rolling afropop 2022

I understood the line, but I think it's a weird critical move to assert that AG is ~capable~ of writing better music than BB or WK when he demonstrably has never done so. Maybe if she'd only said vocal chops I might not have cared—I certainly don't listen to Davido for his impressive pipes lol—but I have a fundamentally different way of listening to music than someone who would listen to AG and BB and think the former clearly has more potential

anyway, I listened to about half of the album and lost interest. Maybe he has "chops" but he sure lacks charisma! Not sure I blame Gold entirely for that, I'm bored with a lot of naija production right now, and I posted the review because I agree with her conclusion. OTOH I think African Giant has probably come closest to that point, and I always wished Wizkid had done more in the Ojuelegba vein

I understood the line, but I think it's a weird critical move to assert that AG is ~capable~ of writing better music than BB or WK when he demonstrably has never done so.

oh yeah totally agreed

the lovely new Rema single does exactly what I think that review was asking for

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQLsdm1ZYAw

Calm Down

debut album out in March

Reekado Banks & Fireboy DML - Ozumba Mbadiwe (remix)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qNHgciOut8

(I don't remember if the original version was posted last year)

sounds kind of like someone put Bounce in the freezer for a few hours

Rapper Riky Rick died this morning in Johannesburg from suicide, he was 34. I was a fan of the hit Ungazincishi and he seemed to be all around the place.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQsND8-oYnQ

Anotha banga– but without the tag this time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTTsxSoYEFs
Rema & AJ Tracey - FYN (Prod Kel P Vibes)

Signature addictive King Monada melody

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjmzfSBQHDc
Rechie Teanet & C Boy Teanet - NuNu Ft King Monada

Buju and Pheelz' Finesse was #1 on the global Shazam chart when I checked it last night. I predict it's going to be huge this summer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyeCxH9wbDc

those Pheelz and Teanet tracks are great - the Rema's halfway there. Thanks!

Yes to “Finesse “

otm, that is excellent, and the video is the first time I've been hyped for the metaverse

Teanets are really nice too--is that South African?

the Rema is maybe a little relaxed to a fault, but I could see it sounding really good in the context of an album, the production is deeper than I first thought

I like this bit of naijapiano from Niphkeys & Reekado Banks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHI3JGyuRH0

Yes, and their parents were musicians/performers too. Read that father Peter was killed by a policeman

https://fourwaysreview.co.za/377379/richie-teanet-brings-a-different-sound-to-south-african-music-industry/

That’s re Teanet

thanks!

I'm playing catch-up. On the darker side of production, uMlando

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY1AKe1Qnkw
9umba, Toss & Mdoovar - uMlando (feat. Sir Trill, Sino Msolo, Lady Du, Young Stunna & Slade)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq6zkFOHEiw
Major League Djz x Mathandos x Nvcho ft C4 Djs - BAKWA LAH

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmiIDKQV8kE
Cyfred - Lengoma ft. BenyRic, Nkulee & Skroef, T&T MusiQ

On the lighter side, I don't think that last year we posted ThackzinDJ, Tee Jay & Sir Trill - Yini Sdakwa

And I posted about TAYO from Musa Keys, but it was not Selema
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUfphAcgjLA
Musa Keys - Selema

the pheelz song is gonna be a big hit, and deservedly so.

loved the group vocals on this video from pheelz's tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pheelzonthebeat/video/7069775235326758149

With stars like @YAWTOG_, @KwakuDMC, @JayBahd1 and @ygaokenneth, will #Asakaa, or Ghana drill, replicate the recent global success of Nigeria's #Afrobeats and South Africa's #Amapiano?https://t.co/BT6RUFojU9

— BBC News Africa (@BBCAfrica) March 22, 2022

Rema album sounds absolutely wonderful

omg just the transition from Divine to Hold Me was swoooon

why chris brown, rema?

it is indeed wonderful. go swoon over here: REMA : days of Rave & Roses (& of course Bangers)

while you’re all having fun on the Rema thread, let me post some hot stuff here.

this is a fucking jam, biggest streaming song in Nigeria right now (well, until the Rema album dropped):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A-CjKOQWvg
Asake • Sungba

but what? shock horror! his first absolute smash of the year wasn’t even posted here? sleeping on the job, folx! (you thought “Finesse” dropped out of thin air?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PnZf9U1HxQ
Asake ft. Olamide • Omo Ope


and another current naijapiano hit with its own unique vibe. slowed and screwed perhaps? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRn1gL9NNb8
Zinoleesky • Rocking

Rocking is cool

I'm not sure I get the fuss with Asake, though I liked Omo Ope more that Sungba and could see him growing on me. What's the connection between Omo Ope and Finesse?

speaking of: I'm glad Buju changed his name, but how exactly does one pronounce BNXN? bee en ex en I guess?

he's said it's pronounced "benson," which is his real last name

yeah, that will def put an end to any potential confusion with Buju Banton, which I assume is the reason for the name change

ha! thanks vc, I wasn't actually expecting anyone to know the answer lol. do you all listen to afrobeats podcasts or radio or...?

