The African Songs You Need to Hear This Week

Every week, OkayAfrica highlights the top African music releases — including the latest Afrobeats and amapiano hits — in 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.

Listen to the latest episode of Afrobeats Intelligence podcast featuring  Afrobeats music video director Jyde Ajala.

Nduduzo Makhathini – “Abathathu”

With “Abathathu,” Nduduzo Makhathini walks the fine line between innovation and tradition. He’s locked into the trio format: Dalisu Ndlazi’s bass defines the contours of Lukmil Perez’s drums, while Makhathini cascades along the edges with a deft, impeccable touch on the keys. The music travels without taking a single step, a spiritual encounter so vivid you’ll start seeing notes as you listen.

Sisonke Xonti – Ukholo [LP]

Sisonke Xonti’s third album as a leader arrives with the assurance of a master composer: a rare instrumentalist and a musician of outstanding discipline and appeal. Over nine songs, he lands fiery blows against the system, soothes our pain with searing lullabies, and reminds us of our collective strength and beauty. Produced by Simbad and featuring Mandisi Dyantyis on opening track “Khanya,” Ukholo is another Xonti offering we’ll be bumping for a long while.

FOLA – “2am in toronto” (feat. Davido)

This song serves an emotional hook and pulls you in from the very first note. “Silver and gold, diamond I get it plenty, can you spend it all,” FOLA asks, calm and collected over meditative, hypnotic production. The rest of the song feels like coasting through a rainy day, letting the hours drift by and savoring every moment.

Bokani Dyer Trio – Traditions [LP]

Bokani Dyer has one of the more varied discographies in South African music, with his hands spread across traditional jazz, neo-soul, lo-fi, and even house. On Traditions, he strips the landscape bare, revisiting the trio format he last explored on 2018’s Neo Native. This time, Timothy Norton handles bass duties while Lumanyano Mzi holds down the drums, serving grooves so deep they’ll need a supporting cast to survive in the next life. “Thembisa,” with Phoebe Mgxaji, is immersive, an ode to Andile Yenana; “Hyacinth,” which he first visited on 2020’s Kelenosi, is tradition embodied, paying homage to master musician, Bheki Mseleku; “African Piano: Inxembula” builds on a recurring theme in his repertoire; and “Reconstruction & Development” is epic in every way imaginable.

Bien – “I’ll Be Okay”

Bien has a knack for melody, a gift so generous it keeps delivering wonders. “I’ll Be Okay” sounds the way reassurance feels, like knowing things will work out fine. “It’s official, now you’re single, and you’re moving on now,” he declares, setting the mood for a somber occasion. But the music is anything but moody; the chorus feels like all nations uniting, like the sun breaking free from behind the clouds.

Usimamane – “Press” (feat. Blxckie)

Usimamane has taken a lot of flak from rap quarters: for biting other artists’ songs, for failing to live up to the hype, for lacking the range to become a certified superstar. But like clockwork, he keeps proving his naysayers wrong, unleashing beastly verses on every song. Earlier this year, he went at the entire Qwellers crew in a series of well-placed diss tracks, even taking a swipe at Blxckie’s regular collaborator, K1llbrady. That makes this feature a moment in rap history, and it arrives after months of rumors about the two working together. It’s a moody beat, made meaner by the unforgiving, unrelenting bars they deliver. Epic! 

Sampa The Great – “Location”

This is lyrical warfare, an assault so lethal it leaves no trace. Check the scoreboard: “yo, run me that base, don’t play in my face / they made me a villain, I’m catching a case,” fires Sampa the Great, setting a cascading, treacherous precedent on the mic. The music is rooted in the Zamrock tradition she’ll delve further into on her forthcoming album, Nu Zamrock, out October 30. For now, she’s left us this slice of paradise to help us breathe easier while we wait.

Zwide Serves Bass – “nomen nudum ii”

Zwide Serves Bass proposes a new way forward: a better version, a higher-resolution view of ourselves. He demands freedom in subtle ways, asserting his viewpoint through snippets borrowed from noteworthy thought leaders in the Black tradition. On “nomen nudum ii,” he samples Archie Shepp’s 1978 lecture at Florida State University. “Ironically, though the Black race has created and shaped potential world music, as it were, many of its people remain aloof or totally ignorant to its many facets and dimensions,” Shepp says, while Zwide’s bass splurges while locating its footing, unleashing a series of tremors amid the shuffling drums and the sharp, piercing trumpet.