US r&b is already chasing the afropop sound
oh yeah? can you list some examples? (not challenging you, I would like to know)
― rob, Wednesday, 19 October 2022 19:31 (one year ago) link
whatever he does, it will be quality, but I wouldn’t like to see him rest on his laurels (although of course he has long been deserving to).one of the most beautiful things he has created through MiL is that Naijapop artists feel confident and free enough now to make albums that create a specific mood that suits them, instead of chasing crossover clout by trying to cover all bases through strategic collabs and different styles. thinking especially of the Omah Lay and CKay albums here.
― big movers, hot steppers + long shaker intros (breastcrawl), Wednesday, 19 October 2022 19:36 (one year ago) link
― rob, Wednesday, October 19, 2022 3:31 PM (one minute ago)
would start w/ the chris brown + wizkid song that is as close to made in lagos cosplay as you could ever achieve
also the future/drake song that is essentially just a remixed version of tems "higher"
i wouldn't necessarily say US r&b is chasing afropop so much as afropop is simply just considered part of contemporary R&B now. if you are a fan of modern R&B you are listening to african artists. the wall has completely collapsed. "essence" is prob the biggest pure R&B song in years. tems is easily the biggest breakout R&B singer of the last few years.
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 19 October 2022 19:39 (one year ago) link
and Asake obv, but his approach (in close collaboration with Magicsticks) feels like a next step already
― big movers, hot steppers + long shaker intros (breastcrawl), Wednesday, 19 October 2022 19:39 (one year ago) link
xp
― big movers, hot steppers + long shaker intros (breastcrawl), Wednesday, 19 October 2022 19:40 (one year ago) link
here are the top 5 songs on the billboard hip hop/R&B airplay chart (to me the best measure of what songs are being served to very core, mainstream rap and r&b listeners) this week
1. future ft. drake & tems - wait for u2. tems - free mind3. diddy & bryson tiller - gotta move on4. burna boy - last last5. lil baby - in a minute
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 19 October 2022 19:42 (one year ago) link
as to longneck’s point, also a sign of the times that a track from Niniola’s sort of side project r&b ep from last year is now used in some US tv drama:
A song by @officialniniola was featured on episode two of the U.S television drama All American: Homecoming 🌍 🔥 #homecoming #drama #niniola #africaentertainmenttv pic.twitter.com/pgMLxHWsgW— Africa Entertainment TV (@africaenttv_) October 18, 2022
― big movers, hot steppers + long shaker intros (breastcrawl), Wednesday, 19 October 2022 19:43 (one year ago) link
xpah ok I guess I already knew all that (though I'm not a chart-watcher and did not realize Last Last had penetrated there), thought longneck meant something a little different
― rob, Wednesday, 19 October 2022 19:44 (one year ago) link
doja cat "woman" is also an afrobeats song which went top 10 and was no 1 at pop radio
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 19 October 2022 19:47 (one year ago) link
^yeah that's more what I thought he meant (and is new to me for some reason)
― rob, Wednesday, 19 October 2022 19:50 (one year ago) link
i think there's a stronger case to be made that african artists are taking over R&B (i.e. asake outstreaming ari lennox first week) than american artists chasing the sound per se, but there are def some prominent examples (the ones i listed) of the latter. to chris brown's credit he was maybe the first big american artist to really recognize afrobeats artists? so his rip off of 'made in lagos' doesn't feel that galling
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 19 October 2022 19:56 (one year ago) link
CB def one of the first - he’s one of the earliest friends Wizzy made in the US industry. they made “Shabba” in 2016 (with Trey Songz there as well!) and iirc “African Bad Gyal” may have been recorded even earlier - too bad they sat on it for too long. when Wiz finally dropped it it no longer sounded current.
― big movers, hot steppers + long shaker intros (breastcrawl), Wednesday, 19 October 2022 20:02 (one year ago) link
Jordan, are there any other afropop (-adjacent) tracks in Billboard’s hip hop/R&B airplay chart? it’s one of their many subscribers-only charts, so I have no access to it
― big movers, hot steppers + long shaker intros (breastcrawl), Wednesday, 19 October 2022 20:13 (one year ago) link
All of the above. Doja is a really good example, as is Call Me Every Day. There's also stuff like Kelly Rowland jumping on the Bloody Samaritan remix and Rema and Selena actually charting now. Jordan gets it right: african artists are basically taking over r&b now, for better or worse.
― human and working on getting beer (longneck), Wednesday, 19 October 2022 20:13 (one year ago) link
Kelly has form as well: she was on the remix for Korede Bello’s “Do Like That” five years ago.
