sound and couldn’t quite make sense of that. I’m reposting it because it has a video now and I never fully realized before just how beautiful it is. (It’s quite uptempo compared to the amapiano stuff, but it does have that amapiano bass.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oedqjPVN-U8
Prince Kaybee ft. Msaki • Fetch Your Life

(Msaki is also on Tresor’s gorgeous “Sondela” – check out the Sun-El and Song of Summer threads for that one)

Follow-up “Gugulethu” has a touch of that Sumbody sparseness:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s6CuEsjhGA
Prince Kaybee ft. Indlovukazi, Supta & Afro Brotherz • Gugulethu

Even TNS, (allegedly!) the principal forger of the Club Controller/Banomoya sound, followsup his banger “My Dali” with two much mellower tracks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y-I6_KLz-g
TNS ft. Fey • Uzongilinga

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g2sRTWCWL8
TNS ft. Zameka & Londie London • I Believe

Sorry, that TNS track is titled “Believe”, it should be “...and not the beginning of a new exciting *direction*...”, and I missed a few commas, but yeah...

"Baby Are You Coming" on a loop. dope track.

Thanks for the update, breastcrawl! Will check all this new stuff out.

Baby are you coming is definitely a jam.

i think i've played it about twenty or thirty times since yesterday.

Wondering what you’re all making of “Shesha”, since that is the (even) bigger hit. It’s definitely a lot less immediate, I’d say.

going to be real: i like it okay, but the vocal track sounds strained in a way that really doesn't fit with everything else the track is doing. it isn't even an interesting juxtaposition...i'd almost prefer it as an instrumental.

in fact, yeah, i'd really like an instrumental of it, toss the vocal track.

I really like Shesha. Hearing it back to back with Baby... made this whole amapiano thing come together for me for the first time, actually. I’ve been seeing it around for a while without really grasping what it’s all about.

However, I must say that I’m getting some v strong early 90s vibes from a lot of these instrumental tracks and it’s *almost* bothering me. Not because I don’t like the music (and did back then). It just sounds a bit too familiar.

I didn’t mention Larry Heard for nothing, and the percussion on “Iskhathi (Gong Gong)” reminds me of Frankie Knuckles/Nightwriters’ “Let The Music (Use You)”. To me these are good things. That bass, the beats and all the other stuff they throw in make it sound new and fresh.

Yeah, for sure. It was just a bit... unexpected. I’ll get used to it.

Let the music use you lol!

“Shesha” is a weird track though. I went in expecting something like his (=DeMthuda’s) “Blissful Day” (which is beautiful), but with more hooks (since it was charting so high), but I found the music quite underwhelming tbh. The vocal track only started to sink in and grow on me later, but it’s what makes it such a big hit, from what I’m seeing. People are going apeshit over that hook:

shesha geza
masiy’e partyini, baby ngiyak’cela

which translates as:
hurry up, take a bath
let’s go to the party, I beg you baby

(probably loses something in translation, idk)

I do prefer “Baby Are You Coming” by a large margin though.

This is that “Blissful Day” track btw:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko3VpZFW_JY
Again, that bass is what makes amapiano imo.

Shesha is a banger

while I’m here (lol)...

Unfortunately there’s still no video with awesome dancing to go with it, but the best track on the O Team album needs to be on this thread: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTiVKRWRvqM

O Team (Nerú Americano & Os Santiegos) ft. DJ Nelasta • Yeebo

"Blissful Day" is gorgeous, thanks.

i can hear the vocal on "Shesha" growing on me, too, though i still dig the Heard vibes by themselves, tbh.

GreyC • Sere:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWp7aDX0-90
(produced by Killertunes, who’s been pretty quiet this year, so far)

Always time for the elder Apata sister:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5SWYkPVNKw
Reminisce ft. Niniola • Jensimi

ANOTHER MASSIVE BURNA:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so4dgTRaWFk
Burna Boy • Anybody

(the low-key lush production is by Rexxie, who’s moving up a level here)

(video is top notch too)

Question for rob: did you ever check out the Santi album?

