With Africa on My Sleeve
The idea behind ‘Teintée Africaine’ came about when I noticed a growing trend: European acts of African descent were increasingly tapping into the current popular African sounds and genres to innovate. The idea, then, was to pair those works with those made at the source. While the latter enjoyed less plaudits outside its locale,...
Continue reading
One more for the ShenYeng clan! Since “Blessed” took off last year, Shenseea has been in high demand. And you won’t hear any complaints from me when the trickle we’ve been accustomed to turns into a steady stream of Shenseea bangers like “Trick’a Treat”. The gem is one of many from the Aircraft Riddim;...
Continue reading
Set aside her massive breakout hit “OOOUUU” for a second; you might not have realized that Young M.A has sustained a run of solid rap releases that spans over three years! “No Bap Freestyle” is just another one of those: a non-album cut leading up to her debut (!) album, HERstory in the Making,...
Continue reading
The #MeToo movement has made significant strides to stamp out rampant and (practically) normalized sexual abuse/harassment against women in professional environments as well as the perpetrators’ relative immunity. There’s still a long way to go as Angèle points out on her latest single, “Balance ton quoi” — the self-censored alternative to “balance ton porc”,...
Continue reading
We were so looking forward to Boogie’s debut album! And boy did he not disappoint! I had no doubts that Everythings for Sale would be a good album but I was frankly blown away. So, I see no better way to kick off this meaty playlist with his single, a collaboration with J.I.D (who’s...
Continue reading
I’m still in the mood to start off with pleasing my francophone people. And it’s quite easy to do it with MHD — you should be familiar with his work or check out “Bella” and “XIX“. The king of Afro Trap is back with frequent collaborator Dadju on the sultry “Bébé”....
Continue reading
Cardi B’s debut album, Invasion of Privacy, has been the gift that has kept on giving hit singles. “Ring”, the fifth one, is a midtempo ballad-ish number with Kehlani that has all the makings of a charts and radio mainstay. (Truly, you can’t go wrong when you start with Cardi!) Elsewhere on this smorgasbord...
Continue reading
Ciara never really left. Her abilities as a dancer aren’t to be written off yet. “Level Up”, the lead single to her forthcoming album is a the high-energy anthemic hit that we’ve been used to and (that some of us) quickly forgot....
Continue reading
Back in 2016, we broke into the spring and summer seasons with electric dancehall and afro pop vibes deftly mixed by the german DJ duo So Shifty. This past year, as I was retooling I sinfully ignored Jr Blender and Bigga T mixes and failed to share. Better late than never. Enjoy!...
Continue reading