rolling afropop / afrobeats 2018

Great list. Can you Spotify it? I would swap out 'Case' for 'Shakeam' even though both songs are great

I would ad 'Ma Lo' and possibly 'One' by Tiwa Savage

oh wait, sorry i thoguht that was a personal list but it's OkayAfrica's

They do have a best of 2018 playlist up but it's kinda different from this one.
https://open.spotify.com/user/okayafricaofficial/playlist/2NfPwqoxwxlOSwKK3sn6an?si=8S8wUwD8SQiNl5TIWow1lQ

That’s a pan-African one by the looks of it (and apparently a work in progress?). Blinky Blink is on it too, yay!

just in case you didn't spot this one:

Okayafrica - Best of East Africa 2018
https://www.okayafrica.com/east-african-songs-best-2018-listen-stream/

Looking forward to checking out that list, there’s quite a few I haven’t heard.

(xp to self: the guy’s name is Blinky BILL, no need to make it any worse)

There's a new Davido and it's pretty good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWYc2ezruO4

There's also a new Tekno, but on a first listen it's lacking some... fizz? It might grow on me, of course.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWeit5vyzpo

going through okayafrica's best of east africa list and this is delightful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SciUYMSnBs

Sauti Sol - Short N Sweet ft Nyashinski

OkayAfrica also did a looong Ghana list: https://www.okayafrica.com/ghana-songs-music-best-2018-listen-stream

GuiltyBeatz x Mr Eazi x Patapaa x Pappy Kojo "Akwaaba"
Kuami Eugene "Wish Me Well"
Kwesi Arthur x M.anifest "Feels"
Shatta Wale "My Level"
Joey B x La Même Gang "Stables"
Amaarae "Fluid"
E.L "Ghana Meets Naija"
KiDi "Thunder"
Becca x Sarkodie "Nana"
Eddie Khae "Do The Dance"
La Même Gang "Stone Island"
Akwaboah x Strongman "Forget"
Efya x Mr Eazi "Mamee"
R2Bees x Wizkid "Supa"
B4Bonah x M.anifest "Devil Is A Liar (Remix)"
Juls x Kojey Radical "Normal"
Kwesi Arthur "Woara"
Sarkodie "Black Excellence"
Medikal x Kwesi Arthur x Ahtitude "How Much"
Wendy Shay "Bedroom Commando"
King Promise "Abena"
Miyaki "Anfara"
Mzvee x K "Bend Down"

Somehow I think I've only heard Awkwaaba :/

aw that Sauti Sol is adorable!

I guess Blinky Bill is an old Australian cartoon? Anyway, breastcrawl your link didn't work, but I listened to "Don't Worry" and it's a little weird and very good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPIZRezWjj8

I feel like dog latin might be partic into this?

hmmm I'm not sure about it yet, might need to give it a couple more plays. First thoughts are that there's something missing from it, like a hook of some sort that isn't there...

I was thinking last night while I was tired that it would be great if (some of) the specialist thread regulars were to compile a sort of 'best of year' or 'best of all time' list - say 25 absolute anthems of the genre and then make a poll that's open to all board members? It would be a great chance for people who don't post or follow these threads to get a good primer on a style they aren't familiar with. What do you think?

yeah so far the Blinky album is less out there than I was expecting, and scrolling up I see breastcrawl was talking about neo-soul influences on it so I'm not sure where I got that idea. More positively it reminds me of last year's Pierre Kwenders album that I love.

I like the specialist poll idea and would be happy to help put together one for dancehall, though a 2018 one would be considerably easier than an all-time.

Yeah, a 2018 dancehall poll would be nice. A 2018 african music one might work too. Soca is more difficult because of the seasons thing, which doesn't go well with annual polling.

Okay, first things first: Here’s the correct link for Blinky Bill’s “Showdown”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIVAPwcG0xc

The album is far from perfect (his vocals are quite weak for one) but there’s 5 or 6 tracks that I really like. (rob, I think I can sorta see your Kwenders comparison, but BB feels far more stodgy to me. Did you know Pierre K has a new song out?)

OkayAfrica’s East African 25: Yes, I like that Wasafi Records sound, am currently digging “Katika”, which I posted last week. The biggest Tanzanian hit of my year, Rayvanny’s “Chombo”, is not on the list unfortunately.

I wasn’t blown away by any of the songs I hadn’t heard before. I do like this punchy dancehall track though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B1RmTjWyUQ

Brian Simba feat. Vanessa Mdee & Michael Love • Silence

Surprised by the absence of Eddy Kenzo on this list tbh. I thought his output this year (album included) was really good.