Burna is seriously in the zone this year. Imagine if Location was all him and no Dave?

Dang, bad timing on my part getting super busy the past few weeks--this thread is overflowing!

I did listen to the first six tracks on Mandy & the Jungle. As at least one other poster mentioned, "RX-64" was the highlight, even better than "Sparky" imo. I just listened to and loved "Baby, Are You Coming," so I'll queue up Mandy again, it's pleasant listening for sure. That said, I'm much more curious about wrapping my ears around this amapiano thing, so I'm not sure how long I'll stick with Santi.

As I was about to post in the other thread: that Burna song is awesome! Listening to Dangote for the tenth time the other day, I only just realized how much he sounds like Fela on that--in a good way, not like he's derivative, more that his singing has stepped up a level in terms of being fiery and expressive. I'm pleased "Anybody" seems to be continuing in that vein.

oh also wanted to say thanks for posting that Mayorkun & Kizz song "True"--that's a jam. They can throw back to kiSS daniel all they want :)

btw the Wizkid feature on the new Goldlink album is worth checking out / add to the "Wizkid, put out an album pleeeease" file

alright, I didn't make it to the end of the Santi album. I liked bits of it, but for my taste, the lack of drama/grit in his voice + the lack of drama/grit in the production = soporific.

Switch up either half of that equation and I think you'd have something more special. Case in point: the Juls song "Maayaa" that longneck posted is very nice. Also, virtually all of the guest vocals stood out more for me than Santi's, and I kept wishing someone more expressive or eccentric was singing. otoh, he's got something or I wouldn't have thought about it this much.

Thanks for reporting back, rob. Feeling you about the Santi. Does this have the drama/grit you’re looking for?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWyAjHV_nmU
Mojo ft. prettyboyDO • Chop Life Crew

New Tshegue EP, first and last tracks are bangers:
https://ekleroshock.bandcamp.com/album/telema

“True” is nice enough, but between it, “What If I Say”, the new Fireboy DML...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YgTEm_-i4U

...and the current Sheeran/Bieber thing, I have Sean Kingston’s “Beautiful Girls” in my head way too often these days.

Not unrelated:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pp6xej5xWfs
Joeboy • Baby

(this song is big in East African countries as well)

Oh, and there’s a new Maleek Berry, “Flashy”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gjuJZ4hTxc

(He was on Jimmy Fallon last week, performing “Zulu Screams” with GoldLink)

Thanks for the Tshegue heads-up, Jordan! I added both “Solola” and “The Wheel” to this thread’s Spotify playlist. I think I liked “M’Benga Bila” best on first listen.

The Kizz Daniel track I do wholeheartedly like now has a video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgu-QlgKJts
Kizz Daniel • Eko

There really is no escaping Kizz, is there?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPhct2qvzcQ

Young John ft. Tiwa Savage & Kizz Daniel • Ello Baby

Loving this ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzGhYfL5LII
Gigi Lamayne - Fufa (Official Music Video) ft. King Monada

That one is great, so much good stuff coming out of South Africa.

I love this song, fantastic beat:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP2wMOFuXp4

Makhadzi ft. Master KG • Tshikwama

And this slower-placed one too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XusdWegEXvA

Aubrey Qwana ft. DJ Tira • Ngaqonywa (Remix)

Amapianoing to perfection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeJeRmHZtrg

Jungle Beats • Sapha Lonto

Rema interview on pitchfork: https://pitchfork.com/features/rising/rema-is-leading-the-next-generation-of-nigerian-pop-interview/

I'll admit I'm a little shook by his "afrobeats is old/for old people" view

Probably checks out with most people on this thread lol

But Rema has certainly blown up when these demos/freestyles are topping the charts.

Things you were shockingly old when you learned, Afropop version:

D’Prince is Don Jazzy’s younger brother.

