The Best Southern African Songs Right Now
For the music highlights from Southern Africa in March, OkayAfrica digs into alternative genres from South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and beyond.
Some of the best art ever produced has emerged from oppressive regimes. As the world sinks deeper into the pits of fascism, and as hope slowly fades, art — and music, in this case — asserts itself as a marker of the times we live in, and a reminder that there is beauty on the other side of the ugliness that war brings out.
Southern Africa is fully represented in that dialogue. For this month, we’ve compiled soothing, rousing, and outright riotous music from Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. Tap in, you’re guaranteed to find gems.
These are the best Southern African songs right now.
Nakhane - “A Different Corner” [South Africa]
Nakhane is artful. Every fibre of their being is steeped in creativity, and every world they thread together forms part of an ongoing inquiry into identity and mortality, expressed through words, film, and music. “George has been with me my whole life. When my voice broke as a teenager, I taught myself to sing again by singing along to Patience,” they shared in an email exchange with OkayAfrica about their cover of George Michael’s “A Different Corner.” The song has continued to follow the artist: when they were outed at 19, and when they inadvertently performed it while on tour in Perth. Now, we get to hear how Nakhane feels about it; to immerse ourselves in a generational conversation between two icons.
Lowfeye - ‘Nosange’ [LP] [South Africa]
Lowfeye has finally dropped his long-awaited solo album, Nosange; though it almost feels inaccurate to call it long-awaited, given how much music he’s released in the three or so years he’s been active. With features from artists like Danya Devs, Sjava, and Lia Butler, as well as members of his crew, The Qwellers, the album is filled with moments that could carry it to the top of year-end lists. An impressive statement.
Tessi Nandi — “Missing Part” [South Africa]
From the first word she sings, it’s clear that Tessi Nandi is special, a rare kind of talent that arrives to cleanse the palate, to restore faith in music. “Missing Part” is disarmingly honest: “How can you love something you’ve never even had? / I’ll leave by the morning with a backpack slung over my left shoulder,” she muses. It’s in the detail: the vivid descriptions imbue her songs with a rare, intimate quality.
Kuda Rice — “Tides” (feat. Jordan MoOzy) [Zimbabwe]
On his latest single, “Tides,” Zimbabwean poet Kuda Rice links up with Jordan MoOzy for a track as fluid as its title suggests, moving between moments of disarming honesty (“it’s not a tactic when I’m being poetic”) and quiet reassurance (“I’ll be the one to revive you”). It’s a promise and a meditation, wrapped in intricate stanzas that warp any sense of time, placing value on experiencing the present moment as it is.
dumama — “Eating The Other” [South Africa]
dumama stages interventions. Her songs feel like rehearsals for doomsday, panaceas for the sick, intellectual engagements, and notes toward the deconstruction of oppression, all at once. “Eating The Other” is the second single from her forthcoming album, Towards an Expanse, produced by Nandi Ndlovu of Kajama acclaim. It’s folk music with a punk sensibility — sounds that distort time and dismember reality, protestations that illuminate the brilliance of music that animates the soul. Drawing from bell hooks’ Eating the Other: Desire and Resistance, she transforms the text into opulent, riveting sonic worlds. Very, very on point.
Mohlaka Motšo, Mokoko — “Litilatila” [Lesotho]
Sesotho music is vast in its singularity. It contains multiple worlds, each a distinct creation with its own form and function. Mohlaka Motšo and Mokoko’s style aligns with the Seakhi movement, which originates from the southern districts of Lesotho, particularly Mafeteng, and has been championed by artists like the late Rantšo and his nephew Mahlanya, one of the greatest lyricists the music has ever had the honour of encountering. “Menyaka ea Litilatila” is, in essence, an invocation: a casting out of what does not serve them, and an invitation for all that is good and wholesome to enter their lives.
Sylent Nqo - “Sewe” (feat. Mann Friday) [Zimbabwe]
“Sewe” finds Sylent Nqo at his most charged — a Zimbabwean take on the rock template that also nods to the roots, from sungura to chimurenga, which have shaped how he hears music. Joined by Mann Friday, the song’s pop-rock feel will have mainstream daytime radio queuing it up for playlists.