Also not on the list, just a super sweet song from Rwanda I fell in love with today:

https://youtu.be/uYjV6Rw9u_Y

Muco feat. Deejay Pius • No More

Once more, with feeling:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYjV6Rw9u_Y

Anything resembling singeli or other “street music” (Tanzanian or otherwise) is probably not mainstream enough for this kind of list - although some of those videos have millions of views iirc.

Which brings me to this: It might be old news, but I just found out that the Sound of Sisso compilation (which includes Makaveli’s “Nammiliki”) and other Nyege Nyege Tapes releases are now on Spotify (these were discussed on this thread back in February).

This is a very interesting link in this regard, about Nyege Nyege and “East Africa’s new wave” - also old and possibly posted before somewhere:
https://www.residentadvisor.net/features/3107

gah, SoundS of Sisso!

xp oh cool!!

I like the poll idea, btw. It could be a good way to generate more interest in African pop. I mean, 12 people voted in the Burna Boy poll and the Rolling playlist on Spotify has only 15 followers, down from 29 last year and 55(!) in 2016. That says a lot about the current state of ILM, I guess (as well as forks’ marketing skills).

Those numbers don’t say everything though, because I don’t think the thread was busier in previous years - so maybe the goal should be stimulating engagement more than anything, and a poll might help do that.

So good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVwi1AKQhzs

MalumzOnDecks & Gino Brown feat. Mr Vince • Shay’iNumber

In other South African news:
* Master KG, he of “Skeleton Move”, has an album out - it’s good!
* The new Dbn Nyts album, SeXtion 3, is quite a treat as well.
* And yes, OkayAfrica has a Best of South Africa list too: https://www.okayafrica.com/south-african-songs-best-2018-listen-stream/ It’s shockingly non-gqom, but apart from that (ha!) it does look very interesting.
* For instance, it has “Ntombi” by NaaqMusiq ft. Bucie, which is a delightful song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKFpghUmia4

"The 30 Best South African Songs of 2018":

Nathan • Clairvoyant
Black Coffee & David Guetta ft. Delilah Montagu • Drive
Zoocci Coke Dope ft. KLY • FWM
Manu WorldStar • NaLingi
NaakMusiQ ft. Bucie • Ntombi
Emtee ft. S’Villa & Snymaan • Abantu
Sjava ft. Emtee & Saudi • Abangani
Nasty_C ft. Rowlene • SMA
Nonku Phiri • Sîfó
BigStar Johnson ft. Rouge • Two Cups
Batuk • Move!
Sun-EL Musician ft. Simmy & Lelo Kamau • Sonini
Radio 123 • Manga Manga
RMBO ft. Morena Leraba • Mzabalazo
Muzi ft. Tiro • Questions (Other Draft)
AKA ft. Kiddominant • Fela In Versace
J Molley • Seven Bottles
Petite Noir ft. Danny Brown & Nukubi Nukubi • Beach
Mlindo The Vocalist ft. Sjava • Egoli
Jabba X (HHP) • Mazenke Music
Aewon Wolf • Zoo Keeper
Anatii • Ntloni
Bonj • Til The Tide
Sibu Nzuza ft. Aewon Wolf & Simmy Sims • Potoza Game
Kimosabe • Someone Else
Black Motion ft. Msaki • Rise
KLY • Umbuzo
Beatenberg • Camera
Una Rams • Joy
Thandi Ntuli • New Way

So different from “my” South African year - I only know about 25% of these songs.

Yeah, the Odunsi love really sticks out. He seems to be the figurehead of the alté scene, the “alternative” (and I guess quite bourgie) scene that broke through commercially this year and that’s associated with Lagos Island (he and the Island scene are both featured in the Mr Eazi documentary I posted a few days ago).

I don’t find his music particularly interesting either, for the reasons rob states, but I get that it might be exciting/cool to have someone doing credible homegrown contemporary r&b when you’re a Nigerian listener.

I like that wavy/vibey/groovy thing so much more when it’s mixed with a healthy dose of Afro elements: that’s why I like the Show Dem Camp album better than the Odunsi, for instance (they came out a week apart iirc). My impression is that in Ghana they’re better at this, Kuvie is a good example.

― breastcrawl, Wednesday, December 5, 2018 9:24 PM (six days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Late here, but should note that the unsung father of this aesthetic is undoubtedly Burna Boy.

Unsung father of Alté? Or of everything wavy/vibey/groovy?

I realize that I may not have expressed myself all that clearly, but I was specifically referring to the r&b-kind of wavy/vibey/groovy, which is why I singled out Kuvie on the Ghanaian side (both as a producer and on his own album).

Burna’s “afro-fusion” has always been much more heavily infused with reggae/dancehall than with r&b. And while Odunsi calls his music “afro-fusion” too, citing Burna and Blackmagic as major influences (as well as older artists like Wale Thompson and Angelique Kidjo), and I can hear the Burna, especially in his older stuff, the heavy r&b focus makes his version of fusion a different kettle of fish imo.