People who have obviously written their own Wikipedia entry, Afropop version:

D’Prince.

Lol. I think I actually knew that at one point. I will always love D'Prince for this album cover.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71zZfoio4AL._SS500_.jpg

Packing hits like ”Take Banana” and ”Goody Bag”, he did not fail to capture my attention with that one, yeah.

I mean, those are hits!

Explicitly so!

Nini de catching a Kel P vibe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFthwLOqUe8

Niniola • Boda Sodiq

Did you notice this? The new 8-song album by J Balvin & Bad Bunny features one track featuring Mr Eazi, produced by Legendury Beatz.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcwEyLhwL54

Btw according to Burna Boy's tweets Anybody track was produced by p2jmusic not Rexxie

“Como Un Bebé”: Yeah, that one’s a nice surprise and a bop to boot. I posted it on the Soca/Caribbean pop thread as yet another example of Afro-Caribbean cross-pollination.

“Anybody”: Thanks for clearing that up. When the song dropped some outlets (including OkayAfrica) were reporting Rexxie had produced it, but it was a bit strange, because a) it didn’t really sound like him b) his tag wasn’t there and c) he didn’t mention it on his Twitter - so this makes sense. P2J also produced “Zulu Screams”, I didn’t know!

Starting to feel Iron Man *almost* as much as Dumebi.

How do you like the non-Sarz Niniola, longneck? I think Kel P provided her with a great beat.

I’ve only listened once. My first reaction: hey, this is pretty good for a non-Sarz Niniola track!

lol, accurate

http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=7TMrCktOmmE

where (and how) the magic happened

my YouTube is weak these days...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TMrCktOmmE

^^
where (and how) the magic happened

Nice.

Spectacularly good new gqom:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_R_AOhzPx4
Material Culture ft. King Lee • Ngenzan

Their whole Skhothane EP is wild.
File next to Angola’s Os Santiegos, I suppose. Same setup: four dancers/chanters working with a beatmaker. Shame they don’t have videos for these tracks**. Also - imagine Busiswa working (with) these beats!

**(but this is them last year, dancing to King Lee’s amazing “Street Fight”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRwO1ie-LhQ)

AmaPiano fortissimo:

https://youtu.be/0N2fID9FpZQ

Vusinator ft. Soso & Killa • Gigabyte (also known as “Gigaba”)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N2fID9FpZQ

That beat is everything.

Can’t wait to hear what NaijaPiano is going to sound like.

Noticed too late to attend that Kizz Daniels was in DC Friday night. Folks on twitter said he was likely just singing over tracks

Sweet stuff, taking off across Africa. But he’s (Nigerian-)American, so who knows, a potential US hit, post-“Fall”?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7oo1QmZ1ec
Rotimi • Love Riddim

Digging the new Adekunle Gold, “Kelegbe Megbe (Know Your Level)”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MucSft25l6I

The new Diamond Platnumz... “bangs” is not the right word, it rocks and it rolls perhaps, but either way it’s great. Fantastic production.
(and 4 million YT views within a week? that’s huge) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBWdmypdkYI

Diamond Platnumz • Kanyaga

I’m so happy there’s a new Malumz on Decks album. Lots of great groovy SA house jams (although the first two tracks may not be the strongest), including two remixes of “Shayi’number”. This is one of my favorites: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Caf5HbibuVo
Malumz on Decks ft. Indlovukazi • Cwebetela

(btw, on Spotify the album (which is titled Find Your Way) is m/l hidden in the Compilations section of the Malumz on Decks artist page - all the more confusing as their debut album, The Journey from 2017, has been reuploaded as a 2019 release in the regular Albums section)

I fixed the date on The Journey and the album type on Find Your Way...

Thanks Glenn, great job!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SldyCVP02VM
ZERO12SFINEST ft THAMAGNIFICENT2 -Baby are you coming (Official Video)

Yes, that’s a thread favourite, so no harm in reposting it, I guess.

