10 Songs You Need To Hear This Week’ is a 10 track-listing playlist highlighting the best of songs released over the past few days from Africa and the Carribeans (Jamaica). Follow and like our playlists on Audiomack , Spotify & Apple Music for weekly updates.
Smallgod ft. Headie One, O’Kenneth & Kwaku DMC & Lp2loose – Sinner
Riding on the back of two successful singles with Tanzanian stalwart Harmonize and Ghanaian legends R2bees, Smallgod shows no signs of stopping with his latest offering ‘Sinner’. Cementing his brand as a connector of cultures, Smallgod links Headie One & .
‘Sinner’ is a spiritual street hymnal about staying true to your nature and your environment. O’Kenneth who handles hook duties sums it up best when he says “Oh Lord, I’m a sinner, stuck in my ways”, in his now unmistakable baritone which turns every song into a prayer. Kwaku DMC also shines in full force with his usual easy to catch verse full of witty one-liners about street life. Headie One’s incredible flow and LP2Loose’s energy serve as the final sauce that glues it all together. ‘Sinner’ was produced by N64 whose booming 808s serve as the perfect soundtrack for this street sermon.
Whilst Smallgod’s ability to bring together one of UK Drill’s biggest stars (Headie One) and Ghanaian Drill originators (Kwaku DMC & O’Kenneth) is a testament to his reach and influence, his A&R skills might be his most precious asset. With his three incredible singles, he has shown a great ear for beats and an uncanny ability to pick and pair the perfect artist to the perfect production. Smallgod has leveraged these two strengths into building anticipation for his Building Bridges album.
King Promise – Slow Down
King Promise returns to share his latest single ‘Slow Down’ via 5K Records. A signature silky smooth blend of Afrobeats, high-life and R&B, ‘Slow Down’ is the first offering to emerge from a year of still; that whilst it began seeing a sold-out international tour covering London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Toronto and more put to an abrupt stop, serendipitously allowed him to get back in the studio to experiment and create his best music yet. Dropping alongside today is a gorgeous Andy Matijey directed video that sees King Promise visit his girl after dance practice at an auditorium full of mesmerising, sensual movements and soft, warm lighting as it tells a story of love, adoration and devotion.
Born and raised in Accra, Ghana, King Promise is an ardent storyteller inspired by life writing about love, husting, partying, family and more over an irresistible blend of afrobeats, highlife, hip hop and R&B. Since first releasing music officially in 2017 via Soundcloud, Promise’s fanbase quickly began to swell as word spread and a huge buzz manifested locally. Before he knew it, his career had taken off and he now counts fans the likes of GQ, Complex, Boiler Room, BBC Radio 1 and more.
Though a humble guy not bothered by numbers, he has over 35 million streams on his top 5 tracks on Spotify alone and 2.6 million followers on his socials and claims Ghana’s most streamed album of all time with his 2019 album As Promised (which saw him share tracks with Raye, Wizkid and more). With his irresistible signature crooner lyrics and palpably warm and danceable energy, King Promise is somewhat of a hidden gem outside of West Africa.
Promise hasn’t always been making music though, as in classic child-of-African-parents form he was focused mainly on finishing school and securing a degree up until a few years ago which he achieved in 2017 in the midst of his ascent. Music was never the plan that was until he jumped in on an impromptu friend’s studio session where his curiosity and raw talent was sparked in the booth – soon to be discovered by Killbeatz (Fuse ODG, Burna Boy, Wizkid and more). At home though he still had a lush and diverse sonic upbringing.
Enveloped in music from a young age where his “musichead” father inadvertently helped shape his genre and culture-spanning tastes: immersing him in everything from reggae to R&B to boybands to Ghanaian highlife, nowadays Promise finds himself pulling from and enjoying an incredibly wide range of sounds, both in his own sonics and also during his creative process. At the moment, he’s particularly feeling Ghanaian drill, the South African Amapiano scene and collaborating with UK artists like NSG and Headie One for his own music he has coming this year.
Quamina Mp ft Kofi Kinaata – Back To The Sender
Quamina Mp returns from the brief hiatus reinvigorated with a potential banger. Titled ‘Back to the Sender’, the hit sensation collaborates with one of the country’s finest singer-songwriter, Kofi Kinaata, to pull off a full-bodied Highlife tune that’s definitely enroute to hitdom.
Quamina MP tackles the song in all confidence, discussing his unrelenting strength and courage in the face of adversity, as he showcases his prowess atop the timeless genre. Kofi Kinaata joins in on the narrative too, flaunting his very thoughtful lyrics and classic style to deliver the final blow.
It’s hit after hit for the burgeoning crooner and ‘Back to the Sender’ is just another effortless addition to his sprawling collection.
Kweku Darlington ft. Kuami Eugene, Yaw Tog, Fameye & Kweku Flick – Sika Aba Fie (Remix)
Ghanaian music prospect, Kweku Darlington since the release of his debut 2021 single titled ‘Sika Aba Fie‘ has been ubiquitous on music charts on radio, television and online. The success of the record has earned him the shot to what may be described is an epoch in his music career.