― big movers, hot steppers + long shaker intros (breastcrawl), Wednesday, 19 October 2022 20:20 (one year ago) link
there was "heated" from the beyoncé album
― comedy khadafi (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 19 October 2022 20:23 (one year ago) link
As I believe deej pointed out some years ago, it all started with this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeJhi1-C7G0
― human and working on getting beer (longneck), Wednesday, 19 October 2022 20:26 (one year ago) link
+ the entire lion king soundtrack xp
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 19 October 2022 20:27 (one year ago) link
― big movers, hot steppers + long shaker intros (breastcrawl), Wednesday, October 19, 2022 4:13 PM (seventeen minutes ago)
just "call me everyday" at no 34 which is a new peak
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 19 October 2022 20:31 (one year ago) link
ah cheers. no sign of Oxlade’s “Ku Lo Se” breaking US r&b radio yet then?
― big movers, hot steppers + long shaker intros (breastcrawl), Wednesday, 19 October 2022 20:33 (one year ago) link
Well, it's #5 on the Billboard US Afrobeats charts this week: https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-u-s-afrobeats-songs/
― human and working on getting beer (longneck), Wednesday, 19 October 2022 20:39 (one year ago) link
well, sure - waiting for it to infiltrate beyond that, like it has in the UK and Europe
― big movers, hot steppers + long shaker intros (breastcrawl), Wednesday, 19 October 2022 20:41 (one year ago) link
I'd say it has a decent chance.
― human and working on getting beer (longneck), Wednesday, 19 October 2022 20:41 (one year ago) link
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, October 19, 2022 2:47 PM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
random but I believe this was cowritten by jidenna, and it definitely feels like some of the best retro-afropop songs that were on his album
the earliest person to observe the rise of afropop was Kanye that I can find. He cosigned DBanj -- honestly I think he just noticed how "oliver twist" sounded like paul johnson "get get down" lol .
― xheugy eddy (D-40), Thursday, 20 October 2022 20:53 (one year ago) link
The Oliver Twist video is a document for the ages: nearly all of Kanye's G.O.O.D. friends are in it.
― human and working on getting beer (longneck), Friday, 21 October 2022 09:33 (one year ago) link
oh, hey:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0kme1Fh6YABabyface ft. Amaarae • One Good Thing
― big movers, hot steppers + long shaker intros (breastcrawl), Friday, 21 October 2022 16:10 (one year ago) link
New Wizkid is teh good Wizkid
https://open.spotify.com/track/3nIj7jkWVKKmmKPdhgrddu?si=qHRTknRNQFmFVkOYBvwgGQ
― human and working on getting beer (longneck), Friday, 28 October 2022 05:17 (one year ago) link
album out next week :) :) :) :) :)
― J0rdan S., Friday, 28 October 2022 05:46 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbATe_uZFTEfirst ever song with a Buju Banton/Benson pun!
― big movers, hot steppers + long shaker intros (breastcrawl), Friday, 28 October 2022 05:58 (one year ago) link
lol he should put them on a song together so we could all marvel at: f. BNXN fka Buju x Buju Banton
great track! I was sad when it ended
― rob, Friday, 28 October 2022 13:50 (one year ago) link
yeah this is fantastic
― comedy khadafi (voodoo chili), Friday, 28 October 2022 15:49 (one year ago) link
I appreciate the Timmy Thomas accents in P2J’s production this looks like it’s going to be MiL - The Sequel
― big movers, hot steppers + long shaker intros (breastcrawl), Friday, 28 October 2022 19:40 (one year ago) link
on the tracklist for More Love Less Ego on Genius.com there’s no track with Roddy Ricch - instead it has… Lauryn Hill
― big movers, hot steppers + long shaker intros (breastcrawl), Friday, 28 October 2022 19:45 (one year ago) link
🚨Wizkid’s “More Love Less Ego” album release has now been shifted back to November 11. Respect. 🫡👏🏽 pic.twitter.com/6d9mgEWdQV— 𝗔𝗟𝗕𝗨𝗠 𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗞𝗦 📀 (@AlbumTalksHQ) November 3, 2022
― big movers, hot steppers + long shaker intros (breastcrawl), Thursday, 3 November 2022 11:47 (one year ago) link
was wondering if he would do this. awful news about davido's son
― J0rdan S., Thursday, 3 November 2022 16:06 (one year ago) link
yeah damn I hadn't heard about that
― rob, Thursday, 3 November 2022 16:09 (one year ago) link
1. Money & Love2. Balance 3. Bad to Me4. 2 Sugar feat. Ayra Starr5. Everyday 6. Slip N Slide feat. Skillibeng & Shenseea7. Deep8. Flower Pads9. Wow feat. Skepta & Naira Marley10. Pressure11. Plenty Loving 12. Special feat. Don Toliver 13. Frames (Who’s Gonna Know)
― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 8 November 2022 04:30 (one year ago) link
You can tell Wizkid I approve of this list of feats
― Nabozo, Tuesday, 8 November 2022 06:40 (one year ago) link
Yeah that’s more like it. I’m in.
― human and working on getting beer (longneck), Tuesday, 8 November 2022 06:44 (one year ago) link
I know, tomorrow is More Love Less Ego day, but I would just like to alert people to the new Masego single, "Say You Want Me", which is co-produced by P2J. very relevant to our recent afropop/beats-influencing-r&b discussion. check the rolling r&b 2022 thread.