Got things to say about the DJ Maphorisa/Kabza De Small “EP” mentioned upthread that’s now on Spotify and Apple Music, but first it’s...

The Revenge of Gqom:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87pF9M1IF1k
Big Mike & Jive MaWeekend ft. Abafana Bo’Msindo • Umnqongo

...a/k/a Banomoya is back, baby!

Interesting: Distruction Boyz are following the Banomoya trail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHKtmRP7Dfc
Distruction Boyz ft. NaakMusiQ & DJ Tira • Sinenkani

But fasten your seatbelts. This one does my head in. Can’t believe how good it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnmaRBz5GI8
Mampinthsa ft. TNS • Joburg

(and I hate that it’s Mampinthsa who brought out the Banomoya-best in TNS, but here we are)

This awesome track by Soft dropped last Christmas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OJs_h32rNA
Soft • Money

There is a remix with Wizkid now.

There’s a video for “Boda Sodiq” already: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs4KfzL1gU8

Playing catch-up this morning. That Adekunle Gold track "Know Your Level" is really good--great to see it as I haven't enjoyed much he's done in a long time. It would fit nicely in the Nigerian wing of the House of Sun-El

That’s a connection I would never have made! Not sure I can hear it like that though, it feels more of a piece with the Burna stuff to me.

Yeah it's not like a huge break from other naija stuff or anything, but Gold is such a gentle presence (compared to someone like Burna) and, especially, the little break at 2:00 gives me some of the same feeling as...whatever we'd call that Sun-El microgenre. If that moment was stretched out I think it would connect even more strongly.

Yes, that’s a thread favourite, so no harm in reposting it, I guess.

― breastcrawl, Monday, July 8, 2019 2:06 PM (three days ago) bookmarkflaglink

weird, my bad, ctrl f failed me

Interesting times:
https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/a28409499/beyonce-the-lion-king-album/

(I guess the url could have been better)

More good news - Juls and Mr Eazi reunite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju9khTsPUk4
Juls ft. Mr Eazi • Cake
New mixtape (Juls’s, that is) dropping next week.

New A-Star banger, with significant help from GuiltyBeatz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXbww6W3O3E
A-Star ft. GuiltyBeatz • Bogada

maybe I should post the tracklist?

https://critiqsite.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Beyonce-The-Gift-Tracklist.jpg

xp

It was a difft thread where you guys talked abt shared love for zero12finest fyi

Oh dear, so much for your “failed” Ctrl F efforts.
Maybe refrain from these kinds of pronouncements when you clearly haven’t been following this thread (or the Summer Jams one, for that matter).

Either way, scroll back to June 10 and start reading from there.

i do follow this thread but its being perpetually posted in...the name 'zero12finest' was literally mentioned once in this thread before

you want more ppl to participate in this thread but get mad i dont catch every glib conversation abt a video idk what to tell you

More people would be nice, more people like you maybe not so much.

Anyway, you’re a clown (I’m being polite here) and I’m not going to have this thread spoiled by engaging (with) you any further.

doesnt sound very polite! Looking forward to posting in this thread again

Here’s hoping we don’t like the same song a couple weeks apart in the future

Seeing Burna Boy on Friday; expecting a very very live crowd.
https://www.bricartsmedia.org/events-performances/bric-celebrate-brooklyn-festival/burna-boy-sampa-great-DJ-tunez

that lion king playlist is both terrifying ("Blue Ivy featuring" now?) and exciting; would love to see this break yemi alade big in america

aw man report back -- I'm going to be out of town when he's in Montreal :(

I hope Burna Boy is better than when I saw him at the Howard Theatre in DC last year. Sounded then like a disinterested rapper vocalizing over tracks. My fave live afrobeats related act is still Yemi Alade who sang, danced, and was accompanied by a great band in her DC gig.

A-Star ft. GuiltyBeatz • Bogada

― breastcrawl, Wednesday, July 17, 2019 4:59 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

i really like this

i follow this thread but i don't really post because i don't know shit or have anything to add, but there's always cool stuff...i suspect this thread has a high level of lurkers vs. posters

Good to hear you’re enjoying the thread, ums!

