MUSIC
Stream the best African music this week and listen to new releases from Omah Lay, Lubiana, Zoë Modiga, and more.
Every week, OkayAfrica highlights the top African music releases — including the latest Afrobeats and amapiano hits — through our best music column, African Music You Need to Hear This Week.
Read ahead for our round-up of the best new African music tracks and music videos that came across our desks this week.
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Lubiana – “Women Who Run with the Wolves” (feat. Fatoumata Diawara)
“I saw the women who ran with the wolves,” sings Lubiana, her voice a soft whisper that reveals the might of its owner’s spirit the more one listens. She sings about fearless women who get ostracised for refusing to conform, for rejecting approval that demands they minimize themselves. It’s for women who show up in their fullness, and who better to help communicate that message than Fatoumata Diawara, a non-conformist of the highest order. “Women Who Run with the Wolves” is taken from Lubiana’s new album, Terre Rouge (Mother Earth).
Zoë Modiga – “The Vault” [LP]
Zoë Modiga has, over the past few months, been hinting at her forthcoming album, The Vault, out today via her own Yelloeax imprint. She’s also been hosting listening sessions to give people a feel for the music. The album, her fourth so far, is the culmination of a heartbreaking few years, with pressure crashing in around 2025. On “Wings Do What They Do,” she speaks about giving freely, out of the goodness of her heart, expecting nothing in return, only for it to come back and bite in nasty ways. “Put myself last in this thing / self-serving people eat off it,” she sings. It’s painful, heart-wrenching stuff, but she makes it look stylish and sound super cool while doing it.
Alewya – “Eshi”
Alewya’s music is hypnotic. She draws you in with her voice and keeps you present and grounded with the worlds she builds through it. “Eshi” is the third single from her upcoming album, Zero, and one gets the sense that she has already found her sonic identity. Now, she’s stretching its limits and daring the ricochet to challenge her. She isn’t afraid to bring all her worlds — musician, painter, sculptor, dancer — into anything she does, and this makes every encounter with her art feel like a spiritual exchange.
Sal Ly – “Off Days”
“Off Days” is Sal Ly‘s latest single, and it finds the singer-songwriter in a rather interesting conversation with her creator. Our ears are greeted by guitar chords played in reverse, which immediately throws us into a psychedelic deep end. It’s mind programming, but we don’t mind. In fact, we want more of it injected into our veins. “Will the sun rise at the right timing/…/new clouds come with a silver lining,” she sings, a reassurance that things will turn out fine. It’s devotional music cloaked in a minimalist bop, and Sal Ly’s vocals embrace the space to give us something magical.
Eli Mary – “Damaged”
Eli Mary has a gift for taking the best parts of jazz and hip-hop and synthesizing a third space where both exist without judgment. One also gets the feeling that she’s not trying too hard to sell you something, nor to convince you of her greatness. Instead, she does her thing the best way she knows how and keeps it moving. “Damaged,” produced by her alongside Equals Zero, is a brilliant exposition of her songwriting and production capabilities.
Omah Lay – Clarity Of Mind [LP]
Omah Lay has only ever given us two full-length albums: 2022’s Boy Alone, and Clarity Of Mind, which is out today. It’s twelve songs of great songwriting, production that understands moments and eras, and artistry that seeks to innovate. “Jah Jah Knows” is a world of funky guitar licks; “Coping Mechanism,” with Elmah, feels like flying and sounds like freedom; and the previous single “Holy Ghost” is an exorcism on wax.
Bridget Blue – “Mimi Na Wewe” (feat. Nikita Kering)
Bridget Blue has the makings of a classic R&B artist, steeped in traditions that have shaped the genre across eras, but especially partial to the late ’80s through ’90s sound—think divas and icons like Whitney Houston, Brandy, and Celine Dion. “Mimi Na Wewe,” featuring Nikita Kering, is an exhibition of that staple. “I see forever in your eyes, I love you ’til the end of time,” she sings. Stay for Nikita Kering’s verse, and prepare to have your world upended by what their voices do when they harmonize. Impeccable.
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