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

Kojo Funds & Abra Cadabra - Dun Talkin
MoStack - Block Popping
Belly Squad - Banana Remix
Yxng Bane ft. Kojo Funds - Fine Wine
MoStack ft. J Hus - Paranoid

I've been caning all these virtually daily for the last month or so, although most of them slipped out at the tail end of last year. Still, something's going on here, right?

I don't know much about most of these guys or how they fit in, but this seems to mark the tipping point where what's been going on in Ghana and Nigeria really filters through to wider UK rap (despite it being nearly two years since Dem Boy Paigon there's something of a purple patch going on right now). But it also feels distinct from other UK artists like Kwamz & Flava or Mazi Chukz in that they feel defineably London and aimed first and foremost at a UK audience. Way more screwfacy than that, but distinct from grime, like you get the sense that most of these guys would have been making standard road rap until recently and there's a load of that DNA in this sound as well. Anyway, where do I hear more of this?

j hus - dem boy paigon

I'm all for this thread. Dun Talking is dope.

Might be my imagination but reasonably reliable bellweathers like Mista Silva and Sneakbo seem to got a bit more aggro of late as well.

Can we put this one in here? It's not very aggro but I like it.

Dave x J Hus - Samantha
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOslx4hKwZk

J Hus' 2017 wasn't quite on par with his 2016 but Friendly was really good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaO_ZLIeo7M

ehhhh 2016/2015 i mean

Yeah I think we might have got to this point sooner had Hus not been, er, unavoidably detained for a chunk of last year.

top choices in the op missing addison lee, big tobz' controlla, my 9ine, and robbery

spotify's bash caviar pl an essential follow
https://open.spotify.com/user/spotify_uk_/playlist/4JPqkl1ShCzpRsexBvmGiK

I loved Dem Boy Paigon when it came out. Looking forward to delving into this thread.

Can't find any links for LottoBoyzz' No Don outside of Spotify so I'll just say it's the jam and drop this in here:
spotify:album:7oLMlGAfUk3LYnel7DoWx8

new mostack produced by ill blu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJCjLCL9tuo

"Dun Talking" is pretty huge, love it

Iray Mvmt seem key to this scene

https://soundcloud.com/iraymvmt

Abra Cadabra ft. Kush "Valentine"

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

J hus - did you see
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rk6_Ax0mQo

you'd never know this instrumental was a massive pop song, it fits right in w yxng bane's whole sound

wish he had ditched the ed sheeran chorus all together tbh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMUfg75kZwk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04hINwP5Ywg

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

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

Kojo Funds 'Warning' is completely shameless, in a "are you really doing this? Oh my fucking god you made it the whole verse" kind of way. I actually have the admire the chutzpah of it:

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

chorus of the year
https://youtu.be/CvtxRv38Ep4

Morbidly intrigued by what I'm going to hear when I click on that Keef link.

kojo has previous for interpolation w my nines obv

the arabic connection

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmzGYzlyH6M

(geko's...mixtape? album? lionheart is pretty solid)

like this too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwWRa7jMr_4

"you alright yh?" is amazing

Morbidly intrigued by what I'm going to hear when I click on that Keef link.

― Matt DC, Thursday, March 16, 2017 6:45 AM (seven hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

You should check it out, I think it's probably being under acknowledged in the Afro "trap" genre how much of the influence came from Chicago anyway, if u look at YouTube stats for who was watching keef videos New York & London were two of his biggest audiences

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwtpuoR9r7Q

I enjoyed that more than any other Keef I've bothered to listen to, which admittedly isn't a huge amount. But yeah road rap has been channeling drill for years and UK drill is mostly boring, but all this is a further mutation from that and it's the afro element that really makes this stuff bounce.

Dun D ft. Sneakbo & Kojo Funds - Badman Rmx:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04hINwP5Ywg

Like there's obviously some Chicago in the mix but that's not what makes it exciting, and the rhythmic blueprint is completely different.

i agree! that keef track is picking up on the same influences (afrobeats) IMO

whats interesting to me is how they're both coming to nearly identical conclusions, like you could mix those tracks together & no one would blink (well...they're not in the right key so it wouldn't be completely effortless but im sure there are plenty of examples where that would work)

HUSKIES

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-Wfiz4x2XU

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ_83nx3xAE

New Kojo

So apparently Wizkid AND Ty Dolla are going to remix this. It's a banger already though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QffQJ5m226U

Yung Fume - Watch Me Flex

Btw, deej is correct about the strong Chicago connection. The go-to dj, Kenny Allstar, who has his own show on Radar Radio, is a huge drill fan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJC3XtyRXpU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHvORcH7bbM

J Hus album out next month!

