rolling afro 2020

too, also

Another one with a fantastic(ally) Ghanaian twist on dancehall for rob, and everyone else: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtHjltPs0fU
Larruso ft. Stonebwoy & Kwesi Arthur • Killy Killy (Remix)

And this one - I can’t even tell anymore if there’s any Caribbean in this. What a joyful sound. It’s brilliant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXjitxBJ_KE
Tulenkey ft. Taitan • Your Girlfriend

#ghanasghotitghoinghon

tons of great stuff here, thanks

tulenkey's "proud fuck boys" is crackin' me up, it's a good time! if a questionable reclaiming of the term!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haxVglf7yRs

unless it's a dis track to fuck boys and i'm not following the patois?

Yeah, “Proud Fvck Boys” is fun.

okay, 🇬🇭GHANA SPECIAL🇬🇭 it is:

Let’s start with a fun bit of attitude:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3GJxkj9z3s
MzVee • Who Are You

And some old school freshened up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8pJ9CLWl80
Mr. Drew x Krymi ft. Sarkodie • Dw3

Spoiler: More throwbacks coming up in a bit!

(Side note: does MOG (Beatz) produce like half of all Ghanaian hit tracks right now or what? The two Sarkodies upthread are his, and so are “Who Are You” and the one coming up next)

So Naija had three kiddos (Fboy, Jboy, and yes, Rema) blowing up last year, but remember the 3 Ghanaian Ks that came up in 2017?

Kidi’s after-the-fact debut album last year was a big disappointment, a literal overdose of Sugar, but this might be the first one of his I’ve liked since “Adiepena”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK7k8vKLGi4
Kidi • Enjoyment

Kuami Eugene keeps low-key coming up with nice stuff, like this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK_Pa1ekb6Y
Kuami Eugene • Turn Up

Out of the three, only King Promise has firmly established himself as a major star. Here he employs Dutch rapper Chivv on the remix for last year’s “Commando”:

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

(too bad Chivv doesn’t rap in Dutch here like he normally does)

[insert glitter ball emojis] big wow at this hommage to 80s (Afro) cowbell disco (and Daddy Lumba) featuring man of the moment Bosom P-Yung:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMwWNHu86mY
Lord Paper ft. Bosom P-Yung • Asabone

(and party people, this video features actual 🎈🎈🎈!!!)

As posted on the Rolling non-US rap thread earlier - this /gh/emo/gh/rap track is what made BPY Ghana’s breakout star of the year so far:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DB3oND8hVA
Bosom P-Yung • Attaa Adwoa

South African epilogue:

Desire Marea (half of queer duo FAKA) dropped an album last month with experimental art pop. There’s a video for “You Think I’m Horny”, but check out highlights like “Zibuyile Izimakade” and “Tavern Kween” as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZUefUADOXM
Desire Marea • You Think I’m Horny

Pitchfork reviewed it, favourably. There must be other suitable threads for this - not sure which ones though. It’s probably not clubby enough for Jordan’s (post-)Reconstructed Club Music thread. Anyone have any ideas?

Ending on a light note, Moonlight Sanelly also has an EP out, but I’m digging this recent stand-alone track - penis, penis, penis!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKRHW7xSN4A
Moonchild Sanelly • Where De Dee Kat?

asabone is great; you think i'm horny is nuts!

breastcrawl i dunno if you already answered this but where do you live and what do you do that you're so plugged into this scene?

^ I'm getting 95% of my afrobeats knowledge from this thread

Pi-ano! It’s a celebration:

🎹🎹PİANO! PİANO!🎹🎹 - a song appreciation thread for “eMcimbini” by Kabza De Small & DJ Maphorisa ft. Aymos, Samthing Soweto, Mas Musiq & Myztro

New album on Nyege Nyege Tapes: DJ Diaki - Balani Fou

Ah cool – will listen to it when its on Spotify.

So he’s from Mali, lots of footage from his sets on his YouTube account. He was in Europe very recently (Paris, Berlin, Warsaw, Katowice…), but this was filmed in Mali itself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8bQu0drI-8

Great that this is happening, and I like Becky G a lot, but how do you improve on close-to-perfection?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYKWJ8gzZRU
Rema ft. Becky G • Dumebi (Remix)

Compare and contrast: this lovely Spanish cover version I posted six months ago is now on Spotify too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuQiQFHgzDM
Jthyago x Oscar el Ruso x Samueliyo Baby x Irrita el Indio • Dumebi (Spanish Version)

And this, just out, is another one for the non-existing Rolling EUfrican jams thread: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsrW9pUa9FI
Jthyago x Oscar el Ruso x Irrita el Indio x Samueliyo Baby • Vete De Mi Vera

becky G remix is a total BOP

The real new Rema is here too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLha1-NuPzA
Rema ft. Rvssian • Beamer (Bad Boys)

Reminds me of Wizzy's first crossover attempt "Daddy Yo", also made with a dancehall producer, with that female chorus.

Pitchfork wrote about it - includes a link to an interview Zane Lowe did with him.

