Must-Hear Southern African Songs Right Now: October 2025 Edition

The summer months are firmly with us in Southern Africa, and the songs keep coming in hot and sizzling, just in time for the festive excitement. This month, we have music coming in from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, and South Africa, showcasing the diverse range of sounds that are constantly emerging from people’s hearts and minds. 

These are the best songs in Southern Africa right now.

Diteboho - “Pitso (1st Movement)” (South Africa)

Diteboho is a South African musician and visionary whose piano playing has graced stages across the country – both as a solo act and as a trusted collaborator in several ensembles. “Pitso (1st Movement)” is Black classical music at its most alive, improvised across formidable scales to tell stories of scattered nations and shattered hearts, but also of elaborate schemes and blueprints for a better future. There’s a trace of Abdullah Ibrahim in the way the keys sound slightly rickety, even as harmony enters the frame. This is spirit music, a fountain of joy and resistance, and renewal from one of the country’s most radiant talents. 

William Last KRM - “KoRoBeLa” (Botswana)

William Last KRM has cultivated a distinct visual and sonic language that consistently pays homage to his home country, Botswana. His work fuses unfiltered comedy with the raw, unmistakable flair of pantsula aesthetics — as heard on tracks like “Tinto” — while doubling as an affectionate archive of place and memory. On “KoRoBeLa,” he elevates this approach, memorializing late national icons such as rappers Sasa Klass and Dramaboi, all while maintaining his signature style. Musically, the track drifts between the buoyant pulse of kwaito and the melodic warmth of bubblegum pop, anchored by his laid-back, conversational rhyme delivery. 

Lowfeye - “Mission Man” (South Africa)

“Mission man, I go 007 for the bag,” are the opening bars to yet another undeniable banger by Lowfeye. He has his foot firmly on the pedal and is accelerating at breakneck speed. This rap thing is whatever for him, but much like taking a breath or drinking water, he has to do it consistently and do it well. The rhyme schemes are sensational, and the subject matter is exceptional. He plays games with words and always comes out on top. He namechecks the hoods in his Durban locale, from Umlazi to Inanda, Umhlanga, and beyond, takes shots at the haters who hate to see him shine, and generally wipes the floor with at least three-quarters of the South African rap scene just by opening his mouth. This is a class, and Lowfeye conducts it at the highest level. 

Nutty Nys - “The Groove Factor” (South Africa)

Nutty Nys is an innovator, and this year, especially, he’s released a series of impeccable tunes that have shifted the ground South African house music stands on. “The Groove Factor” is another addition to that growing canon, and it’s exceptional in how it uses elemental constructions of house, from the sample to the vocal, right down to the groove. There really is no reason to ever stop dancing when this track is played. 

Sannere & Phokoa Ea Boroa - “Lesotho” 

Sannere and Phokoa Ea Boroa are on an unstoppable streak. Their chemistry can fill entire rooms; they know how to work their magic and find their rhythm around a song. “Lesotho” isn’t the hip-hop-adjacent material they usually deliver. This time, they reach beyond their comfort zone, clawing their way into famo territory and emerging with something bold and intriguing, which also has the potential to become great. 

Mandisi Dyantyis - “Umthandazeli” (South Africa)

Mandisi Dyantyis is one of South Africa’s foremost jazz musicians, an engaging live performer, and a beyond exceptional composer. His intellect, his care for the music, and his general love for Black, African people bleed through the reeds of his horn, out to the world, where we collectively embrace, learn, and live inside the music and its lessons. On his third album, Intlambululo: Ukhuhlambulula, he once again interrogates several positionalities of the Black condition, and “Umthandazeli,” written for his great grandmother, is the sound of water dangling off a cliff, then delaying its grand ascension just so that you can marvel at its awe-inspiring majesty. This is exceptional. 

Sarnilo, NANA - Don’t Be Shy” (Eswatini)

There aren’t enough words to describe just how exciting and gifted an artist Sarnilo is. Hailing from Eswatini, with a lethal pen game to match, and an even more refined voice that is equally adept at rapping as it is belting high notes. “Don’t Be Shy,” with NANA, is another forte where the two artists — one from this generation, another from the era before — almost collaborate to break our collective hearts with their brilliance. Lethumusa Simelane’s Afrobeats-/dancehall-tinged production comes through swinging hard, pulling all the punches, and leaving nothing to chance. Don’t be shy, come closer and let the music take control.