The Top African Songs You Need to Hear This Week: January 9, 2026

Every week, OkayAfrica highlights the top African music releases — including the latest Afrobeats and amapiano hits — through our best music column, African Songs 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.

Shoday & Fola - “Paparazzi” 

On “Paparazzi,” Shoday ropes in Fola to craft a piece that embodies the essence of soft living. “Would you hold me o, when I’m feeling down, baby,” Fola wonders, unafraid of emotional weight. The line isn’t meant to burden the listener. Instead, it adds depth to Shoday’s more easygoing first verse. Together, their voices amount to audio therapy, turning regular chats into something refined and memorable. 

Abigail Chams - “Your Loss”

Abigail Chams is unhinged on “Your Loss,” a high-tempo rush that straddles the sacred line between highbrow pop and street anthem, built to resonate across the board. “Yeah, I just broke up with my ex, and I did it over text, but I’m feeling alright,” as opening lines should be illegal, but the words flow like lava from her mouth to our ears. Attentive to the zeitgeist of the modern dating scene and willing to let go at the slightest sign of disrespect, she issues a gracious rebellion against the tide that tells us to just go with the flow. As she puts it, “It’s your loss, there ain’t no other one like me.” 

Asher Gamedze - “War” 

The shifting global order demands that those who care register their concern. In the midst of unopposed genocides, international treaties treated as polite suggestions rather than binding law, and late-stage capitalism doing its best to squeeze the life out of our shared humanity, artists like Asher Gamedze stand as stark reminders that our voices matter — be it on a hyper-local scale or the world stage. “War” is prescient and pressing, a timely entry in the canon of revolutionary music. 

The Cape Town–based drummer issues a highly percussive, funk-laden beatitude that carries a potent, if unspoken, message to the core of the empire. It is a clarion call that leaves no ambiguity about Gamedze’s position: decolonization is a lifelong project, and music can — and should — function as intellectual engagement without abandoning the body and its ability to dance. After all, it is through movement that the soul is replenished. “War” is the second single from the seasoned drummer’s forthcoming project, A Semblance: Of Return, which explores “ways of coming together, making sound, and imagining new and old modes of freedom.”

Kindlynxsh - “Sound of Home”

“Because I’ve been feeling down, I miss the sound that comes from home,” emotes KindlyNxsh on “Sound of Home,” released earlier this week to mark his twenty-third birthday. It’s a ballad cut from the same cloth as the post-Drake rap sensibility that has taken root across the globe, a tote bag of feelings that both peaks emotion and piques curiosity, charting the inner terrain of a young artist trying to make something of himself. The accompanying video reads as a snapshot of contemporary South African rap, peppered with cameos from the likes of PatricKxxLee and Mfanatouchline, whose presence underscores the communal ethos animating this generation. Clocking in at just over two minutes, “Sound of Home” ends almost as soon as it begins, practically daring you to run it back.

John Lundun, uBeyond - “Ingoma” feat. Nobuhle and Novex

John Lundun and uBeyond are sacred tools in any musician’s sonic closet. On the second single from their forthcoming collaborative project, Telépathy, the sound architects rope in Nobuhle for a pairing of lo-fi and amapiano elements that feels rooted in a specific place while maintaining a clear global outlook. “Uliphupho lapakade… ngicinga nawe ubusuku nemini” (you’re an eternal dream… I think of you day and night), are lyrics that distill the effervescent nature of love; that embody the care and concern of two people who truly see and acknowledge each other. This is soul music, untethered and reaching for pure vibrations at every turn.

Priesst - “Akonuche” 

Priesst’s pen is mighty and audacious. On “Akonuche,” he comes out swinging his muscles, flexing hard on spectators. He doesn’t hog the spotlight. Instead, it follows him throughout, tailing each limb and recording it all for future playback. ”And if the tables no turn, me I go change the chair,” he sings, his voice calm and reassuring, with harmonies that float in the air like particles seeking a place to settle. It’s a song about knowing that what is promised shall be delivered, being secure in that knowledge, and casting away all manner of doubt.

Bruce Melodie - “Pom Pom” ft. Diamond Platunumz, Brown Joel

Rwanda’s Bruce Melodie starts the year strong with “Pom Pom.” Built on the foundation of 3-Step, with elements of bongo flavor infused, the collaboration is one for the books. Diamond Plutnumz brings his infectious energy, while Brown Joel adds more fire to the already blazing combination.

Damie, Dolapo Martins - “One Minute” 

“One Minute” leans into the Afrotech wave currently sweeping the globe, flips it, and feeds it back into the system with a distinctly West African twist. Dola Martins’ haunting vocals raise goosebumps on impact, while Damie’s epic, stadium-sized production gives the song its monumental backbone. Built for raves and late nights, it captures the freedom that comes with truly letting go and trusting the process. The track appears on their newly released ten-track EP, Come Back.

Naledi - “Lonely” 

Naledi writes songs from the heart. She connects to the core of a subject, weaving her own magic that gives words wings. Her songs don’t hover; they soar, carrying a relentless charm that underscores her magnetism and undeniable gift. “Lonely” is the third single leading up to her forthcoming EP, Darkness, My Old Friend. So far, she’s explored other facets of loneliness on “A Joyous Time of Year (Christmas Time)” and displacement on “Aliens,” both released last year. “I just want someone to look me in the eyes and say that they want me, need me,” she confesses, embodying both intense longing and a tender vulnerability – markers of a life lived in a world that teases possibility, but never fully delivers on the promise. Pure magic.