Happy new year, folks!
It’s been a while since we tapped in with our monthly recap of our favourite musical drops, but the wait is over; we’re back with another eclectic playlist of jams, For Your Ears Only.
Straddling the new year, our first edition of FYEO for 2023, compiles new music from last year’s ember months, with drops from January – which are typically few, given everyone’s mindset to reset. Darting across Africa, from Kenya, to Mali, to South Africa, FYEO 004, includes also diaspora artists — this global scouting resulting in a truly genre-defying soundtrack.
Kicking off with “A Little Thing Called Love” where Hook features Xenia Manasseh on an evocative electronic beat, January’s For Your Ears begins up-tempo, with Rap risers L0la & T6lu making appearances too. Fresh off her fourth studio album, DNK, which was released on Friday, Aya Nakamura’s bolshy “Beleck” gets our pick off the project, standing out for its heavy percussive dance-inducing beat — a perfect fit ahead of “Big Bad Blu” which is followed up by an Electric Mor Elian remix of Moonchild Sanelly’s Trillary Banks-assisted “Cute”.
Also representing South Africa are Sho Madjozi, with last year’s “Toro” featuring DDG and Tyla’s brand new “Been Thinking”. Unlike Tyla, Efe Oraka is having “No More” of her love interest, with a rustic goodbye anthem, which we’ve paired with a similarly longing, infinitely soulful “Cracks of You” by Titose.
To close out this month’s For Your Ears Only, we fly out to “The Other Side” of the continent, courtesy of Nikita Kering and fellow Kenyan musicians Bey T and Karun, who come together on the closing track of the playlist “Person”.
An eclectic mix of soul, rap and electronic sounds, this playlist will guide you through the compelling voices coming out of Africa, whom we’re super excited to hear more from this year. We hope after you listen, you are too! Enjoy.
Listen to the playlist here:
