african music
Doja Cat is the first headliner to be revealed for Hey Neighbour festival in South Africa this summer, marking the star’s first time performing in her motherland. The three-day festival will be held at Legends Adventure Farm in Pretoria, South Africa from August 29-31. Kendrick Lamar, Khalid, The Chainsmokers, Swedish House Mafia and H.E.R. performed […]
In the summer of 2023, Tyla made a massive splash with her Billboard Hot 100 top 10 popiano smash, “Water.” But that turned out to be just a hint of what the South African star was capable of — and in March 2024, she released her acclaimed self-titled debut album, a showcase for her expert fusion of amapiano, Afrobeats, pop and R&B.
That same month, she was forced to cancel her debut Coachella set and first headlining international tour in the wake of a back injury. But no setback could stop Tyla, 23, from shining in the global spotlight. She ditched her aquatic motif for a sand-sculpted Balmain gown for her debut at the Met Gala in New York last May, and this year, she’ll join A-listers like André 3000 and Usher as a member of the Costume Institute Benefit Host Committee as the event honors Black style. In October, she performed her song “Push 2 Start” for the first time at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show; the sweltering reggae-infused track from the deluxe version of Tyla, released just days before, became her second Hot 100 entry.
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Following her historic 2024 Grammy Award win — when “Water” took home the inaugural best African music performance trophy, making her the youngest-ever African artist to win a Grammy — Tyla picked up more hardware at the BET Awards, Billboard Music Awards and MTV Video Music Awards. And this year’s Women in Music Impact honoree remains determined to spotlight African music and bring her native South African amapiano to the world’s biggest stages while dispelling the notion that she, and all African artists, only make “Afrobeats” music. Case in point: Come April, Tyla will finally play Coachella.
“The fact that what I’ve been doing has impacted people all over the world, especially African artists, is special,” she says.
You’ve been very vocal while winning “Afrobeats” awards. Is it hard to relish those victories when your music is being mislabeled?
It’s still an honor because I do use Afrobeats’ influence in my music. I represent Africa as a whole. Genre is so fluid, so it’s become difficult to categorize it. If people see it as the influence that the artist is using in their music getting its recognition, it’ll help more [with perceptions], rather than being like, “This person is not that.”
Who are the women who’ve been the most influential in your life as an artist?
Tems is a big one. What she’s been able to do has been very inspiring. Britney [Spears], Whitney Houston, Aaliyah.
What performance that you’ve done in the past year have you found most impactful?
The shows I did back home [in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Pretoria]. I haven’t really done much there since everything has happened [with “Water” blowing up]. Those were the biggest headlining shows I’ve ever had. It was fun being able to have that much control over the stage, the dancing, the lighting, the song arrangements. It was really cool to create something from scratch and give home a whole show that I’ve never been able to give them.
What else do you have in store for 2025?
New album. I’ve changed a lot in a short amount of time because I was kind of forced to with how fast I had to adapt to everything. I don’t think it’s going to be the same energy [as Tyla] at all, especially with what I’ve started making. It’s different, but also still Tyla.
This story appears in the March 22, 2025, issue of Billboard.
Billboard is expanding its Rookie of the Month interview series by highlighting rising stars from more genres like dance and rock. But the new crop of artists emerging out of the African continent have continued making it clearer that their music can exist beyond the borders of “Afrobeats” and should not be broadly and lackadaisically labeled as such. “It has African intonations in it,” Tems said of her genre-bending music during her Women in Music interview last year.
Like Tems, many African artists have discovered one-of-a-kind ways to express themselves that cannot fit into one box while staying true to their roots. And Billboard is dedicating a spotlight to them through our new African Rookie of the Month series, which Odeal and Qing Madi kicked off in January and February, respectively, and Taves is continuing in March.
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Taves’ drive to make music that transcends genre and geographical borders and touches people started out with a long one.
The 21-year-old Nigerian artist (real name Toluwanimi Aluko) discovered Aṣa during long road trips with his father from Ibadan, where Taves grew up starting at the age of eight, to his birthplace of Port Harcourt, where his father continued living and working. Inspired by her signature guitar, Taves took up the instrument. And listening to heartfelt lyricists like Ed Sheeran and Khalid “programmed my brain to look for deeper meaning when it comes to songwriting,” he tells Billboard.
While he was studying computer science at the Ibadan International School, he also studied a melting pot of genres while recording his own demos on his phone. “I don’t think I met any conventional Afrobeats artists. Everybody was on something different, whether it be R&B or pop or soul music,” says Taves. “They would still be speaking Yoruba or Pidgin in their songs, but that might have been the only thing that connected it back to Afrobeats. There was a lot of experimentation, and it was very beautiful to see.”
