East Africa is beginning to sound less like separate national music industries and more like one connected market. Spotify’s Global Impact List for the first half of 2026 offers a clear sign of that shift. Four of the five leading East African collaborations on the list bring together artists from different countries, while the fifth…
Nairobi’s R&B scene for years has had the talent but lacked the structures needed to move artists from local discovery to sustainable international careers. That gap pushed people such as Faiza Hersi to build those structures from the ground up. Her work began with Nairobi R&B, an event platform that emerged in 2019 when R&B…
Somi became the first African woman nominated in a Grammy jazz category when her live album Holy Room – Live at Alte Oper received a Best Jazz Vocal Album nomination in 2021. She also became the first Rwandan /Ugandan to receive a Grammy nomination. Now, Spotify has named Somi its EQUAL Africa Artist for August…
Few songs have united East African audiences in 2026 quite like Finale. The collaboration between Kenya’s Bien and Tanzania’s Alikiba has become more than a commercial success – it has emerged as the region’s most-watched music video released this year, underlining the growing appeal of cross-border collaborations within East Africa’s music industry. Bien and Alikiba…
