Son of Jacob
Kwesi Arthur
Ghanaian rapstar Kwesi Arthur just dropped his very first full-length album Son of Jacob after much anticipation. Indeed, the young musician has established himself as one of his country’s most prominent artists, capable of releasing the fiercest rap bars as well as making the party people dance with the sweetest Afropop melodies. The biblically evocative album contains 15 songs and features UK Afrofusion collective NSG, Ghanaian artist Bigg Homie Flee, British rapper M Huncho and Nigerian popstar Adekunle Gold.
Listen here.
Gbagada Express
BOJ
Alté movement pioneer and Nigerian artist BOJ, aka Bolaji Odojukan, unveils his third album Gbagada Express, named after the highway which crosses through the neighbourhood of Lagos where he grew up. In this deeply personal work, BOJ brings together his former bandmates Teezee and Fresh L of DRB Lasgidi. Indeed, the album is very much a collaborative work featuring many other artists such as Fireboy DML, Wizkid, Buju, Victony, Pretty Boy-Do, Joey B, Kofi Jamar and Obongjayar. It consists of 16 tracks, six of which were previously released.
Listen here.
Gukuba
ANTI-MASS
Gukuba is the latest album from Uganda-based queer collective ANTI-MASS. It features the three DJs and producers Turkana, Nsasi and Authentically Plastic. Gukuba is also the result of a year-long collaboration with other artists such as Tayhana (NAAFI) as well as Suzi Analogue, Heavee, NO EYES, Safiyahh, Queens D. Light and Elevation (Never Normal Soundsystem). This compilation is innovative in its approach to dance, sounds and rhythms born from the African continent and its diaspora. In it, many different musical influences meet such as techno, acholi electronic, footwork, and more.
Listen here.
Pieces of Me
Yahya
The throaty-voiced singer unveils his debut album Pieces of Me. Born in Sudan and based in New York, Yahya first announced it when he released the short film entitled “Chapter 1” last March. It featured the single “HIM/ME”. For the occasion, a sequel entitled “Chapter 2” has also been published. The songs “Beautiful lies” and “Need” are used as the soundtrack for the film. “Pieces of Me’ is the beginning of a story about true love in its purest form” says the young artist. “It always begins with two people who think they’re complete, but as time passes, they come to realise that they’ve only been able to offer each other pieces of what we truly can give to one another”.
Listen here.
Higher Self
Dope Saint Jude
South-African grrrl releases second EP Higher Self. In it, she explores subjects dear to her heart, questioning the way society values women or the fashion in which it represents queer relationships. “I’m comfortable to make what I want to make”, she claims. Indeed, Higher self reflects the artist’s need to stop behaving according to what she feels others expect of her. The six tracks also contained in the album feature “epic cinematic sounds”. DSJ discusses it in more detail in this interview with PAM.
Listen here.
Gukuba
ANTI-MASS
Soundway Records revisits Steve Monite’s iconic album Only You in a new restored and remastered version. Initially released in 1984, Steve Monite recorded the album in the midst of intense political change and economic boom in Nigeria. The country’s return to democracy after years of military dictatorship generated a boom of young and dynamic artists greatly influenced by the funk and disco genres that originated in the United-States. The LP also includes “Things Fall Apart” (titled after the famous novel by Chinua Achebe) already available as well as “I Had a Dream and Welcome My Love”.
Listen here.
This week we also listen to:
- Kilumi by Coco Em
- Seasons by Mwanje
- In Transit by Terri
- Wonderland by Jeff Mills & The Zanza 22
- Ziwangale byKabz
- The Burning Tree by A-Reece
- Kabla Mtindo by Boutross
