rolling afropop 2022

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

Less glissando bass

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErIwMUm91Xs
Pabi Cooper, Focalistic & Ch'cco - Banyana Ke Bafana

Focalistic is still on a roll, beyond the fact that something in his pitch is the definition of (bafana) charisma

This is also delightful and proper

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsRwRaOqrxw
June Freedom, Djodje - Si Ki Min Krè

I don't remember we posted that song with Buju which is on Basketmouth's all-pleasant Horoscopes EP (if you want 20 Nigerian stars pocketed in a EP size).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg5yK6aZ2C8
Your Body

Video for Emiliana is out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypr5QN7Xn_M
Ckay - Emiliana

“all-pleasant” is selling Horoscopes short, I feel. It was my favourite afrobeats/afropop album/EP of the year until Rema came along.
it’s world-famous-in-Naija comedian Basketmouth’s second project as a musical curator, after 2020’s Yaba, which was also very good. Remember “Myself” with Show Dem Camp and Oxlade?
On the new one he’s also included Ghanaian artists like Efya and Kwabena Kwabena.

A very important factor in the success of these projects is producer Duktor Sett, who has managed to forge a wonderful, unifying sound for all these different performers (a sound with lots of oldskoolisms - I’ve never drunk it, but I always wish I had some palm wine at hand when I’m listening to this stuff)

Read more about it in this Joey Akan piece

There’s also an accompanying podcast with Basketmouth and Duktor Sett, I just discovered. (I haven’t listened to it yet)

Anyway, this is “Money”, featuring Oxlade and Efya:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHhgx1M9itg

(btw we really need to talk about Oxlade! the guy is responsible for both my favourite song (well, it was a tie) and my favourite afropop “project” of 2021, and I can’t find any mention of either on ILM!)

this is Oxlade’s first single of this year, “Want You”:

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

(btw we really need to talk about Oxlade! the guy is responsible for both my favourite song (well, it was a tie) and my favourite afropop “project” of 2021, and I can’t find any mention of either on ILM!)
― I'm too sophisti for the pun generator, so sophisti it hurts (breastcrawl), Friday, April 1, 2022 6:47 PM (forty-four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Which were those ? He didn't really have much to his name last year, even if I usually like everything he's on, Kolo with Ice Prince being a big one, Ojújú maybe ? If we are talking about the Dunnie Remix (technically 2020), then as sole voter in the YEP I feel entitled to ask for explanations :D

I think the production on such all-star projects, which requires no risk taken, is what holds back more of my enthusiasm on the Horoscopes EP. I tend to see them as a showcase, a pretty polished postal card for Nigerian music. I did hesitate in also linking Celowi and the closer, my other two favorites on first listen. Also seeing The Cavemen. being featured again made me think I should get interested in whoever is doing highlife in 2022. Anyway, all-pleasant was meant positively.

I really like Want You, it starts vibey, but then the bass pulse comes, and it finishes almost funky.

oh, I’m aware “all-pleasant” was meant positively, but it felt too much like damning the ep/album with faint praise when it’s actually damn excellent.

but let’s talk Oxlade >>>>>>> oh yes, “Ojuju”was definitely *that* song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzvDyh0DOIY

…and the Eclipse EP it’s from is *that* project - all four tracks produced by a magically rejuvenated DJ Coublon, all four among my most played tracks of the year.

(for some reason, these August releases were given “Troniq Music” as their main artist after having intially been simply credited to Oxlade - Troniq Music being nothing more than the name of the (his own?) record label. very confusing and commercially unwise. I suspect a Starboy-like situation, as in: after Oxlade signed an international deal with Epic Records, he may no longer have been allowed to release that stuff under his own name. haven’t been able to verify this tho)

the long and short of it is that Oxlade has become my favourite singer in afropop. the guy’s in love with his own voice and all the things he can do with it and I love him for it.
his feature-to-own-material ratio is about 10 to 1, I think, but this year should see more, more, more of solo-him. either way, most of his features are very exciting as well - this vocal tour de force from last year was a big hit in Ghana, for instance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqmxpTbOHX4
Sarkodie ft. Oxlade • Non Living Thing

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