His brother got him into the studio for the first time in 2019, when he dropped his debut EP The Nest: First Day Out, followed by 2020’s 17 and 2021’s 18. Taves later began posting covers of popular Afrobeats tracks like Ayra Starr and CKay’s “Beggie Beggie” and Lojay’s “Moto” that felt more like open verse challenges rather than straight-forward covers. But his buzzworthy rendition of BNXN’s 2022 single “For Days” became a turning point in his career when it caught the attention of the original singer. They met less than a week later, which Taves describes as “one of the coolest moments of my whole life,” and eventually signed to BNXN’s label To Your Ears Entertainment. “He is the best thing that has happened to my ears for a while now. A BREATH OF FRESH AIR,” BNXN posted on X in 2023.
That same year, Taves scored a deal with Atlantic Records UK and a feature on BNXN’s debut studio album Sincerely, Benson. But he says that “a lot of people heard my music for the first time” last spring with “Folake,” an ‘80s synthpop-meets-R&B ballad, with undeniable influence from The Weeknd, that’s since become his biggest hit to date.
“What keeps me alive as a creative is always finding the next thing to try. Because I love trying new things, especially when it comes to genres,” says Taves. “I’m introducing people to a new sound I’m trying to craft. It’s not Afrobeats. It’s not whatever genre it is. It’s a new third thing.”
His EP Are You Listening?, which was released last July, finds Taves fine-tuning his mélange of Afropop, R&B, soul and folk and suave melodies paired with romantic songwriting, while paying homage to Aṣa on the album cover by featuring the vinyl edition of her 2007 self-titled LP. And Taves linked back up with his label boss on the swaggering standout track “CWT” (which stands for “Certified Walking Testimony”), which Wizkid was a fan of.
Billboard spoke with March’s African Rookie of the Month about signing to BNXN’s label following his viral “For Days” cover, the hardest part about making his latest EP Are You Listening? and being called “the Nigerian Weeknd.”
When did you know music was your calling?
Probably when I was eight or nine years old. There’s this artist that I’ve loved listening to since I was young, Aṣa. She plays the guitar. That’s pretty much her trademark. I taught myself how to play the guitar when I was nine. I didn’t even know I could sing at the time. I just wanted to do anything to be like her. That’s pretty much when I knew that this would be my thing.
How did you discover her music?
My dad and I used to go on really long road trips because he worked far away in another state. He played a lot of old music, and at the time, her music was hot, current. I don’t really remember a lot of the other songs, but the ones that he played from Aṣa are stuck in my brain.
Outside of Aṣa, who are some of your other favorite artists whom you grew up listening to?
Ed Sheeran, Khalid, Passenger. I never really listened to Afrobeats music when I was younger. I don’t have a lot of people I look up to in that space, from that time. I do now. I could say Wizkid, though, ‘cause my siblings used to listen to his music a lot — and it was nice, it was sweet.
What kind of music do you listen to now?
I like country music, because of Post Malone and Shaboozey, [that’s] what I’m on mostly now. Obviously, The Weeknd, pop music. I don’t really listen to conventional rap. I like trap music, though. And obviously Afrobeats.
How did you transition from covering other artists’ songs to singing your own?
There was a point where I was singing their songs in my own way, but then transitioned into writing a verse. It turned into what it would sound like if I was on this song. I used to write songs when I was young, so it was like practice. I just did it for fun. I wasn’t expecting anything to come out of it. It was very easy for me to transition from doing covers of people’s songs to writing and recording my own songs.
You signed to BNXN’s label To Your Ears Entertainment after you covered his song “For Days” in 2022. How did you two initially connect, and what is your working relationship like with him?
I posted the cover on a Sunday night, and then we met five days after. I was really excited to meet him because I was the biggest fan, and he wanted to meet me because he had plans for me after seeing that cover. That was one of the coolest moments of my whole life. He’s like my big brother, he’s still my OG.
What’s the best piece of advice he’s given you?
I wasn’t used to hate on the internet, and I didn’t know how to handle it. I saw a comment that came out of nowhere, somebody that wanted to ruin my day — or if they were having a bad day, they wanted everybody to have a bad day. I sent it to [BNXN] and was like, “I don’t understand what I did for this person to say this to me.”
