rolling afropop / afrobeats 2018

Thanks!

Thanks for the link, AG! Some interesting bits in there (the fact that Mr Real considers his shaku shaku stuff “pop”, confirmation of my impression that “Khona” was a kind of milestone), and some missed follow-up questions (what IS it about then?)

I posted “Club Controller” a month ago! It’s been the nr. 1 on SA iTunes for a few weeks now. I haven’t done more than skim the SA iTunes chart recently, and that seems to be the freshest one on there. Have you heard the West Ink Banger comp that came out in November? Good stuff on that. I particularly like the Madanon-led tracks. 

I came across some great stuff from Angola though, thanks to some site (https://pudding.cool/2018/01/music-map/) that someone started a thread about that I can’t find right now (was it rob who actually mentioned Angola?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeaQtiogx18

(Scro Que Cuia, “Vou Partir Cama”)

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

(Os Moikanos, “Ninguém Foge”)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sglob6dnKo4

(Puto Prata, “Gruwa”)

Oh well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVp4G26fJgs

(Os Moikanos, “Gago (Oh Pai)”

Yeah I’ve had Club Controller in rotation for a while now. Great song! Curious about how the non-gqom leaning pop, rap and house is faring. The West Ink Bangers/ Maphorisa / Distruction Boyz axis seemed to be ruling everything right before christmas.

I have been playing this rap track a lot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh-toV5X3HA

Shot Gun Flava ft. Pyrobeats, “Dikgomu”. He’s got a (mini) album out as well.

Naija Big Shots Corner:

I’m really trying with the new Davido, but… isn’t this a bit of a dud?

New Wizkid, posing as Starboy, posse cut with Ceeza Milli, Terri & Spotless, “Soco”:

https://soundcloud.com/dj_michy/soco

New Tekno, posse cut with OG, Flimzy & Selebobo, “Anyhow”:

https://soundcloud.com/teknomusic/anyhow

Oh, Davido has a posse cut too, for his DMW label, with Mayorkun, Dremo & Peruzzi, “Mind”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me4evySCbqQ

And the newest Olamide is with Skepta, “Sheevita Juice” - he’s going the UK route, just like Burna, both taking Mr Eazi’s cue, not Wizzy’s, which makes sense:

https://soundcloud.com/user-477702801/olamide-x-skepta-sheevita-juice

As to why Wizzy’s currently not releasing any tracks under his own name:

http://www.pulse.ng/entertainment/music/wizkid-why-singer-cannot-release-music-officially-in-nigeria-as-an-independent-artist-id7608146.html

Have not been able to get with Flora my Flawa either. It sounds off to me.

ayo breastcrawl: #1 Song in Your City - Interactive, updated map for discovery

(I am like 15 posts behind on this thread)

Nothing groundbreaking but the new Rudeboy is sweet to me, first new song in a while that sounds good to me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94RbK0WHccs

I haven't cared one bit for the last range of Tekno songs, even when he has Selebobo on board so I don't know what's wrong.
Heart Robber has a video out btw.
No offense to her, but Tiwa Savage is going for horny in 2018, following on ridiculously suggestive Sugarcane with ridiculously suggestive Get it Now.

That sounds like a miscalculation/overcompensation to me. Tiwa is many things and I’m sure she has her horny moments irl, but she’s a very controlled performer. Lust is not really her thing afaict.

The songs themselves are good, especially Sugarcane and the clip is very well produced. The Get it Now video is straight-up irresponsible though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akOR-_yE94o

I had forgotten all those songs with Ma Lo and All Over were part of this EP from last September, really strong EP.
Btw, talking still of 2017 (december), I'm not sure we had posted Sarz - Get Up. That's a really good one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqdA-imL3ZM

Tiwa is always good and tes, that ep is pretty great. I think the strength of her persona is connection to a certain... restraint though. «If I start to talk» is such a Tiwa Savage title. She could talk, but if she did it would run over. And Tiwa Savage somehow never runs over. These are mostly my personal musings, as seen from a certain geographical and cultural perspective though. I’m sure she means something different seen from an African perspective, for instance.

And the best South African song from last year has a video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFi-BqmTRrw
And part of me wants to post Bazoyenza

Let me help that part of you out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbLbRuGZW2s

Busiswa ft. DJ Maphorisa, "Bazoyenza"

I had never checked for the video, it's awesome!

Kosewe, kosegbo, kosewe, kosegbo...
They finally released the music video for Science Student

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nVkhp2xtHg

Trippy and weird yes

Tiwa is always good and tes, that ep is pretty great. I think the strength of her persona is connection to a certain... restraint though. «If I start to talk» is such a Tiwa Savage title. She could talk, but if she did it would run over. And Tiwa Savage somehow never runs over. These are mostly my personal musings, as seen from a certain geographical and cultural perspective though. I’m sure she means something different seen from an African perspective, for instance.

― human and working on getting beer (longneck), Sunday, February 25, 2018 1:36 PM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

You'd be surprised.

"If I start to talk" is a very Yoruba phrase. She would have heard it used in varying ways growing up.

Likewise, Tiwa Savage in her demeanour and lyricism is very Yoruba.

The phrase as used in that song besides the clear religious overtones, represents the other side of the brash, absurd, "local", Yorubaisms of Olamide, Kesh and the like

I.e. the more conservative, show-don't-tell pridefulness of Yoruba Women sauntering around in trad dress and heavy tinted, gold-accented shades at parties.

