rolling afropop / afrobeats 2017

Yeah that's dope. A bit of Babes' rhytmic urgency in there, no?

Yes, and echoes of "Lahla" as well.

Never got around to posting their previous jam last year:

Vetkuk vs Mahoota ft. Sparks Bantwana & Character: "SoHamba Ngo 7"
https://soundcloud.com/news-muzik-2/vetkuk-vs-mahoota-feat-sparks-bantwana-character-sohamba-ngo-7afro-housewwwnews-muzikcom

Or this monster:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYhM2K1i8C4

Major League ft. Cassper Nyovest & Kwesta: "S'get It"

Now that Korede Bello has Kelly Rowland on the remix for "Do Like That"...

https://soundcloud.com/mavinrecords/korede-bello-x-kelly-rowland

…we can play Spot the Theme:

Diamond Platnumz ft. Ne-yo "Marry You":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdOaBtUvH80

Seyi Sodimu ft. K. Michelle, "Love Me Jeje (Remix)":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpz2R1ULOfI

Serge Beynaud's Accelerate -- now here's an album I can get fully behind. 16 tracks, all spanking new. Hard (but very varied) percussive beats, more generous with melodies than your average coupé-decalé, often clearly Naija-inspired, if a few years behind the latest trends there (telling that both Iyanya and Flavour feature on a track). Ironically, one of the most relentless (and best) tracks, "Zimbolo", features Tanzanian smoothie Diamond Platnumz. And I love that Ivorian guitar sound (that reminds me of bachata at times). Exhilarating stuff!

The first video is for opening track "Akrakabo":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgQ1CXd0sQc

Oh, wow. That last minute of Akrakabo. That's absolutely stunning.

Wizkid's "Sweet Love" (the song he's been teasing for like a year) just dropped. Turns out it's afrobeat (no -s!) bliss. The bass and the beat are just…

http://www.thefader.com/2017/03/01/wizkid-sweet-love-video-record-deal

So happy he kept the Yoruba too - it looked like he was settling into a mid-Atlantic pidgin/island hybrid as his default in his bid for international stardom.

…that beat though...

Yep, this is the effortless Wizzy that I love.

Don't mind me as slide in to plug a friends track that deserves more attention than its getting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GXli8m4hz4

Akrakabo is really awesome, love the traditional breaking out from behind the modern veil at the end. I think I went back to the 2 minute mark and re-listened to the end 2 or 3 times in a row. Will listen to Accelerate for sure. I don't have much knowledge of Bachata but your comment has me intrigued. i feel like afro pop has a natural lean into the carribean music scene of course, but i would be curious to listen for the links to more classic afro-latin music, perhaps this is already happening? like wizkid-popcaan is a natural fit of course, but what about Wizkid teaming up with Mexican or Columbian pop-stars?

speaking of wizkid, Sweet Love is fantastic, happy to see he stuck with the Yoruba as well. This is maybe my favourite first blush of a Wizkid song, normally he takes a bit for me to really get into. Maybe that bodes well for its shot at breaking out internationally. What do you guys figure his track to a breakout US hit is? Now that he has name recognition from One Dance, does he hope for a streaming hit that breaks though? or would he get enough of a push to get on radio before that? i assume the former, but not sure if he gets a push on radio due to the deal. And does he get on some spotify recommended playlists?

fuckin love Thando Lok'dlala, Nkwz should sing on every SA house song. I feel like DrumeticBoyz have turned a corner toward pop, but managing to stay a bit true to their GQOM roots. I agree longneck, definitely got some of Babes affect on it for sure.

dog latin, are you around? there is new Eddy Kenzo, called Jubilation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HslgsjEUV4M

I like it, not as much as Sitya Loss, but another great track, curious to hear from another Kenzo fan

really love this new durban track too, Colours Of Sound - Emuva (feat. SneMusiq). brutal name for the DJ's but this song is getting me thru some cold winter days. feels like driving around a rich neighbourhood and not giving a shit that the folks in it are looking down on you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMF6oo-niCA

So the British library just made 8000 vintage afropop recordings available for free. I haven't had the time to check it out yet but I'm putting the link in here anyway.

http://www.openculture.com/2017/03/stream-8000-vintage-afropop-recordings-digitized-made-available-by-the-british-library.html

the serge beynaud album is immense. "atôkplè", "dieu n'oublie personne" and "la danse du way" also highlights. the percussion!

i love how the synths in "dieu n'oublie personne" sound...arabic??