ILM's 2017 Rolling UK Afrotrap Thread Spotify Playlist

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AABcDQOE5h0

I don't know what Ussy Ussy means :(

^ really digging ill blu's second act as producer of all these sick mostack songs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tfvTSfnLK8

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

Not heard much in this scene that's grabbed my attention recently but this one's good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq1mUEhKQfc

Is anyone making this type of music outside of That London apart from Lotto Boyzz? Is it big with the youngsters anywhere else in the UK? I'm in Scotland so I don't have a clue what's big with the kids in England

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgCb6Fg56YA

Don't think this has been posted but it's one of my faves

Maybe there's a burgeoning scene in Birmingham as well? Suspects it probably mirrors wider diasporic movement to some extent.

Given that Mostack went Top 20 with a mixtape and 'Bestie' is getting serious daytime Radio 1 play, I'm guessing that a few of these guys are going to be massive. Gonna go out on a limb and suggest it'll throw up a rapper with genuine international appeal as well, something that grime has never really managed.

Isn't j hus already this? French Montana is remixing "do you see" lol

Do you really call this stuff afro trap? I thought it's 'Afro-Swing' rather?

http://thelinkup.com/what-is-afro-swing-and-has-it-taken-over-uk-afrobeats/

In all honesty I thought Afro Trap was coined by French rapper MHD. He has made quite a few tracks with that name:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zi1D0MKWHU0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1YKFV45M18

I thought people were calling it afro bashment. Afro swing doesn't sound right to me for reasons I'm unsure of

Some say bashment, some say swing. Afro B has attempted to brand it afrowave. Some call it other things. The afro part is the only constant.

I think Afro Swing was coined by Kojo Funds and his producer GA. But yeah, other people seem to talk about Afro Bashment. Some might call it UK Afrobeats (like the article below) but doesn't seem right to me.

Afro Trap to me is the sound that MHD is doing in France. The UK sound is quite different

http://mixmag.net/feature/uk-afrobeats-the-new-sound-reinventing-british-club-music

No one calls it afrotrap, it just seemed to make sense at the time. Afro bashment is a terrible name as well but what do you expect if people will outsource everything to the Spotify brand consultancy. I've just taken to saying UK afro.

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

I don't really get the hype about Not3s but this one's big. All about Mabel though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7-z1XKK3BU

The beat on this one is wavey as. Was not aware that One Acen was a producer

Loving the One Acen! “Fine Line” is nice too.

vice versa beat is sick, similar video game vibe as this mist one (great video too). you can tell all these producers grew up on the playstation 2 lol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihYWpi77csY

speaking of beats the hook and beat on this one is a monster

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ43RbCtgIw

also can't believe octavian hasn't been mentioned here, this one got the drake cosign and everything. his delivery and voice is stunning, stopped me in my tracks the first time i heard it. hoping he goes far cause this is something else.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz7eyvAMOpA

not sure if this is the thread for it but the French-speaking world also has its own strain of afro-trap.

Kalash ft. Damso 'Mwaka Moon' is really popular in France I believe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPnMFUsKm8w

and speaking of Damso, a Congolese artist, his solo stuff is great too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGhKPm18E48

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53T7iwn1nbw

xp yeah Octavian's good. He's one of those guys who's sort of on the borderline between rap and Afrobashment

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

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

Couple of the drill lads getting in on the action

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

Lady Leshurr also getting in on the action with this absolute belter

I heard a tune in this sort of style in a shop a few weeks ago, sort of a slowed down 110ish UK funky style beat with a hook that went something like 'you don't love me nah nah nah', singer sounded a bit like Mabel, anyone have any idea what this might be?

Not a fan of that Lady Leshurr track, I know she can't carry on doing the zing machine thing forever but that just sands all her personality away.

I edited the thread title a while back but I'm glad afroswing is the term that's caught on. The whole sound feels much more about good vibes and less about dudes looking moody in estate stairwells than it did 18 months ago but pop ubiquity will do that I suppose.

meant to post this a few weeks ago, when i went to see Yemi Alade at her first UK gig. It was the middle of the Windrush shit, and, while the whole gig was really great, this had the hairs on the back of my neck standing up:

https://youtu.be/CSRHK4pK2EY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dR_igq1-_8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SqWenG1j2A

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

This is basically garage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCU5ljQaIN4

Dele Alli though :(

this stuff has largely passed me by but the kojo funds album is a lot of fun eh?

thanks for the heads up, i hadn't realised it was out

very enjoyable

Listened to the opening stretch of it earlier today and it was both hugely enjoyable and completely shameless.

The opening track reminded me, weirdly, of Soon by My Bloody Valentine in a way that was I'm sure entirely unintentional, and within a few songs he's dropping Craig David and Snow references.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luTT97VJpTE

This is more dancehall than afro bashment tbf but who know Idris Elba could rap? Man a big DJ ask Meghan and Harry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E34REPgVpXk

Jae5 is the best producer in UK urban music right now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mtkbx1fdIa8

Somehow forgot this thread existed, until paolo reminded me in the UK Rap/Grime thread.

