The 8 Songs You Need to Hear This Week
These are the best songs that we came across this week, featuring Khuli Chana, Cassper, Stormzy, M.anifest & more.
At the end of every week, we're highlighting the creme of the crop in music and rounding up the best tracks, videos, mixtapes and releases that came across our desks throughout the last few days.
Check out this week’s selections below in our new "Songs You Need to Hear This Week" Apple Music curator playlist and read about the individual selections ahead.
"All Hail" Khuli Chana and Cassper Nyovest
South African hip-hop heavyweights Khuli Chana and Cassper Nyovest connect with MDB on the new music video for "All Hail," one of the highlights from Khuli Chana's 2016 album One Source.
The new clip is filled with military imagery and war scenes, which are good accompaniments for the take-no-prisoners approach to the verses on this banger.
Stormzy's about to take over
U.K. grime MC Stormzy just announced the February 24 release of his debut album, Gang Signs & Prayer. "Big For Your Boots" is the lead single off the highly-anticipated and buzzed-about album—and it doesn't disappoint.
It's music video is a celebration of London, featuring cameos from some of the coolest girls in the city's scene: Beats 1 DJ (and Skepta's sibling) Julie Adenuga, BBC's "Sound of 2017" Ray BLK, Sian Anderson, Amplify Dot, Raye, Maya Jama, Sophia Tassew, Gracie Francesca, and Vicky Grout.
Check out the best songs of the week in our Apple Music playlist, updated every Friday:
M.anifest and Dex Kwasi unwind with "Palm Wine & Whisky"
Ghana's M.anifest and 'Afro-trap' innovator Dex Kwasi unwind (and maybe have one too many) in Berekuso, a town an hour out from Accra, in this new music video for "Palm Wine & Whisky."
"Palm Wine & Whisky" is featured on M.anifest's fourth studio album Nowhere Cool, which is definitely worth checking out.
Clap! Clap! and OY's "Hope"
Producer and multi-instrumentalist Clap! Clap!'s tracks have been giving us the lift we need. "Hope," a collaboration with Ghanaian/Swiss singer Oy, continues that trend with its sparkling progression and hypnotizing beat.
The new music video for "Hope," off Clap! Clap!'s upcoming A Thousand Skies album, features animations by Simone Brillarelli.
Mr Eazi's "Tilapia"
Mr Eazi, the man who recently added more coals to the fire that is the Ghana vs Nigeria rivalry with a single tweet, is set to release his new mixtape Life is Eazi Vol. 1 - From Accra to Lagos on February 10.
"Tilapia" is a welcomed appetizer from that upcoming tape, which also features verses from Medikal.
Afro-Cuban singer Daymé Arocena's new single
Afro-Cuban singer Daymé Arocena is readying her new album Cubafonía. "It's Not Gonna Be Forever," the second single from that album, sees her trying out some English refrains over tinkling pianos and a swaying upright bass.
Shatta Wale x Burna Boy
This new one from Ghanaian reggae/dancehall star Shatta Wale and Nigeria's Burna Boy is straight fuego. The beat and hook are heavily-addictive—we've had this on constant repeat this afternoon—and the stars deliver some solid verses. "Hosanna" should be the soundtrack to your weekend.
Nukubi's "Bronze"
There's something about this music video from newcomer Nukubi that puts you in a trancelike state.
Maybe it's the 80s-influenced synth-bass, Nukubi's deadpan baritone vocal delivery, or the slow-panning shots of the Ikorodu area of Lagos, but his music video for "Bronze" just kind of sucks you in.
"Bronze" is the first single from the Lagos-based electro-pop act's forthcoming Bronze EP. Check it out above.