What's the connection between Omo Ope and Finesse?

gotcha

ha! thanks vc, I wasn't actually expecting anyone to know the answer lol. do you all listen to afrobeats podcasts or radio or...?

― rob, Friday, March 25, 2022 2:15 PM (eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

ha, i saw an article about his name change and it helpfully pointed out the pronunciation. also the first track on his e.p. from last year is called "daniel benson (buju)"

lmao I suppose I could have googled it myself. I only figured out the change because Finesse got greyed out on Tidal

Buju should have doubled down and renamed himself Buju Benson, who's going to recognize BNXN ?

get himself double sued

The Asake ep is dope- I didn’t quite get him at first either but he’s got it. Omo Ope is the standout though - Olamide guesting it (and him being signed to YBNL) makes a whole lot of sense. He’s very much the next generation’s Olamide.

sign of the times:

https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/ckays-love-nwantiti-tops-first-billboard-us-afrobeats-songs-chart-1235050658/

here’s the full top 30:

https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-u-s-afrobeats-songs/

all Nigerian btw, except for the big Ghanaian hit of the year - which is super lovely and happens to have a suitably Naija sound:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxyzTOX_tDQ
KelvynBoy • Down Flat

my favorite cover version:

This guy 😅 @_LHOGY pic.twitter.com/X39cOXvx3v

— Black Star ⭐️ (@kelvynboymusic_) March 3, 2022

ok I get the fuss now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WU__JQuB8g

(Sungba remix w/Burna Boy)

so then how do you (and others) feel about Black Sherif before and after Burna?

“Second Sermon” (July 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFdD3Y8mqPI

“Second Sermon (Remix)” (December 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPf8LT2uNbs

how it started: “First Sermon” (May 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M8GrF2b7M0

so yeah, these are all from 2021, but they’re very relevant to the BBC piece curmudgeon linked about Ghana drill/asakaa, even though Black Sherif, the biggest star to come out of this scene so far, doesn’t even get a mention there.

this sound has blown up in Ghana over the past 18 months at least, and has been influencing mainstream Ghanaian pop as well. I have to admit I was slow to catch on - for instance, I only realized well afterwards that that big bass in Okyeame Kwame’s “Yeeko” (as well as many other recent Kuami Eugene-helmed hits) comes straight from drill.

a recent one that comes out of asakaa but very much does its own slightly trippy thing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=294N-3477PU
Jay Bahd ft. Skyface SDW, Chicogod & City Boy • Masherita

the black sherif x burna boy track is excellent, it's true

I do prefer that version yeah, but I should have said re: Asake that it wasn't so much that Burna elevates the song, more that it prompted me to listen to it again and I liked it—that said Burna is always welcome!

that Masherita is really good. drill (or that glissando bass sound anyway) is huge in dancehall right now too

table is the table posted this in last year's thread, though unfortunately it looks like you can't stream it there anymore: https://hakunakulala.bandcamp.com/album/nai-yetu-mixtape

sorry, should mentioned that's Kenyan

that glissando bass sound

haha I tried to explain the difference between trap and drill to a friend recently and "glissando bass" is about the only way to do it quickly

fun to listen back to Yeeko with that in mind btw, I definitely hadn't picked up on that either given how different the vibe is (this time I also noticed he says "drilly" at one point...I think)

Interesting how Free Mind from 2020 is outperforming most of the songs from If Orange Was A Place

I had no idea either, but I just checked the YouTube comments: people are seriously feeling this song

Love how that “royal hama” track sounds will check the rest. Didn’t expect it to be instrumental, there is a potential hit in the making with that one with a guest vocalist.

That one isn't really representative, but then no single track is.