― big movers, hot steppers + long shaker intros (breastcrawl), Thursday, 10 November 2022 09:22 (one year ago) link
🟣MORE LOVE LESS EGO🟩it’s out, I listened to it, it’s great! - my first impressions. I’d describe it as Made In Lagos - The 2022 Upgrade: More Log Less LanguidMiL_The Update: P2J is all over it, again. Juls has one track, again. “2 Sugar” is “Essence” with Ayra instead of Tems. but: it’s even better sounding and more gloriously produced, and Wizzy’s vocals and phrasing are exquisite.More Log Less Languid: most of the album sounds very piano-informed, without ever really going there. there’s only one track that out-pianos “Bad To Me”, that’s “Plenty Loving”, it’s a hit and an absolute highlight.other highlights at first pass: Kel P’s “Balance” and P.Priime’s “Pressure”, plus P2J x Sammy Soso (who?)’s “Flower Pads”. Soso also co-wrote “Bad To Me”, think he’s a (Nigerian) UK (or even Irish?) guy.
― big movers, hot steppers + long shaker intros (breastcrawl), Friday, 11 November 2022 00:20 (one year ago) link
listening now and it's very good so far, keeping the same vibe as made in lagos with just the addition of some amapiano touches is a great formula
― ufo, Friday, 11 November 2022 02:03 (one year ago) link
Sonically very much a continuation and I like all of it, although highlights seem less obvious (no No Stress / Ginger / Essence) and that Skillibeng really doesn't work on light touch soulful piano :)Highlights on first listens for me are Balance, Pressure, Plenty Loving, and Frames. I'm warming up on Bad to me too. Deep and Flower Pads really slick in the middle.
― Nabozo, Friday, 11 November 2022 10:42 (one year ago) link
This is pretty wonderful! It is hard to pick highlights, but that's down to consistency not quality. Gonna follow Nabozo's lead and make that observation followed by a list of highlights:--Kel P's production on Balance gets into a glorious pure ear candy zone at one point, god he's good--Everyday--Skillibeng and Shenseea sound *really* good (I was worried), prob the best track I've heard her on in a while. I guess you could lose Skilli with no harm done, but you need to sandpaper to make things smooth iirc--Then there's a batch of songs that all rule but I lost track of which were which: Deep, Flower Pads, Pressure. I'm sure their individual strengths will emerge after more time.--I like how Special changes things up a bit at the end, the relative spareness really works after luxuriating for the preceding 11
My mild "really doesn't work" is Skepta, whose voice always sounds out of place on afropop to me, sorry to say, but even that is far from a problem: that track is still very good.
I didn't think 2 Sugar even came close to besting Essence (and Ayra << Tems imo), but I need to listen to it again.
Overall this exceeded my expectations, maybe by a lot. I'm not there yet, but there could be a "better than MiL?" convo to be had
― rob, Friday, 11 November 2022 14:05 (one year ago) link
the jazzy fadeout on Frames is a really lovely finishing touch too
― rob, Friday, 11 November 2022 14:07 (one year ago) link
Loving this but you already knew that. Will stay on repeat throughout the weekend.
― human and working on getting beer (longneck), Friday, 11 November 2022 16:29 (one year ago) link
The skillibeng feature is great btw
― human and working on getting beer (longneck), Friday, 11 November 2022 16:32 (one year ago) link
the songwriting here def isn't as immediate... even putting "essence" aside there isn't anything as instantly memorable as "true love," "no stress" or "mood." but we're talking about one of the best albums released in the last 10-20 years so i'm not tripping off him being able to hit those same heights again. a lot of this sounded pretty great to me... the skillibeng & shenseea track was actually my fav the first few times thru. i think it gets better towards the end actually which is always nice. the way they bend don tolliver's parts at points to where it almost sounds like a sample is nifty, and "frames" is a wonderful closer.
i like that he stuck really close to the sound of made in lagos... aside from just being perhaps the ideal form for music period i do think that they show here there was a bit more for them to explore texturally, whether it's the itchiness of "bad for me" or folding some amapiano in, the guitar line on "special" which feels like a nod to fela-era afrobeat
― J0rdan S., Friday, 11 November 2022 22:45 (one year ago) link
Team Wizzy going straight for the Essence 2 (Sugar) jugular:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_oenl2Be-w(no, the songs aren’t all that similar, but the concept is)
― big movers, hot steppers + long shaker intros (breastcrawl), Friday, 11 November 2022 23:10 (one year ago) link
I agree that MiL is probably the better album with the stronger songs. There is also the sense that MiL sounded right for its covid stricken time - it was an indoor album, whereas the anthemic wave we're seeing now is all about release and the urge to go out. Buuuut... Wizkid makes it all sound so effortless anyway. Like MiL, this is an album you can live with and live in.
― human and working on getting beer (longneck), Friday, 11 November 2022 23:18 (one year ago) link