rolling Afropop / Afrobeats / Afrodance 2019

Listening to Yemi Alade Woman of Steel album. Sounds good on first listen, not sure if I hear anything great yet. Need to listen some more

Did you manage to identify a standout track, curmudgeon? I found the Yemi album very underwhelming myself and I never returned to it. Should I?

However, I’ve been really enjoying Lady Donli’s album Enjoy Your Life. The two EPs she released prior to this were Alté/Nigerian alternative R&B (D-40 included the first one, by far the best of the two, in his best of 2010s list), but this album is 15 (short) tracks of retro afrobeat (nu afrobeat?). “Corner” (ft. VanJess & The Cavemen) is my jam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6w6iFVQZ70E

The title track is a standout as well. “Cash” is the only track with an official video (the Corner one is fan-made): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ipvwmNh0F8

xps to ufo

ufo, even Scorpion Kings - 12 tracks, 76 minutes - is marketed as an EP (check the artwork). Like “mixtape” before it this term seems to be losing all distinctive meaning vis-à-vis “album” (in the SA context at least).

Another strong and short but sweet track: “Agbani” by sometime Lady Donli collaborator Bella Alubo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhzajBCMdPw

There is a remix with Zlatan that has it charms as well. Her Re-Bella EP that came out last December is good.

Still no video for “Spiritual”, but I checked back on Buju’s previous output, he dropped about ten songs in the past two years. Quality stuff. Loving this one a lot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GgJzcGBocY
Buju • Energy

killer haul breastcrawl! Will be digging into that Prince Kaybee. 'Mncane' is gorgeous.

A lot more fun and captivating than his previous one with Chris Brown:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9H3iinXZv0
Davido ft. Popcaan • Risky

(a SperoachBeatz production)

Not hearing any great cut on latest Yemi Alade btw

sweet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L74D8r1YlxE

CKAY - WAY FT. DJ LAMBO

they keep pulling the maphorisa songs off youtube so apologies if this one was already posted

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wguSRJ4ju18

TallArseTee Ft Kabza De Small x Dj Maphorisa - Gibela

i know amaarae has been posted before but her solo song is something else ... instant year end lister?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai0RgtrRGSY

*new solo song

Rema is incredible

Yes, he is damn good!

And yes, that Amaarae track is wonderful!

The CKay is nice, although I’m not sure the Beethoven riff really adds anything to it.

TallArseTee is an amapiano legend for “Bamb’ikhanda” alone. The EP
“Gibela” is from is not on Spotify yet, but this amazing track is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v92N4TuUHPY
TallArseTee x Mark Khoza ft. Kwela Tebza, Entity Musiq & Bontle Smith • Nine/9

btw, D-40, how do you rate the Lady Donli album?

Labantwana Ama Uber ('kids of the uber') is everywhere in South Africa, such an addictive song. Akulaleki is maybe the biggest hit that cuts across the population. Amapiano gets played at ridiculous volumes in Braam.

The full-length “Labantwana Ama Uber” is upthread, but here’s a fun live performance on SA TV:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahET6AVE6v8

For Samthing & Sha Sha’s “Akulaleki” (and lots more in that vein)
check the Sun-El and sundry thread.

More Mzansi magic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ripp4yHBdw
Cuebur ft. DJ Maphorisa & ShaSha • Tamba

(the amount of awesome music coming out of South Africa is overwhelming, almost literally)

btw, D-40, how do you rate the Lady Donli album?

― breastcrawl, Wednesday, October 30, 2019 6:54 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

definitely into it, want to spend more time though before i weigh in

cool

She just got a big feature in fader btw

https://www.thefader.com/2019/10/31/lady-donli-enjoy-your-life-interview

Interesting, and it’s by Joey Akan.

Niniola back with Sarz:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCxEvJR5Dng
Niniola • Omo Rapala

Lusophone Afro House - this time from Mozambique, not Angola:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyQp9MXwEFg
DJ Cisne ft. Os do Momento • Feiticeiro

I've had Omo Rapala on repeat this morning. Niniola is unstoppable. You could argue that someone like Tiwa is the better artist, but Niniola is the one that somehow manages to hit my sweet spot every single time. Boda Sodiq has kept growing on me ever since it first dropped.

Sha Sha/ShaSha’s Blossom EP is fantastic. I’m plugging it over on the Sun-El thread because it fits better there, but this track is a great companion piece to the Niniola:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPJ_rhv0uuw
Sha Sha • Water

Spent more time finally w the lady donli and I really do love it. She has great musical range. I feel like I need to do my homework on her influences

This is lovely:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRZBuz5dAM0
Supta ft. Indlovukazi & Prince Kaybee • Tsa Tsa

(plus it kicks ass)

This year’s Naija pop distilled into one song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9A0fQu28Gk
Mayorkun • Up To Something

That’s a good one. Also liking that Lady Donli album

Another Guilty Banger:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POQvDT4PjD8
Pappy Kojo • Thomasy3yaw

This is also from Ghana, and pretty awesome:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsL8i6gEX0I
Fokn Bois ft. Mr Eazi • True Friends

A little bit of background:
https://pan-african-music.com/en/fokn-bois-true-friends-2/

(nice to have this back to back with the Amaarae video D-40 posted)

Wonderful highlife pop from Simi:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFK7v_-tkEU
Simi • Selense

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjCVx8i2PCA

For the appetite for French in this thread. Good DRC-stamped lovers song. Sounds so close to Aka Nakamura.

I love Simi. So pop, so nice, yet so hypnotic and complex.

More stuff from the francosphere is definitely welcome!

(btw, for searching purposes and suchlike, the track in question is “Katchua” by Ya Levis)

Your daily dose of Nini:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4Nmf_ul9FI
Ycee ft. Niniola • Chocolata

I love FOKN BOIS

This hardly ever happens: an East African jam blowing up in West Africa, but this track from Uganda is currently top 10 streaming in Naija and Ghana:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMfMuZ9fjjI
BigTril • Parte After Parte

Love it

I'm thinking of putting on an afrobeats DJ night, possibly focusing on contemporary pop, dance and more out-there sounds from around Africa, potentially incorporating modern music from other parts of the world too if it feels right. Having difficulty knowing how to label and market the idea though. I know the term 'afrobeats' comes with baggage, or applies specifically to Nigerian and Ghanian music for a lot of people. Plus I'm wary of lumping lots of countries into one genre. There are a lot of 'world dance' music nights in Bristol, but they tend to focus on vintage vinyly stuff (actual afrobeat, cumbia etc) than new electronic and pop vibes. What would be the most succinct and polite way of putting it? A friend told me that he and his mate used to refer to it as 'global wreckage' for whatever reason!

I'm really enjoying the Davido album. Such a nice vibe.

Global wreckage does sound catchy fwiw.

davido album is indeed lovely, glad to see it get some recognition from p4k too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZBsYtLsT_w

anybody heard of this guy sonyjojo? i believe he's nigerian. this song "monicar" is awesome... it sounds like someone took a wizkid song and kinda smeared it with their hand a bit. the production is really cool.

it took me a week of it idly bugging me but i realised davido's "1 milli" rips its synth line from dua lipa's "be the one"