I haven't gotten around to the album yet but THAT bit of Akrakabo, when another song just emerges fully-formed from the chrysalis of the first one, is absolutely incredible.

I keep coming back to the Faut bien me regarder -> Zimbolo -> J'ai cherche partout run in Accelerate, love that Diamond Platnumz shows up.

anyone know more about this? https://www.bellanaija.com/2017/03/the-silent-music-company-calls-out-sugarboy-and-kiss-daniel-over-alleged-theft-of-its-artiste-barz-song/

I think I like the original more tbh

also this is a really awesome party song from Akothee
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYEp_tp8smA

The Kilamiti/Kilamity thing is kind of shocking in how blatant it is. It looks especially bad on Sugarboy and his (and Kiss Daniel's) record company. Why pull this stunt for such a mediocre track? I mean, it starts promisingly enough, but I lose interest after one minute. But maybe they really are that desperate after all the disappointing follow-ups to the mighty "Hola Hola". Sad to say my expectations for his debut album are not very high.

By the way kruezer, "Jubilation" is fantastic, the EDM-y production works very well here, I think. Best thing I've heard from Kenzo since "Sitya Loss".

What's your opinion on Darassa ft. Ben Pol's "Muziki" that's very big in East Africa?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWyiC2CBtyI

Personally I think it doesn't match up to AY's "Zigo (Remix)" (especially vocally), but that fat synth bass and especially the way that beat is recorded are pretty great.

Five from South Africa:

"KwaMakhelwane", the most recent Dbn Nyts single, features… Nokwazi:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRckNX-1B8U

DJ Maphorisa & DJ Buckz go gqom on "Goosheshe" (feat. Sjava & TDK Macassette):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWwOU4HTE5U

More gqom: DJ Bongz ft. DJ Tira, Dbn Nyts & KidTank, "Kuruza":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cti5FMzM36s

…and from the Babes Wodumo album, "Family" ft. Mampintsha & Cassper Nyovest:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzmSuFFtNX4

Something else altogether: DJ Clock ft. Chicco Twala, "Saba Kufa":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adU-8OPdyYY

And of course, and just for the record, Black Coffee is featured on the new Drake album.

Also, Tekno dropped his next smash to be, "Yawa" (produced by Masterkraft, just like that Akothee track):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsQnCwV4Gr8

I feel this UK Afrotrap banger belongs on this thread too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvtxRv38Ep4

Don-E ft. Nado, "You Alright Yeah?"

Holland represent:

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

Kevcody, "Pakurumo"

completely overstimulated by the serge beynaud record

Akrakabo still song of 2017 for me.

And that moment 2:00 in... It just struck me, there are few songs where the most ecstatic moment is when it goes down in intensity, but with that absurdly driving hyper-modern beat, when there's a moments breath, it's the best thing ever.

feeling this WizKid/Drake single
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShVNtAYLOM0

It has grown on me but it's very controlla-wave 6 months late.

this version of it sounds different than when it was titled something else

i dont really see it as controllawave though

i mean its an actual afropop artist lol

Well... I always start singing "gyal yuh body good and you're special to me" (popcaan's verse) every time I hear the beat.

eh you might be right idk maybe im just subconsciously hunting for another controlla

at any rate its at the very least pleasant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqW18C4plZ8

ILM's 2017 Rolling Afrobeat/Afropop Thread Spotify Playlist

Nigerian blogs mentioned here in addition to discussion of piracy issue

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/03/world/africa/nigeria-lagos-afrobeats-music-piracy-seyi-shay.html

excerpts from article

In Lagos, Africa’s biggest city, legitimate music stores are rare, streaming services haven’t caught on and fans are flocking to markets like Computer Village, with its rows of yellow umbrellas shading young men selling illegal downloads. Throughout the city, thousands of pirated CDs are churned out each day, and some artists even pay to appear on them, hoping the exposure will somehow be worth it....

“We’re no longer getting revenue from oil, so we’re arguing that content is the new crude,” said Aibee Abidoye, general manager at Chocolate City Group and 5ive Music, which seeks royalties on behalf of three Lagos-based record labels....

