Afrobeats Heat Different continues to document what those sounds are doing while the map is still changing. From Young Jonn and Rema to Yemi Alade, FOLA, The Cavemen., Gyakie, Medikal, Octopizzo and a closing South African movement, this week’s 19-track Afrobeats Heat Different documents an African music ecosystem becoming increasingly difficult to contain within a…
There are artists who cross genres because the industry demands versatility, and there are artists whose music naturally refuses the borders placed around it. Yamê belongs to the second category. The French-Cameroonian artist has built his musical identity somewhere between rap, jazz, soul, R&B, French chanson, and African musical traditions. His voice can move from…
With KAESTYLE on the cover, this week’s Custodian Gems moves through 6uff, Kayode, Taene, Pabrymo, OluwaMillar, Ef Moon, Abefe, Sigag Lauren, Lil Frosh, Lasmid and Hunnyboy – a selection interested less in who already commands the conversation than in where attention might be moving next. Discovery becomes less useful when everybody has already agreed on…
Created by Martell and curated by Africa House, Swift Academy has selected 25 emerging creatives and music professionals for its inaugural Nairobi cohort. Behind the mentorship, grants and industry access sits a larger question: what can global brands contribute to African music once sponsorship moves beyond visibility and begins investing in the people and infrastructure…
Bringing together Maa, Swahili, Sesotho and Amharic alongside musical traditions stretching from Kenya and Ethiopia to Lesotho, Mozambique and North Africa, on Eshi, Jua’s latest CHIKKA experiment asks a more interesting question about Pan-African music: what if connection does not require sameness? Africa has spent generations being described through its differences. Different languages. Different borders….
The new collaboration AJE? arrives as one of the early releases emerging from Cinq Music and Nairobi-based Soul HQ’s developing relationship – bringing three distinct creative voices into a record whose significance extends beyond the song itself. There is something increasingly interesting happening around Nairobi’s contemporary music ecosystem. Not simply more releases. Not simply more…
From Blaqbonez and Seyi Vibez to KiDi, Sarkodie, Sofiya Nzau, Phyno and King Paluta, Music Custodian’s latest playlist update captures African music moving confidently across scenes, borders and generations. The final New Music Friday of August does not arrive with one dominant story. That might be its most interesting quality. This week’s Afrobeats Heat Different…
From Whitney Houston’s transformation of “I Will Always Love You” to Beyoncé’s reimagining of “Jolene,” Dolly Parton ’s relationship with Black artistry offers another way to remember a songwriter who understood ownership without confusing it with possession. Dolly Parton belonged unmistakably to country music. Born in rural East Tennessee, raised in Appalachia and eventually transformed…
The Headies has officially unveiled the nominations for its 18th edition, setting the stage for another expansive assessment of Nigerian music’s changing centre of gravity – and this year’s list finds established heavyweights increasingly sharing space with a generation whose ascent has unfolded at remarkable speed. Covering eligible music released and distributed on digital streaming…
Afrobeats Heat Different returns with Victony at the centre of a 15-track New Music Friday edition that moves through Lagos street rap, contemporary Afropop, Afro-house, alternative experimentation and Francophone Africa. There is something particularly satisfying about watching an artist reach the point where experimentation no longer feels like risk. For Victony, STARLIFE appears to be…