Oh, so he dropped TWO new tracks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k18yHoEdY7E
Rema • Rainbow

So... latin Rema and rap Rema, huh? Beamer makes the most sense after the Becky G remix, but it’s a bit... busy. Rainbow sound like the one they had to let him do to get him to sign off on the full latino onslaught. I suspect he still sees himself as a rapper first.

like beamer but not clicking with rainbow

as behind as usual, but wanted to note that Tulenkey ft. Taitan • Your Girlfriend is GREBT

speaking of remixes, here's a nice afro-soca crossover with Machel Montano doing his thing over a hit from last year

https://youtu.be/8XR-N4dccbU

From Angola, a spanking banger that slaps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE45E4wRp8Q
Zoca Zoca ft. Uami Ndongadas, Johnny Bravo & DJ Pzee Boy • O Pam

From South Africa, two companion pieces to some stuff I wrote on the “Emcimbini” thread:

Love how TNS keeps honing his sound, so many lovely touches in this production:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKvHPX4AQow
Dr Thulz ft. TNS • Believe In Love

mesmerising Limpopo Wave (think Master KG, Makhadzi, King Monada) from producer Airic, best known for his work with Manqonqo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYTOAINoOhQ
Airic ft. N.K.A • Ama 2000

Gorgeous new single by Dice Ailes. The trippy production is courtesy of Cracker Mallo, who did Fireboy DML's "Jealous":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiOnMB0JR44
Dice Ailes ft. Olamide • Pim Pim

Ma Chérie, Je m'appelle Beynaud, Je viens de la Côte d'Ivoire, Ce soir je m'installe au Congo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpXsd01idUs

Serge Beynaud - Lifuende

Soyez le bienvenu à notre thread, monsieur Beynaud !

Yeah, that's the stuff! Beynaud could deliver a killer album someday, I think. His style is intense, but he could make it work.

Accelerate, his most recent album, was all killer, no filler!

It was on my ballot for that year, and it is very good! But he has an even better one in him, I think.

I wanted to start a Facebook group to discuss afro-pop, amapiano etc, but also the dancehall, soca and other stuff I'm into, among other things.
I've created this, which has the rather catch-all strapline 'New Sounds From the International Underground'. Feel free to join and follow if interested https://www.facebook.com/groups/terrainsound/

We got another live one, folx, and this time it's Ghanapiano - it's Juls with the subtly titled "Mandela Riddim":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M62aTi25c8c

high time for a new playlist I think:

ILM rolling ✳️all-inclusive✳️ afro 2020

I’m including all the tracks posted on this thread as well as adjacent threads (generously defined), and even relevant stuff posted on other threads (non-US rap, for instance). Thought of separating the SA stuff, like I did for the EOY noms, but I like the idea of people getting into contact with other genres/flavours than their original entry point through a pseudo-pan-African-pop/not-pop playlist.

Thanks to this open-door policy, we’re already 105 tracks in, so enjoy!

Relevant thread links:

THE HOUSE OF SUN-EL: Sun-El Musician, Simmy, Mlindo The Vocalist, and other related artists

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

🎹🎹PİANO! PİANO!🎹🎹 - a song appreciation thread for
“eMcimbini” by Kabza De Small & DJ Maphorisa ft. Aymos, Samthing Soweto, Mas Musiq & Myztro

Gqompetition time: two songs, two videos - QDOT vs SHADO M

Wizkid (Starboy)

here comes the AFRICAN GIANT / Burna Boy (2019)

Rolling non-US rap thread 2020

up like sun, down like sun - a thread for obongjayar

Who rules the mic? È A PONGO!

[rl=the LiON KiNG: the GiFT <<>> where Beyoncé meets with Afropop]the LiON KiNG: the GiFT <<>> where Beyoncé meets with Afropop[/url]

UK afro - thread for discussing MoStack, J-Hus, Kojo Funds, Abra Cadabra, Belly Squad, Yxng Bane etc

j hus - dem boy paigon

Aya Nakamura, Naza and the new french urban scene

icymi: ILM rolling ✳️all-inclusive✳️ afro 2020

Nice work! Thanks breastcrawl

Both were produced by Kel-P, but in marked contrast to the new Burna track, the new Niniola is horn-y as hell:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW3hLhyWDLg
Niniola ft. Femi Kuti • Fantasy

And guess what, Mr Early Adopter of Naija Trends for the East African Market is back with... a Kel-P joint:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5rFro4XdZ0
Diamond Platnumz • Jeje

another late vote for Beynaud; his stuff is consistently great.

anyone else on sauti sol "suzanna"? it edges right up to corny in like a cee-lo "fuck you" kinda way but imo they really pull it off

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFBJtuQ1Llc

I love Sauti Sol and they get way too few mentions in this thread imo. The corniness is good not bad :)

not sure if this was already posted as it's from late 2019 but Iyabo by GuiltyBeatz is a certi banger

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

ja that's good. pim pim is my favourite 2020 track so far I think. so louche

pim pim, dumebi (remix) and eMcimbini three-way tie

thanks for iyabo, that's dope

Iyabo: great track, but another one that ends too soon imo

Blame all those afropop party dj’s, always playing 1 minute of every track, max.

lol really? madness

Didn’t hear it at first, but 2Baba and Wizkid’s “Opo” is straight addictive fire:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_PSK0Bop2k

(see the Burna thread for 2Baba’s other big collabo on his latest album)

really, it's taking the whole hyping up the crowd with hit after hit after hit thing a bit too literally for my liking. it does get to have its charms after a while, but that might be stockholm syndrome.

xp