Many musicians pay to have their music heard. Popular music blogs like notjustok.com and naijaloaded.com collect as much as $120 from unknown musicians to promote a single song. Budding musicians also pay to have their songs featured on “latest mix” CDs hawked on the streets. A collection called “Mega Mix” contained new pirated songs from well-known musicians like Davido and Wizkid, along with songs from 43 less-known singers.

hey. not sure if this interests you but I've started a Spotify play list of Uganda Pop tracks, mostly made up of stuff I found online last summer, but sadly limited to what's on Spotify. It's collaborative so if you fancy it feel free to add anything you like to it https://open.spotify.com/user/1153731601/playlist/3mGD7yiSrXji5dhfvKCSuH

hope you don't mind: i jacked that for the thread playlist as well.

Oh, nice!
There's also a new Tekno + Krisbeatz single today. The kid can do no wrong.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw3YPJ1DUAU

Some gqom for the summer:

https://soundcloud.com/afro-songz/distruction-boyz-shut-up-groove-ft-babes-wodumo-mampintsha

Really nice vibe on this one.

how come nigerian music labels can't find illegal markets but they can prevent me from hearing a new Tekno jam >:(

It's on Spotify! You can also get it here:
https://www.mp3naija.com.ng/music/tekno-samantha-prod-by-krizbeatz

Thanks!

hope you don't mind: i jacked that for the thread playlist as well.

― Chocolate-covered gummy bears? Not ruling those lil' guys out. (ulysses), Friday, June 9, 2017 7:41 PM (one week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

no probs, but be aware most of the tracks are not from 2017

never a stickler about that

"Loose Guard", the new Flavour featuring Phyno, is a beauty. Finally, a perfect blend of the classic Young John sound and current post-kayidawave.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GakI5IS4SSg

Also, damn!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvOWpwOR2UU

Vision DJ ft. Samini, "Like December".

Another Juls joint.

Talking about Juls, surely people have noticed Leap of Faith

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20bOgmbxvIw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJC3XtyRXpU

Not entirely sure where to post this, but MHD has been mentioned on this thread in other years, so I'll just write a bit about him here. I loved the remix that was on the Berité mix I posted upthread:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2I3pXTe3QE

But MHD is apparently a legitimately big French rapper, who calls his sound 'Afro Trap' and had a top ten hit with pt 8 (Never)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRRPt0ysfyI

His debut album MHD was released last year, and it's kinda pretty great. Much more hip-hop, I suppose, but very good.

Also, any opinions on the Wizkid album? Love the opener, the rest hasn't really caught on yet.

Saw Yemi Alade with a band (drummer and 2 keyboardists plus 2 dancers) do a good late-night gig at the Howard Theatre in DC this past weekend. Keyboardists provided some backing vocal tracks, but Yemi's vocalizing was live and her dancing (and that of her dancers) was energetic and fun

https://www.gq.com/story/diplo-africa-tour-interview

Yeah, me and this producer, E-kelly, did a song for Mr Eazi. Before I left, I was like, Hey, this is an idea for a song. I gave him the stems—the music for the beat. Then I land and he's already sent me three demo versions with new drums. And Skales has already done a new version of “Run Up” with new guitars. The records were voiced and mixed. I've never seen people so hungry and the quality so high. In America, I can't get Travis Scott to answer my text messages. I gotta go pour water on his face to wake him up and get him to voice a song. I don't mind doing that, but I also don't mind being here on the frontier, making music with all the Nigerians.

...

I'd never been to Africa, besides South Africa, and everybody in South Africa calls it fake Africa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2u5Gbadn7o

this is pretty great

The new Patoranking & Diamond Platinumz collabo is perfect.

https://youtu.be/ZjN4agWqTdc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwC1xMwxVnI

I hope you enjoy that nice piano
And The Patoranking I have on repeat is This Kind Love, which has a video out this year
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGJuX7Gjbdo

Seyi Shay is still one of the most interesting too. Yolo Yolo also now has a video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I2UK8kFzAM

And since this thread has been dreadfully under-used, here's one more for cuties and Tekno in the middle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPe57sFzjhw

“acrobats”? bless you, Autocorrect!