MUSIC
Stream the best African music this week and listen to new releases from Adekunle Gold, JAE5, Ayra Starr, Dumama, 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.
JAE5 – “MINK SB” (feat. Skepta, Lojay and Skillibeng)
JAE5 has been among the most important producers shaping Afro-diasporic connections for about a decade now, and the hits aren’t stopping. On “MINK SB,” he gathers forces, forging links along routes the transatlantic slave trade sought to erase and keep frozen in the annals of history. From Jamaica, Skillibeng arrives with his tried-and-tested lyrical sword, sounding more upbeat and enunciating more clearly than on some of his other outings. From the UK by way of Nigeria, Skepta brings all the smoke for anyone looking to test him, while Lojay comes straight out of Lagos to complete the set with style and grace.
Adekunle Gold – “Formation” (feat. Olamide)
“Formation” taps into the Afro-house zeitgeist, placing two Nigerian powerhouses at its center. Adekunle Gold, known for his stylistic range and pop sensibility, goes head-to-head with Olamide, a rapper’s rapper whose influence on the scene has been immense. This is electro-Fuji, built for the dancefloor but just as effective anywhere else. Let loose and allow it to take hold.
Johnny Drille – “Colorado” (feat. Ayra Starr and Young Jonn)
On “Colorado,” Johnny Drille links up with Young Jonn and Ayra Starr — the former a producer-turned-recording artist who has helped shape the sound of Afrobeats, the latter one of the genre’s biggest exports and a truly outstanding talent. Together, they bring the vibes, reminding us why this music remains a source of pride for Africans at home and abroad.
Spha Mdlalose – “Ithemba”
Spha Mdlalose is a South African music gem hidden in plain sight. Her voice, a keeper of memory, a foreteller of dynasties, has graced songs now firmly sketched into the canon, while her own solo work continues to inspire a legion of adoring fans and younger artists. “Ithemba” follows a stretch of silence from her, and it breathes life, shines light, and lends hope to those who may have lost it along the way. “Ngiyazi ukhathele/ wonke amaphupho akho… aphelele endleleni,” (“I know you’re tired/ (it may seem like all of your dreams… have come to nothing”). She knows it’s hard—she understands—but she reminds us not to lose hope. Masterful.
Dumama – “Layer After Layer – Dion Monti Version”
On the third and final single before the release of her debut album, Towards an Expanse, Dumama offers something of a segue, a prelude to the madness. It’s a moment away from the times we’re living in: to recharge, to replenish, to reconcile our reality with the simulation playing out, unfiltered, across television screens, social media feeds, dwindling print media, and just about everywhere else reality goes to be distorted. “Layer After Layer – Dion Monti Version” sounds as though it’s been encoded from another galaxy, like the highest resolution one can see, hear, and feel. Alongside collaborators Darius Jones, Dion Monti, and Nandi Ndlovu, she strips it bare, laying before us the gargantuan task of healing generational trauma. She sounds an alarm while throwing caution to the wind: “ulindeni?” (“what are you waiting for?”), she asks, her voice a composite of the greats across jazz, electronic, and folk traditions that inspire her.
Vumaala – “Sikelela”
Fresh from a series of shows in LA, where he’s currently based, producer and artist Vumaala continues the thread of 3-Step-leaning tracks he’s been releasing to introduce us to his layered universe. “Sikelela” maintains the spiritual undertone and sense of hope that color his previous releases, as he does his best to stay afloat. This is music fit for stadiums: big, sweeping flourishes, grand choruses, percussion drawn from the sonic textures of cinema, and a larger-than-life attitude that signals the makings of an exceptional artist.
ZENA – “Temesgen”
Taken from their wholesome debut EP, Temesgen, ZENA emerge with a video for the title track: a warm, colorful collage of memory, resplendent with the nostalgia that defines childhood. The song dwells on the act of remembering, and the video opens with interviews of people sharing their own stories. The sonic world casts a dizzying spell of layered keyboards and elastic basslines, anchored by a drum pattern that catches you off guard and keeps you locked into their world.
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