"My Love" has vocals and shows the more UK dance side of things:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcqJzi6Qkb4

"Sise Ntweni" w/ Aymos, naturally, is SA house:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HuZ6ZB8PJQ

That range might strike some people as unfocused, but the whole things *sounds* amazing and ultimately cohesive

btw: https://hagan.bandcamp.com/album/textures

really enjoying this album, the name Hagan didn’t ring a bell, but then I did remember that Aymos track from earlier this year. great *textures* indeed, love what he’s doing with gqom as well.
don’t love the two UK r&b tracks tho, both of these singers are not good, wish these had been left off.
all in all a very nice December surprise, rob!

my pleasure! and agreed on the gqom track, that's a standout

I do like those two rnb tracks (well, the one about praying kind of grates on me lyrically), but I doubt I would have listened to an entire album that sounded like that

Ghana are in desperate need of help:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cH8NP0lo_o
Kweku Flick ft. Smallgod • Blackstars (World Cup Anthem)

speaking of December surprises: Kwesta and Kabza De Small made a kwaito album for the piano era. it’s called Speak N Vrostaan and it slams.
it’s 2022, so there’s log drums and other traces of piano, which helps create a fresh, updated version of an old-school vibe. guests include veterans like Professor and Sizwe Alakine (f/k/a Reason) and young piano rappers like Young Stunna and Toss - and Kabza raps as well, under his alias Papta Mancane.

“Mrholo Wayizolo” (ft. Masterpiece YVK & Papta Mancane): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMnLCFoFt-0

…and there’s a Nigerian December surprise as well: a Mavins album, celebrating ten years of Don Jazzy’s label (but with music by the current roster only).
highlights (besides the hits “Overloading (Overdose)” and “Won Da Mo”) are the two new tracks with Rema in the starring role: “Alle” and especially “Amina”, which also features Ayra Starr, Bayanni, Crayon & DJ Big N: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmhNup0IQ_0

Oh wow, I hadn't realized it was Kabza rapping on that one (there was an earlier music video called yvk-K’shubile).

Very intrigued by the Textures, fantastic soundscape, completely new on Sise Ntweni !! Sounds like the future more than the past to be honest. Chopped, still intricate but more direct-hitting brand of amapiano-House, I'm ready and I want more.

Oh it's a British DJ. I hope the South Africans are paying attention. So fresh and playful.

long post alert!

used Sunday’s Senegal match in the World Cup to treat myself to some current Senegalese sounds (a deep dive, if you will. it’s such a lovely term, isn’t it?) had never realised before how much of a blind spot the Senegal scene was for me, although sure, I’ve listened to my share of Youssou N’Dour and there was that 2003 Dakar dem Dikk rap compilation.
my francophone Africa listening, which has always been spotty to begin with, has been mainly limited to artists from Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, DRC and Mali.

and duh, the Senegalese sounds turn out to be quite different (although there’s some kora-related overlap with neighboring Mali), as well as extremely rewarding.
those drum patterns the Senegalese supporters kept serving up non-stop from the stands during their team’s matches? there’s hardly a song without them - ballads are no exception, as you will see.
sadly, the Lions of Teranga were eliminated, but I made a line up of favourites just the same (all from this year or, in some cases, from 2021):

Your starting Eleven:

1️⃣Mia Guissé • Idda: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x76ayjZpht0
percussive prettiness, as promised. this is #1 on Senegal’s YouTube top 20 - most of the top 10 are songs by female singers btw.

2️⃣One Lyrical & Leyna • Lune de miel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1QEi6RitCw
the only track here that feels (Naija) afropop-adjacent
3️⃣One Lyrical & Leyna ft. Bass Thioung • Dozéko: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZGhhkygAmA
this one has drill bass!
(more on this duo below)

two from the above-featured Bass Thioung. first one is a recent World Cup tie-in, the second one is from last year:
4️⃣Bass Thioung • Na Flash Yi Takk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPxN2QkdFZM
5️⃣Bass Thioung • Je m’en fous de ça: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSm-85A3fI4

their video game is very tight too:
6️⃣Samba Peuzzi • Mbaraj: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CekaUtYLggg
7️⃣Samba Peuzzi • Lou Yakou Yawa (2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYBWX4vtql0

c’est vraiment trop lit 🔥:
8️⃣Bilou XIV ft. Zo Flame • Fatal ma fofou: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKPE9ahsN8I
9️⃣Bilou XIV • Touche du bois (2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkm8FXY53PM

loving the lushness:
🔟Fantastic Beatz ft. Matadi • eMaturr: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1TcK2zmOns

ending with a mid-tempo ballad from last year, produced by that same Fantastic Beatz:
1️⃣1️⃣Narah Diouf • Peundeul:

on the bench: OMG Oumy Gueye, who comes across as a kind of local Rihanna, lots of dramatic ballads, but also rapper’s attitude and catchy jams.

note: One Lyrical & Leyna (see 2️⃣ and 3️⃣) are a newly-wed celebrity couple, he a rapper, she a model. sounds corny as hell, but their Lune de miel (yes, it means ‘Honeymoon’) album is a pure delight. I might actually nominate it for the EOY poll.