Posting this as much for Latifah’s verse in Dutch as anything:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6g-wbOQwqA

Geko ft. Maleek Berry & Latifah • Hey Mama

I've been really enjoying the route one lasciviousness of the Mostack album lately.

Haven’t heard the album, but “Stinking Rich” with J Hus and Dave is great:

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

THE POLICE GOT THE VIDEO REMOVED TWICE...IT’S THURSDAY & IT CAME OUT ON MONDAY
Enjoy 😉 @ST6IX7EVEN - FULL WASS pic.twitter.com/9VOSghfLPz

— 67*6GOD* (@Scribz6ix7even) July 11, 2019

god knows if it belongs here but was listening to this last night and thought it banged.

That's drill. I'm happy that another ilxor is posting drill videos tbh. Big track by the way

I've been really enjoying the route one lasciviousness of the Mostack album lately.

― Matt DC, Saturday, July 13, 2019 6:58 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

yeah this is really *fun* even when he's making dumb smutty jokes, he's v winning and the production is consistently pleasurable

xp

what's some other good UK drill stuff? If you don't mind an me asking paolo?

an lol fuck knows where my typing is at these days!

Check the grime and UK rap threads, which I spam up with drill videos on a regular basis

Digga D
Headie One
Russ
DigDat
K Trap
Unknown T (not really drill any more tbh)
Skengdo and AM (not as good as they used to be)
67 (same)
Harlem Spartans/Loski (same)
KO
V9
Nito NB
OFB (esp Bando Kay, Double Lz, SJ)
C1
Sav and S1
Zone 2 (not released much lately cos they're all in prison)
T1 from Silwood Nation

Here for it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meuzeaGCyFY
Kojo Funds ft. Wizkid • I Like

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpCx3FIg8y8

Wiley's making pop music again. It's OK I guess

Wiley is also on the new Kida Kudz, which is more or less a follow-up to Ms Banks’s “Snack” (posted in The Other Thread), again produced by GuiltyBeatz:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7UhUyXEQR8
Kida Kudz ft. Wiley • Bounce

https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-53446263

“The Official UK Afrobeats Top 20 will be announced on BBC Radio 1Xtra on Sunday.“

Good development, although it’s too bad they stuck with the Afrobeats tag instead of Afropop. Curious as to what they are going to include on this chart, and what will be excluded, both for UK tracks and actual African tracks.

I started listening to the NSG album but didn’t get all that far. I found the vocal interplay on some of the new tracks a bit messy and unfocussed, not like I remembered from the singles at all, they were real... bops. I should try again, maybe it was the wrong day.

Loved this one tho:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeTmN9jb3ks
NSG • MCM

Bonus point for being produced by Dutchman Yung Felix.

Here’s that first UK Afrobeats top 20:
https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/afrobeats-chart/

5 UK tracks (6 if I include Juls), of which 3 are in the top 5, one French track, the rest are Nigerian (most of them) or Ghanaian.

Looks like they’re sticking with the UK definition of Afrobeats as music of West African origin (whereas in the US it appears to be a catch-all term for all African pop music), since they chose not to include Master KG’s “Jerusalema”, not even in the remix version with Burna, even though it would have undoubtedly qualified sales-wise.

So time to post another NSG track, because “Grandad” is the number one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEPdfVZsd0U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcUq0DDt0Ro

surprised there's no chat about this tiktok smash w/ its many remixes (unless I'm looking in the wrong place) - seems right up ilm's alley

i'm pretty out of touch with tiktok hits but i'm glad something as good as that is one

think the new Headie One with international hitmakers Young T & Bugsey fits here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Px5l4mQ0H4
Headie One ft. Young T & Bugsey • Princess Cuts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSFgRsR5e20
Midas The Jagaban • Party With A Jagaban

Her previous single, her debut (!) by the looks of it, is as *afro* as it gets as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFI9SA1wSGI
Midas The Jagaban • Come We Bill Ehh

does this count?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8Bp3E9UPts
Emeli Sandé ft. Stonebwoy & Nana Rogues • More of You

Party With A Jagaban is brilliant.

it really is - and thanx for reminding me! I know I posted it myself just two weeks ago, but I had all but forgotten about it. back in heavy rotation, baby!

Britisch-Nigerianische Freundschaft:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xopfgeXDlKA
Bankulli x Not3s • Foreign

(produced by DJ Coublon)

Britisch-Nigerianische Freundschaft, part 2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLE52edPGrI
MIST ft. Burna Boy • Rollin'

Not sure if this is really the right thread for this, but Nippa's Situation is a jam.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqgr5v_Kml0

Loving this! Proper Team Salut comeback, imo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3Ik1anyzt0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VHHggtAxaQ
M Huncho ft. BNXN (fka Buju) • Pray 2 The East

(produced by Jae5)