I’m in the mood for some more Ghanaian stuff. Ladies first!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VVurZqsEg8
🔴Sista Afia ft. Medikal & Quamina MP • Weather

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPcT0fhSpG0
🔴S3fa ft. DopeNation • Shuga

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUwgFVxMTxk
🔴Petrah • Tiaso

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ8jNU1US2k
🔴Eazzy ft. Medikal • Away

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWCPdWbqMCo
🔴Wendy Shay ft. Shatta Wale • Stevie Wonder

And to finish off, some gospel I can get with:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ-kUAha1Y4
🔴Obaapa Christy • W’agye Me

Nigerian intermezzo:

As current Tiwa-featuring jams go I prefer this Spellz-produced jam to the Young John-produced one with Kizz:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tu1_XxkgjY
Zlatan ft. Tiwa Savage • Shotan

regardless of tha beef... zero12finest.... BUMPS so hard

for damn sure

Thread for the AmaPiano awesomeness that is “Baby Are You Coming?” by Zero12finest feat. ThaMagnificent2

Je kiffe (vachement): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kHnFYzYC-0

Sidiki Diabaté ft. Safarel Obiang • BKO-ABJ

(as in ‘from Bamako to Abidjan’)

ha wow was not expecting the kora at the end (is it illegal for Diabatés to not use one?). damn, that song goes

"Shotan" is wonderful too

Of interest, perhaps: the LiON KiNG: the GiFT <<>> where Beyoncé meets with Afropop

A couple of weeks old, but I loved this quote from Iris Xie’s blurb for “Dumebi” in The Singles Jukebox: ”Listening to five hours of Afrobeats songs in a community setting really hit it home for me — this is a genre of gentle but incredibly lit bangers, that helps create an atmosphere that allows for complexity and different levels of energy to all exist in a single space, but in a really harmonious manner.”

(btw, TSJ seems to finally be shaping up a bit when it comes to African pop, better late than never)

really like "Shuga" from that longer Ghanaian post above.

i'm also catching up, tbh, so please forgive me if i enthuse insanely for the next day or two. "Body Sodiq" is dope tho i don't think as good as "Designer"— vocal lines aren't as hooky. and "Bogada" is doing me in, it's everything i love.

Enthuse away! I might post some new stuff as well if I can muster enough energy in this hot weather.

Not as high profile as the Burna album obviously, but Colour, the new Juls mixtape, is quality. Dig that opening track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwWg7Gjoo2U
Juls ft. Worlasi • Nyafu Riddim

More Ghana - with a dash of Naija, which holds true for the Juls tape as well. Did anyone say “azonto”?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfedeSgAjHk
E.L ft. Falz & Joey B • Ehua

having trouble searching for it, but...is "bogada" slang for money? all i can get is that it means "pages" in Yoruban? just trying to figure out what i've been singing while doing pretty much everything for the past few days lol.

"Anybody" is a sneaky earworm, love it. also love "Tshikwama," but you posted a fan video apparently! there's an official one that has some really fun moments, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIRS17BDK3w

I don’t know what “bogada” means either, but I doubt it’s a Yoruba word, because it’s a Ghanaian track. Producer GuiltyBeatz (do check out his awesome “Akwaaba” from last year if you don’t know it!) also worked on Beyoncé’s Lion King: The Gift project, including on this highlight:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zEj2LJSoQY
Beyoncé ft. Shatta Wale & Major Lazer • Already

(and thanks for the “Tshikwama” video. I don’t think it was available when I posted the track. Still love that song!)

Yeah, i just got super confused in my searching for what it means...also a slang term for penis in some Indian dialects? "Bogada" *does* mean "pages" in Yoruba, but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense since obviously A-Star is from Ghana via the UK.

this is the sort of thing that bothers me enough that i might have to join twitter just to tweet at A-Star.

