In the hyperproductive and inventive Amapiano scene, songs are churned out rapidly. On the average, an artist can release about three to five songs or  projects and appear as a guest on countless others. However, only a select few songs get to become bonafide hits that resonate beyond their primary audience. Their cross-market breakthroughs can be attributed to several factors, such as the quality of the song, contributors, release planning, roll-out strategy, promo, and sometimes just pure luck. In 2024, TitoM and Yuppe’s “Tshwala Bam” is the latest to have joined the premium list of Ama ..read more

Picture the scene: it’s a balmy night in 2021, and the lights are swirling around Zone 6 in Soweto, South Africa. Coloured in revelry, the faces are young and excited, and while the propelling force is the music, the focus, the visual centre of this scene, is Uncle Waffles. She’s dressed in a black crop top, moving affectionately to “Adiwele,” the hypnotic hit record from Young Stunna. When she points her hand to the right, the camera pans and the crowd emerges, a miracle of activity and compressed space. A star is born. And ever since, that star has shone even more remarkably, occupying a dis ..read more

At the NATIVE, our goal has always been to bridge the gap between the mainstream and underground, while championing tomorrow’s rising talent from the African continent: today. Through our annual end of year festival, we connect those home and abroad to the key cultural drivers and storytellers reshaping the face of music across the continent. For the December 2023 iteration of NATIVELAND, we showcased our dedication to the cause with our first uNder line up, transporting the alum of our monthly column spotlighting rising stars, to the mainstage. But for our inaugural uNder LIVE showcase, we’re ..read more

There was no song quite as ubiquitous throughout the 2023 installation of Detty December as “Cast”–the unmissable late year hit by Shallipopi and Odumodublvck–that got fans amped up from event to event as they tried to keep pace with every word of the song’s salacious lyrics.  Between the Benin-born star’s warped, syrupy flow and Odumodublvck’s acerbic verse, the pair managed to engineer a song that had audiences enraptured and underlined the unique skill sets– unpredictability, insouciance, and charisma–that made them 2023’s undeniable breakthrough acts.  Just as “Cast” divided audi ..read more

For almost a decade, The NATIVE’s mission has been to champion African youth culture while spotlighting underground and alternative creative communities with the of reshaping the mainstream output. This vision has been actualised in more ways than one, but particularly, our monthly column, uNder, which kicked off four years ago in March 2020.  Initially termed Fresh Meat, we spent some time every month curating a list of the best and most exciting new artists from around the continent. While some artists had gathered regional acclaim with a couple of releases, others were new to the block ..read more

In some corners of the internet, there’s an ongoing requiem for the present state of R&B. The growing ubiquity of a nihilistic edge in the genre since the 2010s has raised concerns among listeners, critics, and fans about an assumed disintegration of the genre they love and recognize thanks to the popularity of songs about loveless sex, complicated romance, and puerile machismo. While there’s indeed a spike in songs that fixate on these themes and propagate them, the global spread of R&B and its adjunct sounds means that hubs in South Africa, Nigeria, and the United Kingdom are still c ..read more

Tyla is basking in the limelight right now, and deservedly so. Earlier this year, she brought  home the Grammy for  Best African Music Performance, but before “Water” added Grammy winner to Tyla’s list of accomplishments, the Sammy Soso production earned her the ears of millions of social media users across the globe. Joining the likes of CKay’s “love nwantiti (ah ah ah)” and the Selena Gomez-assisted “Calm Down,” the Johannesburg-born singer soundtracked the year with her charming vocals and hypnotic choreography. A confident exploration of seduction and femininity, “Water” took Tyl ..read more

A non-profit organisation based in Lagos, Audio Girl Africa was established to create more opportunities for women in music with audio technology and music business skills. Audio Girl Africa, aimed at nurturing a safe space to create through workshops, internship opportunities and mentorship programs, provides its students the adequate support and professional network that bridges a gender gap in audio engineering and record production in Nigeria.    View this post on Instagram   A post shared by AUDIO GIRL FOUNDATION (@audiogirlafrica) In line with Women’s history month, Au ..read more

From the euphoric release of operating behind the mic to navigating the drama that unfurls at boardroom level, there is no Afropop without the contribution of its women. In the twenty-odd years since the genre has risen from a sub-regional powerhouse to a key component of global pop’s framework, women have been at the forefront of that evolution, working ardently to propel African music to the top of the charts and the minds and hearts of millions across the globe.  The theme for 2024’s International Women’s Day is ‘Accelerate Progress,’ and at no time has the propulsive force of the wome ..read more

When Odunsi (The Engine)’s ‘rare.’ arrived in 2018, it cemented him as one of the youngest mavericks spearheading the second coming of a creative renaissance in Nigerian music. Initially led on by the likes of Black Magic and Show Dem Camp, the alternative creative community took a new face with the likes of Odunsi and his peers leading the pack. Armed with a penchant for experimentation, ‘rare.’ tapped into the depths of the singer’s psyche to produce otherworldly music that rebelled against mainstream formulas audiences had grown accustomed to. His impact stretched beyond the country, gainin ..read more