He first asked me how it made me feel, and I told him I was confused and kind of upset. Then he told me, “These people that are talking about you online, they only work with what you’re giving them. I don’t think there’s any situation where any artist gives 100% of themselves for the whole world to see. They don’t know you. They’re just going off of what they’re seeing, and the additional hate that they have in their hearts.” That’s how he takes it, and why he never lets it bother him. That really helped me, because now anytime I see negative comments, it’s funny.
Your 2023 single “Eleyele” caught the attention of Atlantic Records UK, where you eventually signed. Why was that the right decision for you?
It was the right decision for me because as much as I love where I’m from, and I’m always going to rep where I’m from, at the time and even up until now, our interests aligned. Everybody was of the opinion that we needed to take what we were doing here, what I was making and what the whole team was doing, and take it out into the world. It couldn’t just be confined to where we are. Nigeria is a very beautiful place, and I love Nigeria, but I wanted more than that. And they wanted more for me as well after hearing my music. It just worked.
Take me back through the making of your latest EP Are You Listening?
I started working on it December of 2023. The name Are You Listening? came from my stylist Fadil, he’s part of my creative team. We were bouncing ideas back and forth and then he just said it. At the time, it didn’t really stick in my head, but I was writing down everything that was being said. When I got back home and was going over [my notes], it’s the one that jumped off the screen for me. It represented everything that I was trying to say with the project.
Song selection was the hardest part. I knew what I wanted the theme of the project to be, so making music in that direction was not really an issue. There was a lot of back-and-forth when it came to recording and the mixes. But [with] the song selection, there were many clashing views about what would work and what wouldn’t work. But we all were satisfied with the final product that came out. That was one of the most interesting processes of my life, because I’ve put projects together before, but I’ve never had any outside opinions because I was independent for the longest time. There are more people that have more experience than I have that are giving me input, so it helps me make an informed decision.
I read in your Deeds Magazine interview that the project was originally titled Homecoming and set to be released in February 2023. What happened? Did you scrap that project and make Are You Listening? from scratch? Or was it a redirection of the project you had already been working on?
I scrapped that project because none of the songs that were supposed to be on that Homecoming project ended up on Are You Listening? And Are You Listening? had more songs than I had originally planned for Homecoming. It just wasn’t the right time. In the moment, I had issues with patience. I just wanted [Homecoming] done and out. I felt like I had a lot of stuff to prove, so I just wanted to rush through it.
But it didn’t work out; there was always some obstacle. “Eleyele” was supposed to be on that project, but that was the only song that dropped off the project. All the other ones are still on my phone. They haven’t dropped. I had to hold off for more opportunities to find me before I finally took that step. I’ve grown a lot since then.
In the Apple Music description of the EP, you said you “listened to The Weeknd a lot” when you were making your 2024 hit “Folake.” What inspires you the most about his music? Is it true that people call you “the Nigerian Weeknd”?
They do. I don’t really get that, to be honest. I don’t hear it. It might be the instrumental of “Folake” that makes people say that, that might be the only similarity in my music and his that people hear. There are other things that I’ve taken from The Weeknd for inspiration, like songwriting. I love the way he writes his songs. There’s nobody that does it like that.
At the time, I was listening to a lot of his music, and the thing with me is if I’m listening to a certain genre of music, I love taking my time to digest it and texting my producer, “Yo, I heard this song and it’s so cool. You should listen to this album, that album, and then we should get in the studio and see if we can do something in that direction.” I was having fun, and that’s how that song came about.
You also wrote that “Apology” “is one of the only songs where I’ve been able to put what happened in a certain situation down exactly as it happened, and the way it made me feel.” How were you able to open up in “Apology” in a way you hadn’t really with most of your songs?
The session I did I originally did not want to do because I was in Ghana for a Warner Music writing camp. I had just come from doing sessions all day, so I was pretty exhausted. My manager invited this producer Saszy [Afroshii] [because] he wanted us to work together. I was like, “Man, I’m tired. I just want to fall asleep.” She still pulled up anyway, so I was like, “Alright, cool. Let’s do it. We can put some ideas down.” I wasn’t prepared and I was super exhausted, so all my barriers that I normally have up were down when it comes to saying things a certain way.
On “Apology,” I’m saying it exactly how it is. I wasn’t trying to be clever. I wasn’t trying to use any kind of word play or symbolism. I was just saying how it happened. And that’s very rare for me, personally, because it takes me a while to get over major situations in my life. It was still pretty fresh in my mind, so it was very easy for me to just lay it all out. We finished that song there and then. The only thing that we added on later was the choir, but we finished that song [in] an hour max, so two hours [total] to finish.