To be clear, I wasn’t trying to say there is no such Yoruba word, just that it didn’t seem very likely here.
As for that Indian option however...

In studio with an Indian Artist Jaz Dhami.

Slowly connecting afrobeats to different cultures

— guiltybeatz (@GuiltyBeatz) July 24, 2019

interesting!!

also "Bogada" is hopelessly stuck in my head.

Burna Boy has dropped an album

Read all about it here.

Enthusiasm was faster than information. As an excuse, some dancing on Inama if you haven't yet seen those moves grown popular.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTh5B5QZZY0

Bogada shmogada, it’s now Solege time!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plvRti2sbVc
A-Star • Solege

(produced by Kel-P, no less)

thats sick

dope

wait, I just realized I had conflated the producer tags for Kel-P beats and Guiltybeatz in my head. They're not the same person? Sorry for my ignorance here.

GuiltyBeatz = Ghanaian, “Akwaaba” etc.

Kel-P (“it’s Kel-P vibes”) = Nigerian, most of Burna’s post-Outside hits, and Niniola’s current one.

(GB uses “another Guilty Beat” as his tag)

Yeah that makes sense, but A-star is ghanian, isn't he? Maybe that's why I heard it wrong?

Yep, and his previous one, “Bogada”, was in fact a GuiltyBeatz production.

Right. That should explain my confusion, lol.

So what does everyone think of Davido’s power move?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSgXrOsE5hE
Davido ft. Chris Brown • Blow My Mind

Not bad but not really touching the best stuff out?

It’s no Dumebi.

Naija jam alert:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5RTQ2FSAEU
Idahams • Amayanabo (The King)

Amapiano - baby, keep it coming!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3OTClCxDyk
Jobe London & Mphow69 ft. Kamo Manje • Sukendleleni

Live performance.

HOLY SHIT SOLEGE

i kind of love this track that came on random shuffle on YouTube—the vocal harmonies are pretty dope, and i dig it as a liberation anthem.

Dj Maphorisa x Kabza De Small ft Mhaw Keys - Koko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0fuyILii2g

Just heard Davido's "Fall" on my local DC rap/r'n'b station so that marketing push for the song mentioned upthread in a January Rolling Stone article (and a later Rolling Stone article) must still be going...

HOLY SHIT SOLEGE

it seems like a lot of other people like it, too, given that it had garnered approximately 60,000 more views in the past 18 hours

*has.

It is pretty massive. I could see him crossing over to more mainstream audiences in a big way tbh.

and of course i'm an idiot, and i don't mean "mainstream," i mean "western/US". way to look like an asshole, table. [hides under rock]

I'm thinking that it's interesting and instructive that Davido and Wizkid have both opted for Chris Brown collabos as if they think *that's* the audience that will help them cross over - while Burna Boy piggybacks off Dave's Location straight into the brit charts.

ummm so I'm supposed to be talking to a documentary film maker about possibly being a researcher for a new film about afrobeats. interesting!

can anyone recommend a site where i can order physical copies of some of these sent to an south african address?

enjoying busiswa being joyously sweary here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cY0nFJpos0

xpost,

I don't think there are a lot of physical copies of this stuff at all, Heez!

not even as dubplates?

Even for the full album releases? I'm looking for the Sun-El and Simmy albums and have my sister in Joberg checking all sorts of places with no luck.

I bought two copies of the Simmy album at the Musica down on Waterfront in Cape Town in March - I think they had the Sun El as well.

And yes, Tuomas, if you’re reading this it means that I did buy it for you. I just forgot to send it to you - sorry! I still have it if you want it.

Thought you were specifically askibg about naija music, heez. Sorry again.

No prob! I did find this record store in Joberg call Afrosynth Records which is now the first place I’m going when I eventually head over there again

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

I'm thinking this girl has potential

I haven't found too many new things that excite me in afrobeats. Some things are good (Supernova, Boda Sodiq, Oil & Gas) but they're not "new".

