Longer reads on the scenes, deals and shifts shaping African music — the context behind the charts, across the continent and the diaspora.
Bratz never just sold dolls; they sold the idea that style could be self-expression. Tyla getting her own — Met Gala Balmain gown and all — feels less like a collaboration than an inevitability.
Six years of grinding produced a modest following. Thirty minutes of prompts produced a chart hit in four countries. Elvin Cena’s ‘Let Me Be’ is the biggest song of his career, and the one he is least sure he gets to keep.
Before ‘Sade’, Adekunle Gold was YBNL’s in-house graphic designer — the man who drew the logo the label still uses. Nearly ten years after Olamide signed him, the two finally have a song, and it carries all of that history.
Tyla’s second album does not ask to be let into pop; it insists amapiano was always there. The early reviews are more cautious, and the first-week numbers in August will decide which reading holds.
Twelve cities, one summer mixtape, and Madrid gets the first night. MOLIY announces Baddies ❤ MOLIY alongside her first European headline tour — the culmination of an artist who refused to sound like anyone else.
Seven tracks, one personality. FAVE moves between R&B warmth, Afropop brightness and dancehall swing without ever losing the thread, exploring confidence in all its forms — playful, intimate, joyful, and never loud about it.
Three years after her last solo release, Bloody Civilian returns with BOJ and Terry Apala on a track that sends Fuji into orbit. Innovation here is not a break from tradition, but an argument for taking it with you.
No announcement, no ticket sale, no arena. Just Asake, a full orchestra and a few hundred of M$NEY’s most devoted listeners inside a theatre built for opera. A victory lap that behaved like a statement.
Where “Where Do We Go” asked questions, “Tornado” delivers answers. Ayra Starr sounds like an artist who has stopped waiting for permission — and Starr Girl now looks like the album that defines exactly who she wants to be.
Hip-hop has its uniform, rock has its leather. Does Afrobeats have a defining look? Gracey Mae asks whether the genre can become a culture.
Four questions, answered in plain text, marked up as FAQPage.
Longer analysis and reporting: scene reports, deal breakdowns and interviews that do not fit the release cycle.
Yes. Signings, streaming economics, touring and festival programming across Europe and Africa.
Typically eight to fifteen minutes. Reading time shows on every card.
Staff writers and contributors based in Lagos, Nairobi, Johannesburg, Paris and London.
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