Rolling Afropop / Afrobeats 2021

i liked the joeboy and laycon albums a lot

some great songs too, like bankulli’s “foreign,” “bloody samaritan,” that amaarae collab from the tiwa ep, and yeah, “replay” and “found” from the tems ep

That Lojay EP is good yeah. voodoo, I'm not sure I've ever heard Laycon, any track recs?

a lowkey fave: Okyeame Kwame & Kuami Eugene's "Yeeko" posted somewhere waaay upthread

I heard Amaarae blasting out of someone's car in Montreal the other day, which made me very happy

“wagwan” is the laycon track I usually turn to

Digging Niniola's new EP, "Lagos to Jozi", particularly the first track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4JJCbNl5js

“wagwan” is the laycon track I usually turn to

― grove street (party) direction (voodoo chili), Friday, December 3, 2021 9:11 PM (three days ago)

uh this is dope, thanking you

i think i got that rec from dog latin, so thanks go to him!

alright that almost makes up for him trying to kill my alabaster deplume thread ;)

Naira Marley has had a great year - while Coming is still my favorite, First Time In America is pretty undeniable too. It now has a video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fX2Tw7sPC8

"wagwan" rules, thanks

I love that whole Laycon mini album from earlier in the year. Some real gems on it

All Over Me and Don't Want You Back are my faves off the Laycon album and I'll be nominating at least one of them for EOY.

Others:

Yeeko is fantastic.
Bounce by Rema is exceptional.
Overdose by Dunnie
Navy Kenzo - Nisogelee
Prettyboydo - Police n Teef
Kwesi Arthur - Baajo

I've enjoyed a fair bit of Afrobeats this year, but it was frontloaded

Checking out the Laycon album now

It's worth mentioning that Burna's "Kilometre" and "Question" are fantastic too

oh shit "All Over Me" is a jam, how did I miss this guy?

This mixtape from DJ ICHE of Kenyan club/drill/kuduro styles is pretty sick.
https://hakunakulala.bandcamp.com/album/nai-yetu-mixtape

― we need outrage! we need dicks!! (the table is the table), Friday, December 3, 2021 4:04 PM (five days ago)

sampled a bit of this too and it's pretty awesome

"kilometre" snuck up on me and it's now one of my fav burna songs. the hook pops into my head every few days

ha yeah based on mental play count it could be my SOTY

yup his best in a while

Glad you enjoyed that Rob, it's a great mixtape.

has anyone written anything about the globalization of drill? seems like a massive phenomenon that I see rarely mentioned anywhere (in english at any rate)

Simon Reynolds did a big similar thing about trap a couple of years back

there were a good amount of pieces that came out about ghanaian drill last year, which touched on the topic. like this one: https://www.complex.com/music/2020/10/inside-ghana-asakaa-drill-scene/

yaw tog's "sore" is a banger among bangers.

Missing breastcrawl, his eoy poll was a treasure trove. What are the songs I’ve been missing out this year to consider on my ballot?

All Over Me and Don't Want You Back are my faves off the Laycon album and I'll be nominating at least one of them for EOY.

Others:

Yeeko is fantastic.
Bounce by Rema is exceptional.
Overdose by Dunnie
Navy Kenzo - Nisogelee
Prettyboydo - Police n Teef
Kwesi Arthur - Baajo

I've enjoyed a fair bit of Afrobeats this year, but it was frontloaded

― Urbandn hope all ye who enter here (dog latin)

From these I really liked:

Laycon - all over me
Dunnie - Overdose

Don’t care much about the rest but Navy Kenzo beat could be something I’d absolutely love in the right context.

Crayon - Too Correct (feat. Rema)
Masterkraft, Bella Shmurda & Zlatan - Hallelu
Omah Lay - Understand
Wizkid - Mood (feat. Buju)
Ice Prince - Kolo (feat. Oxlade)
Teni - Moslado
Burna Boy - Kilometre + Want it all
Davido & Focalistic - Champion Sound (rather South African tbh)
Stonebwoy & Focalistic - Ariba
Reekado Banks - Ozumba Mbadiwe
Olakira - Summer Time (feat. Moonchild Sanelly)
Ayra Starr - Bloody Samaritan

In the worst case scenario, none of them will make my ballot, but they're still on the playlist

I've been asked to play "Afrobeat and Highlife" on NYE. I'm only adjacently familiar with that kind of stuff, so I'll probably stray into more modern territory; so these personalised lists are great.

I always think it would be great to have a mini Afrobeats poll (or maybe including soca/dancehall too since there seems to be a lot of crossover between posters more than anything else.

Moka, the Lojay 7 Sarz EP a few have mentioned might appeal to you?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4IEaUhIuCs

thanks for that complex link, vc

So are we going for Bounce or Soundgasm for EOY?
Both are wonderful, imo. Peace of Mind is a favorite too, but the two I mentioned are more likely to succeed.

Also... looking past Essence, will you be going for Mood (mentioned above) or Anoti. Again, I love them both.

Moka, the Lojay 7 Sarz EP a few have mentioned might appeal to you?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4IEaUhIuCs

― rob

Ok yeah! This is sounding delightful.

Some other songs which I really like:

Kwiish Sa - LiYoshona
Scorpion Kings x Tresor - Folasade
Omah Lay - Understand
Busta 929 - Mmapula

have you tried Tresor's new album Motion? I think Thrill and Dancing with the Moon were the early singles

I totally lost track of amapiano this year, but De Mthuda's "John Wick" came on my playlist last night and it's good

I might definitely vote for Dunnie - Overdose. I’ve played it 5 times in the last 12 hours.

Bounce is my track of the year in any genre so I'm noming it whatever

Yeah I love that Dunnie song. Really sweet

Loke Loke by Oluwa Kuwait and Teni is also a sleeper hit in my listening. Every time it comes on I'm impressed by it.

Burna Boy and Wizkid have a song out called B. d'Or. I am sure Messi appreciates. It's totally perfunctory though.

spotify fed me this new amapiano remix of Angeliqe Kidjo's "Agolo" - by Da Capo's Touch? or something? It's lovely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-wy0wyuoYQ

Nice.

i have regretfully late passed this whole thread but I just ran into Yeeko on the best-of-the-year nominations and I need ya'll to know this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSbi2Jvls7A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdJcmvQ0DFc

idgi, what's the connection?

Wasn’t delirious released like a decade ago? I think it even made it to the ILM poll

https://travelnoire.com/missed-afrochella-2021-heres-what-went-down-in-ghana?item=3

Brief look at afrochella 2021 with Wizkid and more

I suppose Yeeko does sound a bit like Delirious

rolling afropop 2022

xps, yes i definitely hear Delirious in Yeeko