Not only are you Billboard’s African Rookie of the Month, but you’re also up for Rookie of the Year at the 2025 Headies. What does that title mean to you?
It means I’m doing something right and I’m one of the new kids on the block, which I am to some extent. I’ve been making music for almost six years now, but I just had my moment last year and [there are] still a lot of moments to come this year, hopefully. I was super excited when I saw I had been nominated, but it still hasn’t really hit me what it means. All I know is something has to be clicking for them to see me and think this guy is one of the people that potentially deserves this award. Even the people I’m nominated with are some of the craziest artists out in Nigeria right now. It’s an honor to even have my name in the conversation.
What’s been the biggest “pinch me” moment of your career so far?
I met Burna Boy and he invited me to his house. Burna Boy is him. He’s one of the biggest African artists, not just right now, in history. Every time something like that happens, it’s like, “I have to be doing something right.” There’s that, there’s being nominated for the award, there’s that cover I did to BNXN’s song and he loved it so much that we started working together and we’ve been working together ever since.
I think that Burna Boy moment was insane, because we used to listen to Burna Boy when I was still in university, and we were seeing all these things happen in real time – dropping his Outside album and then Twice as Tall, doing all these stadium shows. Somebody who is at that level in this music thing that we’re all trying to do, telling me, “Oh, I like what you are doing. You should come to the house sometime.” Man, it blew my mind.
How did you and Eric Bellinger collaborate on “Backtrack” from his 2024 album It’ll All Make Sense Later?
My manager [Kolawole Omoboriowo] was an A&R on Eric’s project. They were looking for certain features [because] he wanted to make an Afrobeats album. My manager sent me a couple of the songs that they were working on, but “Backtrack” is one that really stood out to me – the way he was singing, the melodies, what he was talking about. It was super easy for me to blend on that. I did that, he loved it, and I ended up going on the album. We didn’t meet up until last month in L.A., but we’ve been talking over the phone. Eric is really cool, he’s the nicest guy you will ever meet — because you can tell that he really, really loves the music that he makes. It’s nice to have his energy around.
You posted on Instagram last month that you and Bas linked in the studio. How did that happen?
That was really crazy because I’m a huge Bas fan since I heard the Dreamville project a couple years ago. And there’s this song that Bas has with Ayra Starr on the Creed III soundtrack. Apparently, he was a fan of me, too. So it was really easy for us to blend and work together. We made a couple cool records. He and my manager had been talking, and Bas was telling my manager that he was a fan of my music. And my manager didn’t know that I like Bas as much as I do, so when he told me, I was like, “That’s very sick.” It was a very organic link. He’s such a nice guy. I love that he brings a whole new angle to the song.
Who would you love to collaborate with this year?
Lojay. I personally think he’s one of the best artists that have come out of Nigeria in a while. PinkPantheress. I’m such a fan. We could make some really cool stuff. Victony. His album last year might have been the best album that dropped out of Nigeria. There were so many crazy ones, but his really stood out. And if things go my way, because I feel like everybody in the industry would say this, but Rema is also one of my favorites.
What’s next for Taves in 2025?
A new project with a special twist, but I can’t let that be known right now. [It’s] an EP. It’s not album time yet, but everybody will know when it’s album time.
Wizkid announced on Wednesday (March 12) that he’ll be touring North America again with his latest studio album, Morayo. He posted a Morayo Tour Hotline promotional video on his Instagram, with various operators informing Wiz’s customers that his European dates (Berlin, Rotterdam and Paris) in May are selling out fast and one operator claiming, “People […]
African female artists have been killing it this month. A week after Ayra Starr dropped her new single “All the Love,” she became the first African female artist to win best international artist and first female artist to win best African music act in 16 years at the 2025 MOBO Awards. And Tems‘ record-breaking domination continues, with her becoming the first Nigerian to win two Grammys, after taking home the trophy for best African music performance with her “Love Me JeJe” single, becoming the first African woman to be involved in MLS ownership when she joined San Diego FC’s ownership group as a club partner, performing at Aston Martin’s 2025 F1 livery unveiling in London and becoming the first African female artist to have a song hit 1 billion Spotify streams with Future‘s “WAIT FOR U,” also featuring Drake.
Just days after Tems made Spotify history, Tyla became the first unaccompanied African soloist to enter Spotify’s Billions Club with her 2023 breakout smash “Water,” and she’s been making a major foray into the fashion world by covering British Vogue and signing an endorsement deal with Nike. And Qing Madi — who’s been featured on countless publications’ Artists to Watch lists this year, including Billboard‘s — asserts her dominance while diving deeper into the intricate matters of the heart with her debut album I Am the Blueprint. “You can tell that this is coming from a teenager, someone who’s lived a certain life and is trying to open her heart to the public,” she told Billboard in her recent African Rookie of the Month interview.