Welcoming to the thread: Swae Lee. His new single is produced and co-written by Tekno.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBioIsLoXoE
Swae Lee ft. Drake • Won’t Be Late

Really enjoying Eazzy - Away posted upthread

Happy Mondays!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odSYrpgSPcc
MaWhoo ft. Heavy K • Umshado

Got to say that the Swae Drake and Tekno works well for me.

It’s wonderful, plays to both Swae Lee and Drake’s strengths.

Hoping it will become a big (US/international) hit, to keep the Afropop momentum going.

Drake has no strengths :)
but otherwise yes, very nice tune

been trying to put together a nice afrobeats mix recently.
but my first attempt ended up being a bit flabby, with about 70% drifting by, a little tame, lacking a bit of the fun and dynamicism of a previous mix I made, or how it feels when I mix dancehall and soca.
there are some great tunes on it, but together they lack punch until I get to the faster stuff at the end.
I guess it's my usual coming about (some) afrobeats, that it can sometimes be a bit smooth and lacking the bite of other styles. and a lot of rhythms are starting to sound like each other until, of course you get a curveball. I can't help feeling that the enormous wave of SA house kicked off by Sun El and co is starting to feel a bit like a glut, for example.
I guess I'm really just asking where I can hear more bangers..

also I accidentally contaminated the mix with Drake which makes it a curate's egg

I’m curious: what do you consider “glut” (glut, natural glut)? When it comes to SA I would have thought stuff like “Tshikwama” or “Umshado” might be right up your alley.

Also I think this thread at least offers a variety of bangers of many different stripes.

This brings out the bang in banger, for instance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDSuBKrTLPk
Scrô Q Cuia ft. Nerú Americano • O Pintin

Performing it live on Angolan TV.

Or I could always post the next A-Star, guy is relentless, it’s hard to keep up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFMVEAdB2Es
A-Star • Hypeman

Learn the dance routine.

I am absolutely loving A-Star and Material Culture and Eazzy at the moment. Feel like that's the kind of stuff I most want to mix rather than the more warm-house and r'n'b inflected stuff

do we cover much east african stuff ITT? I feel like with quite a few festivals like Nyege Nyege and Ongala taking place this summer, it's something I'd like to know more about

Music from East African countries is relatively underrepresented here, and it tends to be mainly the chart-oriented stuff by people like Diamond Platnumz and Rayvanny. However, there was a bit of singeli/Nyege Nyege Tapes discussion on
the Rolling herky-jerky thread earlier this year, as mentioned upthread, and I posted a Jay Mitta track here - which is of course also featured on
this Spotify playlist of most of the African stuff posted on various threads.

https://www.nyegenyege.com/2019-artist-lineup/

This is the lineup for the Nyege Nyege Festival, to be held in two weeks’ time. Dozens of names, of which I know only a few. Feel free to post interesting tracks!

ah cool. i was so keen to go to NN this year but it was a mission and i didn't go in the end, mch to my current disappointment

that line up looks intriguing even though i've heard of maybe 2% of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxQ9MRxm9Uo

Mr Eazi ft. Simi • Doyin

Glorious production by Killertunes

oh, there’s a video already:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBMredVuy7M

gorgeous

Not all that random Ghanaian highlife rap I’m loving:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsNCFKjB_x8
NiiQuaye ft. Kirani Ayat & Akan • Twa Wonan Ase

This is fantastic. A Best of Flavour and Flavour-featuring songs would be so great:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ie6HixFu_IE
Jay Fashion ft. Flavour • Ikuwago

(what’s that kick-ass high-pitched instrument that plays during the chorus and is most clearly heard in the final 18 seconds?)

(I guess it could be a distorted version of the traditional flute that Igbo musicians like Flavour sometimes use when they “take it to the village”)

Two from Liberia:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO7KxEhzAdY
Kobazzie ft. Davido • Bounce (Remix)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbOEQklxDFs
JSB ft. D. Pretty • Bluetooth