1️⃣1️⃣Narah Diouf • Peundeul: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKcrjleCEOY

and here’s your supersub!

El Maestro le Kangham ft. Satou Niang • Moulay Thieuguine Love: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0Sb4UJqKhI

wow, this stuff is so nice!!! senegal!!

yeah super interesting, bc, thanks!

Yes, I like the supersub, El Maestro x Satou Niang, and have to still dig into more. Love how that Senegalese mbalax drumming style is there but it is melded with some afrobeats & r'n'b tinted melodies

I’d rather senegal than camila cabell’:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWKyDIU8L2w
Oxlade ft. Camila Cabello • Ku Lo Sa

I know what the point of these remixes is, but they are so fucking pointless

(and to make matters worse, this is definitely a different vocal take by Oxy)

something’s in the air…

My favorite Senegalese song of 2022 is Bilou XIV & Zo Flame’s “Fatal”. Modern mbalax songs have digital production that reduces the sabar drumming into these familiar, gestural rhythmic/melodic arcs—this doubles down on that in the form of a minimalist rap song. Phenomenal. pic.twitter.com/tIkT4H1eJO

— Joshua Minsoo Kim (@misterminsoo) December 9, 2022

yeah that one and Dozeko stood out the most to me from your rundown

I really like this minimalist banger from Zo Flame:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv5Z9dkHqco

"On a pas les moyens"

nice one! (and his DLS EP is also good)

Kelvyn Boy finally follows up “Down Flat”, my Ghanaian song of the year, and it’s another treat.

star of the show this time are the guitars, both the busy rhythm one in the background and the one that’s doing all those whoops and other flourishes more upfront (if it’s even a guitar!) - the background vocals and harmonies get a honorable mention.

suspect we have producer DJ Breezy to thank for that. that makes ten years of reinventing himself now.

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

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BerqreQ3KU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4kamcepV3g

posted these in the internet stuff/hyperpop thread but they can go here too because they vaguely fit and jim legxacy is just that good

yeah some of those are really dope... feel like he could get even better if the songwriting improves but the style is intriguing. i think i like the candy rain one the most

Really loving the Kwesta and Kabza album. N'gud vibes!

Candy rain melody too obvious for me to love but the dj song is good I think, albeit quirky conceptually for the states

Bad news in London; there was a crowd crush at an Asake show: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/dec/16/four-people-in-critical-condition-after-crush-at-o2-academy-brixton

that looks absolutely horrible… :-(

yeah that’s horrible. have been enjoying the asake album and had been thinking of going as it’s just down the road.

💔 pic.twitter.com/ne110ugRFb

— ASAKE (@asakemusik) December 17, 2022

The Uproxx poll of “hundreds of critics “ ( mostly US American I think) didn’t have much afropop afrobeats that I could see

Beyoncé won albums poll. 26 voted for Rosalia album, 3 votes for Burna Boy album, 2 votes for Rauw Alejandro album, 3 votes for Asake album

Burna Boy “Last Last” did make singles/tracks list

ok thanks

enjoying this list: https://www.passionweiss.com/2022/12/27/best-afro-jams-2022/

favourite discoveries so far are cabo snoop - "controlla" and yemi alade - "baddie"

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oPkeBJA5NU

Oh I had lost touch with Yemi Alade who was great live when I saw her a few years ago. Thanks

https://afropop.org/articles/2022-afropop-best-of-amapiano-and-afrobeats-top-10

These afropop. org lists are kinda randomly chosen it appears , but y'all might still find them of interest

― curmudgeon, Monday, January 2, 2023 5:13 PM (0 seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

the rs list posted on the eoy thread looks promising
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-afropop-songs-of-2022-1234650065/

an interesting development: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/vigro-deep-my-house-my-rules/

Sunday New York Times newspaper has their Johannesburg bureau chief listing Art and music he likes . He mentioned Bakwa Lah video and his love of amapiano