The African Music You Need to Hear This Week

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.

Read ahead for the best African songs of the week.

Blaqbonez, Asake — "Chanel"

On "Chanel," Blaqbonez and Asake communicate status, achievement, and a sense of arrival, while also painting a picture-perfect portrait of the good life and the excess that comes with it. There's also a cold, removed quality to their delivery, as though they're aware that it's all earthly and temporary. Still, both are willing to live in the moment, to imbibe life's excesses, complete with references to pop culture figures and objects, from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air to Nike and Cartier.

Pheelz — "I'm OK" (feat. Tiwa Savage)

On "I'm OK," Pheelz makes the case for overall mental and physical wellness. Except, it isn't really so, and in many ways, the song represents a very adult way of moving through life while working through personal problems. It's apparent from the opening lines, where he sings: "To be honest omo, so many things just dey stress my mind, I don't know how to describe what I feel inside." Still, he's thankful for life, for the ability to kick back and vibe out. Tiwa Savage's verse deepens the already somber mood, adding another layer of complexity to an already fragile emotional state. She holds it together, shares tips on how she keeps going, and locks into the groove while laying down unbelievable harmonies, making for a powerful ride.

We Are Nubia — "Longo Longo" (feat. Xenia Manasseh)

"Longo Longo" sounds like a link-up long in the making, one that had simply been waiting for the right moment to happen. We Are Nubia's combination is already critical, a necessary addition to the vocal tradition of East Africa and the African continent at large. With Xenia Manasseh in the mix, it becomes a combustible situation, highly unstable and likely to trigger a soul reset, a spiritual revolution facilitated by voice, sound, mood, and a sensual engagement with music that evades categorization.

CKay — "African Girls" (feat. Kidd Carder)

"African Girls" is engineered to activate the dancefloor. From its opening moments, it becomes apparent that the motive is movement: to dance, to shake something loose. "I'm not high enough, I'm not drunk enough," declares CKay, signaling that more is needed. Kidd Carder comes in hard as well, refusing to let the energy dip. It sounds like Lagos, Miami, and Ibiza packed into a single room, the dancefloor leaving little space to move, and the only language connecting everyone being music.

Magixx — "Juice & Liquor" (feat. FOLA)

How Magixx approaches the beat on "Juice & Liquor" deserves close study. His cadence is methodical, revealing a deep care for how words function, along with a writer's power to manipulate them in order to convey particular emotions. With FOLA alongside him, "Juice & Liquor" transforms into a dissertation on masterful Afropop, a competitor-free race to the finish line.

Fatoumata Diawara — "Sigui"

Fatoumata Diawara's "Sigui" sounds like the open road, like possibility, like dreams realized. It's free and freeing in the way only someone who fully understands their calling — and respects the architects of the sound — can facilitate. "Sigui" balances bluesy guitar with a mean bassline and drums that convey the restlessness of an unsettled soul, one that can only be calmed by being outside, embracing the elements.

Vusi Mahlasela — "Let There Be Peace"

Vusi Mahlasela has contributed immensely to the African guitar tradition, introducing the swing and freedom of his township, Mamelodi, to the world. He's still flying the flag high; his distinctive tone and messages — of peace, love, and unity — have left a legacy that continues to carry him today. "Let There Be Peace" feels like acquiring wings, learning to fly, and then falling in love with every detail of the view from above.