the musical selection from “World Africa” #200

Every Friday, The World Africa presents three new musical releases from or inspired by the continent. This week, to celebrate the 200^e issue of this weekly column, we chose to see what the hits of the moment are in the main English-speaking African countries of Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. For this, we referred to the ranking by country established by YouTube Charts for the week of September 20 to 26.

« Set It », de Diana Codes (feat. Ajay)

Between rap and dancehall, Dyana Cods has been offering the single since the end of August Set It, which has over 5.7 million views on YouTube and 1.1 million streams on Spotify. Born in Kisumu, western Kenya, and raised in Nairobi, the singer has previously released two albums, River Lake Nilote in 2023 and Rong Manners in April 2024.

“My words are strange and touting”, says the artist to the site Okayafrica. Influenced by the rap group Wakadinali – with whom she released her first single in 2019 – she does not hesitate to play up her “sex appeal” on stage and in her clips: “When I heard their words, I said to myself: Okay, they can break this rule, so don’t! » And obviously, it works.

« Juju », d’Odumodublvck (feat. Smur Lee & Shallipopi)

In Nigeria, the kingdom of Afrobeats, the most listened to song on YouTube in recent weeks is somewhat out of place. It is about Juju, a single released at the end of August and which has already accumulated more than 1.7 million views, to which must be added 10.9 million plays on Spotify.

Its author is called Odumodublvck and claims to be the inventor of a new genre called “road”, a form of hip-hop that draws inspiration from London grime, Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat and R&B. Born in Lagos in 1993 and raised in Abuja, the capital, Odumodublvck got into music more to an injury that prevented him from realizing his first dream: to become a footballer. With five albums on the clock since 2017, the second has become reality.

« Kwelanga 2.0 », de Bassie (feat. Tman Xpress & LeeMcKrazy)

Finally, we head to South Africa, where, unsurprisingly this time, it’s an amapiano piece that occupies the top of the charts. In the sun 2.0 is a single by singer Basetsana Maluleke – aka “Bassie” – in collaboration with two other artists, Tman Xpress and LeeMcKrazy. Released in mid-September, the clip has already been viewed more than 1.6 million times on YouTube, while streams on Spotify exceed 6.4 million.

Aged 21, Bassie explained to Daily Sun that the idea of ​​the clip was to “shining a light on our different struggles, both in the music industry and in life.” “There is not always a happy ending”, she concludes, while saying she hopes that her music “gives people hope”.