Nonku Phiri – Things We Do on the Weekend
When this Cape Town-based designer is not spitting bars as her rapping alias Jungfreud, she’s been known to lace the verses with honey-smooth vocals for South African dance act Crazy White Boy. Since what she calls an “accidental start” aged 17 with the then prolific production house Jazzworx, the buzz on Nonku Phiri has gone from modest curiosity to an all-out demand for the singer/songwriter to strike out on her own. Recent collaborations with some of the country’s hottest talents including Jack Parow and fellow Red Bull Music Academy Bass Camp alumni Okmalumkoolkat have only fuelled the fire. Finally, an EP and then a debut album is on the way, leading with this track, which recalls languid 90s Kwaito production styles mixed with ambient, future-facing soul.
RedRed – Ghetto Featuring Sarkodie
If you’re familiar with FOKN Bois, the irreverent Ghanaians who delight in trolling Nigerians, Muslims, Christians – in fact any population group they fancy on any given day – then you already know M3nsa, half of the Ghanaian rapping and producing duo. They’ve formerly collaborated with Hungarian band Irie Maffia on the dance-driven EP The FOKN Dunaquest in Budapest. M3nsa has relocated to Budapest from his London base to forge a new musical union with Irie Maffia’s ELO. RedRed are named after popular Ghanaian comfort food comprised of plantains and spicy black-eyed peas cooked with red palm oil. To help serve up their first helping of African-influenced techno rap, Ghana’s prolific MC Sarkodie is on hand to make sure it all goes down a treat.
Phyno – Oringo
While Nigeria’s urban pop music has held several African regions in a chokehold for a few years now, locally, Nigerian hip-hop has been mostly considered niche. The arrival of guys like Phyno on the scene might change that perception. Rapping in Igbo sets the fiery MC apart from the generation of Naija hip-hop artists that precede him. He lures a mainstream audience to often rugged raps that would sit easily in the most heated of underground cypher battles. Phyno and fellow newcomer, Yoruba-rhyming Olamide, have just released highly anticipated street album 2 Kings, along the lines of Watch the Throne. Oringo, however, is one of Phyno’s more radio and MTV-friendly solo ventures.
SSCK - Tiefaly
If it feels like you’ve heard this track before, you probably have. It’s an edit of Malian Super Djata Band’s track Tiefaly by SSCK (pronounced “Shell Shock”), who A&Rs, produces and DJs for France-based imprint Mawimbi. They have a free EP up for grabs, including this joyous nod to Malian orchestra tradition and a remix of Malian star Vieux Farka Touré’s Ana.
R2Bees – Makoma
Ghana’s multi-award-winning R2Bees end a long silence with this song sung in Akan that tells the story of a man heartbroken by an unfaithful lover. Sticking to the highlife template for which they are known and loved, in the era of Azonto and Alkayida, the duo continue to breathe new life into the longstanding genre.