Yeah, that’s the main tenet I’m getting from her overall. She’s very proper. So aggressively sexual tiwa sounds like a false note to me.

I feel that's a little unfair to her.
Can't deny that in these videos she's stiff and doesn't look entirely comfortable but, she's been able to sell that kinda vibe in the past (Love me 3x).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oSY4CYfXV4
This turn feels to me more like an exploration of an often unseen side than a drastic departure from the norm.

Well, it probably is a little unfair, lol. What they’re trying to do is probably to loosen up a bit of that stiffness of hers. I do think she can do seductive, but the way to go about it, I think, would be to have her do a wide range of different and fun music - on some of my favorite ts songs, like the girlie o remix, she doesn’t seem stiff at all.

I'm guessing there is a more... direct side to her that seldom shines through in her music. She grew up in London, after all.I'm not saying she should go grime but maybe she should do some collabos with J Hus and Jae5 or something.

Another gqom banger - and this time the rave flutes are out.
Dladla Mshunqisi -Pakisha (feat. Distruction Boyz & DJ Tira):

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

lol, you beat me to it by exactly 0.32 seconds, longneck!

ha ha!

Let me just add that Club Controller is such a jam. It gets better every time i hear it.

“Club Controller” is massive. This one is great too, from late last year. Is it because of Distruction Boyz or could it be… the Madanon touch?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oACKPv8jEOM

DJ Boonu feat. Madanon, Igcokama Elisha & Mashayabhuqe KaMamba, “uSwidi Wodwa”

(the version on Spotify adds an extra 2 minutes, btw)

that's VERY nice.

I know, right?

Recent SA rap I like, pt. 2:

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

Anatii, "Thixo Onofefe"

Pakisha sounds like a version of Omunye though.
Still working on my pronunciation of gqom lol.
Another sort of recent one I like is iScathulo.

Hey, it’s Wizkid x Killertunes, installment #4, with DJ Spinall facilitating yet again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES8XuZBafz0

Track is called “Nowo”.

I'm loving this loose vibe Wizzy is on currently immensely, by the way. Such a contrast with that slight stiltedness - if that's the right word - of those Sounds From The Other Side tracks - even though some of them (but not all!) were very good.

(lol Nabozo, I'm not quite sure how to pronounce gqom either...)

Apparently it’s...

https://youtu.be/IG-wovGmRqM

Sounds so much better than I ever imagined!

So Mashayabhuqe KaMamba, who is on that DJ Boonu track, also did this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tei1LbSbpLk

“KwaDukuza”

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

love this latest sun-el collab

That whole Busiswa album is pretty special, btw. Someone should alert lex.

Heading back to Nigeria,I really like Don Toffy's olamide-ish Anything For The Mulla:

https://soundcloud.com/pluggrecords/don-toffy-anything-for-the-mulla-afrourbanplugg

A couple of tracks from Ghana that haven't been posted yet I think:

DJ Vyrusky feat. Kuami Eugene & Shatta Wale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ltJrEMc1Ko

Kuami Eugene is a young afropop singer who got famous on Ghanaian TV show MTN Hitmaker and had a massive hit "Angela" last year. His latest song apparently borrows from Sidiki Diabate's "Fais moi confiance" and some from Daddy Lumba & Kojo Antwi as well

Kuami Eugene - Confusion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2R0V-TgBY4

King Promise - Selfish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z2XfY9btCw

Love King Promise and “Selfish”. His previous one, last year’s “Oh Yeah”, is even better:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPxOLjJH0Pc

More gorgeous holdovers from last year, both Nigerian:

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

(Runtown, “Energy”)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmMJLnYp2_o

(Bracket ft. Flavour, “Chop Kiss”)

And a Ghanaian one. Love how propulsive this is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsFEuro2Eqc

Yaa Pono feat. MzVee, “Wu (Die)”

Music videos for two Shaku Shaku songs that have been around for some time:

Mr Real - Legbegbe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5aGdpqNO8w

Oladips feat. Reminisce - Lalakukulala
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GprISw5sBNs

As gqom-y as shaku shaku has gotten so far:

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

Skuki, “Owello”

Haha, that's totally a south african beat.
I didn't know this duo, they're cool. I like Forkanizer from last year and they have a lot more with collabs with Lil Kesh, Olamide etc.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwc4fkT74qk)

Skuki have been around for a long time, but for some reason their older stuff has been wiped off the face of Spotify.

Search:

“Over The Mountain” feat. Olamide (2015):
https://youtu.be/ZUO2fQFU6DY
(either the very first Young John copycat production, or this mysterious ‘BimOnTheBeat’ was actually a YJ alias)

“Voom Va” feat. Phyno (2013):
https://youtu.be/5Pe7whelUMc
(stone-cold classic; an absolutely thrilling record)

Check these great dance videos on the hard-hitting iWalk yephara song (the dance is something viral from last year's hit "Shut up and groove" by Distruction boyz, and Macassette / DJ Raybel "remade" the song...if I got it right)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IErsqu64T7c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og_kaTxfE3U

and for the reference and because the dancing is so amazing, here's this unofficial video from shut up and groove
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr1whZOcLRc

Nabozo, forgive me if I misunderstood your post, but I don’t really hear the connection between “iWalk ye Phara” and “Shut Up And Groove”? However, I came across another track with TDK MaCassette involvement that IS extremely similar to SUAG, “Yeba” by Rude Boyz:

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

But yeah, “iWalk ye Phara” is very good and I enjoyed the dancing!

(Sorry, that should be "Yebo")