Just a few weeks ago, Kweku Darlington shared an image of himself in the studio with Kweku Flick and Kuami Eugene in an appreciation tweet. Following was an announcement of the remix of his highly acclaimed record ‘Sika Aba Fie’ which he mentioned Kuami Eugene as part of the record.
Keenly awaited by music consumers and critics, Kweku Darlington finally outdoors the tinselled Sika Aba Fie remix which retains Yaw TOG and Kweku Flick whereas welcoming new verses by multiple award-winning Ghanaian singer and songwriter, Kuami Eugene alongside Ghanaian serial hitmaker, Fameye.
With most verses in the song taking the form of rap singing, the pattern contributed to the ornamentation of the already beautiful record rendering it ‘a very perfect collaboration and remix’. On the production fronts we have Jay Scratch making sure every element is in it’s right gain.
G4 Boyz ft Jay Bahd & O’Kenneth – Hmm (Kumerica Remix)
Ice Baby and Buggy collectively known as G4 Boyz out with the Ghanaian remix of Hmm featuring Kumerican fellow rappers, Jay Bahd & O’Kenneth
The New York duo consists of two brothers of Nigerian and Ghanaian descent from Staten Island. They have developed a flashy, energetic blend of trap and gangsta rap, with lyrical topics regularly focusing on money, sex, and violence.
G4Boyz connect with their respective roots, linking up with rappers with self-same rapping prowess as theirs to create country themed remixes of their drill song titled ‘Hmm’. The music group highly convicted in fraud schemes as perceived in their songs announced three country remixes namely; Germany, Nigeria and Germany.
With the Ghana remix or Kumerica remix as they label it, it would have been improbable on the path of Ice Baby and Buggy to have chosen none other than Life Living Records’ Jay Bahd and O’Kenneth to grace it.
Teflon Flexx ft Kelvyn Boy – Lazy Man
Teflon Flexx is one of the talented composers fore fronting the sounds originating from the Northern Region of Ghana. All-rounded with his style of music, Teflon Flexx since his inception into the music industry has built an impressive discography for himself.
For an industry described as strenuous by some stakeholders due lack of proper functioning structure, Teflon has to name an extended play dubbed ‘Village Boy In Suit’ alongside collaborations with some industry big names like Medikal, Dopenation, Ypee, DJ Lord and others.
He continues to sail to greatness as he links up with versatile Ghanaian singer and songwriter, Kelvyn Boy to create this sublime record titled ‘Lazy Man’. The song ‘Lazy Man’ is an interesting and captivating story to it. Teflon and Kelvyn Boy in their respective verses share their sexual preferences with their lovers , calling to their attention ‘their choice(s) of sex positions’ amongst others.
Apparently ‘Lazy Man’ is off Teflon Flexx’s ‘Love From The East’ upcoming extended play.
Olamide – Rock
Prolific Nigerian rapper and singer, Olamide finally quenches the thirst for a new baddo record with his latest single titled ‘Rock,’ off his forthcoming studio project dudded ‘UY Scuti’.
M.anifest – We Dey Manage
Signitdamnit rapper – M.anifest drops this surprise song titled ‘We Dey Manage‘ produced by Nektunez.
The godMC address social issues in the country and within our societies. He also adds his vocals to the ‘#FixTheCountry’ protest and calls on leaders to hear the cries of the youth and all citizens.
This song serves as a follow up to Manifest’s raving success single, ‘Confusion‘.
Kwesi Arthur ft Vic Mensa – Winning
Rising Ghanaian superstar Kwesi Arthur releases his brand new single “Winning” featuring Chicago rap royalty Vic Mensa – a new taster from his forthcoming debut album pencilled for this Summer, via Platoon and his label, Ground Up Chale.
A lilting guitar instrumental building to an explosive, rugged chorus allows the two artists maximum bragging rights, delivering uncut Drill vibes that’s sure to resonate at street level from Tema in Ghana to Chicago’s South Side.
Following his feature on one of the most notable underground tracks of the year in Yaw Tog’s “Sore” Remix feat. Stormzy, Kwesi has been steadily turning up the heat on his output all year, his breakthrough COLORS performance drawing co-signs from US superstar Cardi B, his sell-out shows in London and New York underlining his nomination for Best International Act at the 2018 BET Awards – an innate rap talent that blends seamlessly with his ear for contagious Afropop melodies.
Kwesi’s multi-dimensional grasp of genres and worlds has seen him gain critical attention across both sides of the Atlantic, from London’s i-D MAGAZINE and GRM DAILY to THE NEW YORKER. With his debut full length project on the horizon, mark Kwesi as one of Ghana’s most thrilling new voices set for international relevance in 2021.
D-Black ft. Kofi Jamar, Dead Peepol, Camidoh & Quamina MP – Kontrol
Black Avenue Muzik leader – D-Black serves us with this song titled ‘Kontrol’ featuring Kofi Jamar, Camidoh, Quamina MP and hip-hop duo, Dead Peepol.
This drill anthem comes off his star studded ‘Loyalty’ Album.
There you have it. These are the 10 best songs you need to hear this week.