Someone like Juls (again on the Ghanaian side, by way of the UK) is closer to the Burna aesthetic, I think, to the point they’ve actually worked together (Burna and Odunsi have this in common at least), but I’m not sure that Juls arrived at his sound through Burna.

(Don’t get me wrong, I like Odunsi’s music fine, I just fail to see what the big deal is. The fawning coverage he gets is flabbergasting. Take this review: https://www.okayafrica.com/odunsi-rare-album-stream-listen/
This profile takes the cake: https://www.morebranches.com/the-evolution-of-odunsi-the-engine/

Quote: ”By now, it was no news that Odunsi was set to release his first album which was about to be the next big export out of Nigeria since Wizkid’s ’Superstar’ album.”

Another quote: ”Today, we celebrate a young man who has distinctively filtered his sound and name to places we can’t yet imagine, validating his throne as the next big thing. Maybe the greatest we may see out of Africa.”

I mean, really? Really really?)

Anyway, all of this is a great excuse to post Blackmagic’s classic and utterly brilliant “Repete” (from 2012):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23MsneAXhAc

I def have noticed ppl in the industry here seem to see Odunsi as more viable than lots of 'mainstream' african stars ... idk if its classed bias or alt branding or what but it feels both extremely predictable & not necessarily bad but potentially bad

The industry would be wrong in thinking that, I think. American r&b and hip hop artists are starting to add that afro flavour by themselves already. No need to water down stuff. Kpop is finally getting there on its own terms now as well after years of failed crossover attempts.

(I’m actually partially retracting my “I like Odunsi’s music fine” statement from earlier. That was based on listening to his older stuff, but I just now listened to his album in full again, and I still think it’s overwhelmingly boring)

i just think its more about who its marketed to ... fans of tierra whack & frank ocean are more likely to like odunsi than wizkid ... but fans of drake are more likely to like wizkid ... this is more about audiences + marketing imo

I didn't listen to the whole Odunsi album, but it was def dull. That said, I think deej is right here even though I'd never heard of this dude until recently. I'd add that Odunsi singing in standardized English has to be a factor too.

fwiw i genuinely like some odunsi songs, just as solid R&B music ... of course i listen to it next to idk "Banomoya" and you're like, lol, but its still good. i havent heard the new album though

What deej said may be true to some extent, but I’m not sure the marketing angle is the right way to go. The only way anything is really going to happen is if you bring the real thing. Marketed-towards-US Wizkid didn’t happen, Made-in-Lagos Wizkid might, and everyone would be better and happier for it.

Same thing with the standardized English: look at the success of reggaeton and, again, Kpop (in case you missed it, BTS is #1-album and top-10-single-level huge in the US and elsewhere singing and rapping predominantly in Korean) .

btw, funny old thing: Odunsi is not on this Best Nigerian Albums list that NickB posted on the 2018 EOY music lists thread (Show Dem Camp is though):

http://www.dailyadvent.com/index.php/2018/12/12/exclusive-list-of-the-top-10-nigerian-music-albums-that-blew-our-minds-in-2018-number-5-already-got-a-grammy-nomination/

I assume Kizz Daniel would have been on it if he hadn’t dropped his album after the cut-off date - it’s better than the Mayorkun, fun as that one is. I feel LAX deserved to place too.

I think making it an issue of “authenticity” is problematic tho ... isn’t odunsi seen as, like, more authentic in the sense of he’s a regular guy/ anti-showbiz / “real talent” ? That’s as much “real” African music as the stuff we find more interesting musically & more successful commercially

I mean problematic in the sense of needs unpacking not “aura of morally bad”

I’m not questioning Odunsi’s authenticity, I’m pretty sure he’s making the music he wants to make. I was looking at it from the US industry’s perspective, since you brought it up, and I think there’s (new) lessons to be learned from Kpop and Latin pop when it comes to crossing over with “foreign” genres in the late 2010s.

Unsung father of Alté? Or of everything wavy/vibey/groovy?

I realize that I may not have expressed myself all that clearly, but I was specifically referring to the r&b-kind of wavy/vibey/groovy, which is why I singled out Kuvie on the Ghanaian side (both as a producer and on his own album).

Burna’s “afro-fusion” has always been much more heavily infused with reggae/dancehall than with r&b. And while Odunsi calls his music “afro-fusion” too, citing Burna and Blackmagic as major influences (as well as older artists like Wale Thompson and Angelique Kidjo), and I can hear the Burna, especially in his older stuff, the heavy r&b focus makes his version of fusion a different kettle of fish imo.

Someone like Juls (again on the Ghanaian side, by way of the UK) is closer to the Burna aesthetic, I think, to the point they’ve actually worked together (Burna and Odunsi have this in common at least), but I’m not sure that Juls arrived at his sound through Burna.

― breastcrawl, Wednesday, December 12, 2018 7:57 PM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

To be clear, alte was coined to describe an emerging subculture reaching far beyond music.
I think this is the best distillation you'll find anywhere of what that entails.
https://becomingyeva.com/alte-lagos-all-you-need-to-know/

Colloquially its simply a delineator of perceived countercultural difference e.g. I get called alte for wearing barbour jackets and having a dog.

In as far as it does relates to music and visual style, Burna Boy was a fair representation of that bohemian, cosmopolitan aesthetic for a while before the movement took hold.

Burna has played with a lot of sounds (to very mixed results in the earlier years) and while his delivery/vocals have typically favoured reggae/dancehall it's probably wrong to frame his music exclusively in such terms when R&B influence has primacy in a number of his most prominent tracks; "Like to Party", "Don Gorgon", "Pree me"...

"Soke" in particular represents what I see as an awakening point both in the crystalisation of Burna's own sound and laying the groundwork for a kind of decidedly non-danceable wavy/vibey/groovy R&B that wasn't presumed to be in high demand.

I def have noticed ppl in the industry here seem to see Odunsi as more viable than lots of 'mainstream' african stars ... idk if its classed bias or alt branding or what but it feels both extremely predictable & not necessarily bad but potentially bad

― ILX’s bad boy (D-40), Wednesday, December 12, 2018 8:29 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

How much of this would you say is just a function of it being easier to sell things to industry people that they already feel they understand?

This has nothing to do with anything, but I just want to say how much I love Sauti Sol and how much I love this thread for telling me when there's a new single out.

Finally checking out the Mr Eazi album and this one with Burna Boy is superb:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHztnu5WM-w

pvmic, but I also dig the one with Chronixx

Two groovy tunes from Naija for the holidays:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUKZeOjsuw4

Maleek Berry • Doing U

(his “Wait” is good too)

...and this one features Wizkid and it’s excellent, but I’m posting it here because Reekado owns it: “oya, turn up tha... /mtcheww/ speakers!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p6zc1wbg3Y

DJ Tunez ft. Wizkid & Reekado Banks • Turn Up

Keep forgetting to post Joey B’s “Stables” (one of OkayAfrica’s Ghanaian selections) here. It got some traction on the EOY lists thread and has now been nominated for ILM’s EOY tracks poll:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3Ej0aTITk4

Joey B feat. La Même Gang • Stables

In a surprising development, DJ Sumbody now has the number one hit in South Africa. The link posted back in September is now dead, so here's the official video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CwMuQUr4Do

DJ Sumbody feat. Cassper Nyovest, Thebe & Vettis • Monate Mpolaye

In a surprising development, DJ Sumbody now has the number one hit in South Africa. The link posted back in September is now dead, so here's the official video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CwMuQUr4Do

DJ Sumbody feat. Cassper Nyovest, Thebe & Vettis • Monate Mpolaye

Critic Jason King mentions Burna Boy in his essay in the Slate critics roundtable

Though Africa has largely fallen off the American news radar, the music rocketing out of the continent remains straight fire. Projects by GuiltyBeatz, Aka, Fatoumata Diawara, Seun Kuti, Femi Kuti, Emmanuel Jal, Burna Boy, Muzi, Tal National, and Ammar 808 are all worth streaming. My favorite contemporary record this year, however, was I’m a Dream, the sophomore set from Gambian-Swedish chanteuse Seinabo Sey.

https://slate.com/culture/2018/12/2018-music-both-directions-at-once-coltrane.html

...as well as GuiltyBeatz. “Akwaaba” is his #10 song of the year.

Another Slate roundtable contributor Rawiya Kameir mentioned afrobeats and dancehall:

There was a similar rejection of artifice across the Atlantic, in the dynamic, compelling world of Afropop. It’s been thrilling to watch as some of the genre’s stars abandoned the shiny, transparent attempts at American crossover of recent years. Instead of paying top dollar to collaborate with household-name rappers or drenching strummed kora with arpeggiated 808s, many leaned into traditional Naija sounds and motifs. It’s not that they hadn’t found success beyond their borders—Wizkid’s “Soco” and pretty much any recent Davido single blared from cars outside my Brooklyn window all summer—but maybe simply that the efforts, largely unreciprocated by American artists, no longer served them. Burna Boy’s excellent Outside seems to have lasted, even though it was released way back in January.

https://slate.com/culture/2018/12/pop-music-earnestness-kacey-musgraves-mitski-snail-mail.html