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British-Nigerian quiet storm icon Sade‘s power remains potent, as Rema sampled “Is it a Crime?” on his latest single “Baby (Is it a Crime),” which he confirmed was coming when he was photographed leaving Amoeba Records in Hollywood, Calif. with the English band’s Promise vinyl. “Baby (Is it a Crime)” peaked at No. 3 on U.S. Afrobeats Songs and No. 4 on World Digital Song Sales.
And there is plenty more that has happened in an action-packed month, with big new singles from the likes of Black Sherif, L.A.X., Shallipopi and an energetic new EP from Seyi Vibez, among others. We’ve highlighted 10 of our favorite new songs by African acts that have come out roughly within the last month. Check out our latest Fresh Picks, and catch a vibe with our Spotify playlist below.
Rema, “Baby (Is It a Crime)”
Three months after Rema set the internet ablaze with his sizzling snippet of “Baby (Is It a Crime)” — which samples Sade’s 1985 smooth jazz classic “Is it a Crime?” — he finally dropped the full single. Produced by P. Prime, Sade’s soulful, timeless vocals weave in with Rema’s suave, refreshing vocals in this sultry Afrobeats banger as he reminds his lover that he treasures her and will even shower her with treasures (“Buy you a Birkin matching my AP color,” he sings in the third verse). “I’m a huge fan of Sade. I like the peace her vocals give me. I was just in the studio, and I talked to my boy like, ‘Let’s see how we sample some of her stuff.’ Played around with a couple of stuff until we found this one,” the Heis hitmaker told Complex on the 2025 Grammys red carpet.
Qing Madi, “Feeling Alright”
Qing Madi expresses unwavering love on her “Feeling Alright” standout track from her debut album I Am the Blueprint. As a young woman navigating money and fame, Madi reflects how much heedfulness and resilience romance requires over Wademix and Ozediku’s feelgood production. “It’s an anthem about loyalty and the quiet strength found in standing by a friend or significant other, irrespective of the circumstances,” she explained on Instagram.
Beeztrap KOTM, Sarkodie & Kwesi Arthur, “BANG BANG BANG”
Beeztrap KOTM makes the club go “BANG BANG BANG” with fellow Ghanaian rappers Sarkodie and Kwesi Arthur. He interpolates R. Kelly’s 1996 Grammy-winning hit “I Believe I Can Fly” while flaunting his larger-than-life moves, and Sarkodie and Arthur’s distinct flows float over Kwame Agger’s spirited drill production.
Lojay, “Somebody Like You”
Lojay – who earned his first Grammy nomination this year for best African music performance with Chris Brown’s “Sensational,” also featuring Davido – searches for a different kind of validation by chasing “Somebody Like You,” the first single from his forthcoming debut album. His “Monalisa” collaborator Sarz’s sublime Afropop production sets up Lojay’s “Summertime in Abuja” opening line as he reminisces on past heartbreak and clings on to “the hope of healing and finding love again,” he said in a press release.
Ruger, “Jay Jay”
Ruger likens his slick, Lothario schemes to Nigerian football legend Augustine Azuka “Jay-Jay” Okocha’s Machiavellian dribbling and stepover tactics on his new single “Jay Jay.” The Afropop star cautions any girl who’s trying to get with him that he’s only here for a good time, not a long time, especially with the first lyric: “If ah girl worry me, I delete her/ Put her inside the bin bag.” But his right-hand producer Kukbeatz’s playful beat complements Ruger’s tongue-in-cheek bad boy nature.
Seyi Vibez, “SHAOLIN”
The Nigerian street MC returned with an insistent new EP, Children of Africa, and “SHAOLIN” is the undeniable breakout of the set. The track is bursting at the seams with barely-contained energy, a microcosm of his entire career to this point, and it has a frantic video that accompanies it perfectly.
L.A.X., “Lockdown”
L.A.X.’s sound is always defined by its musicality, and the layered guitars and horns on this track continue that tradition. “Lockdown” itself is a song about the highs and lows of love and the depth of emotion that comes with it; as a singer, he’s defining his lane with each release, showcasing a feel for melody that sets him apart from many of his peers.
Black Sherif & Fireboy DML, “So It Goes”
Black Sherif has been on a heater with his singles lately, as he gears up for his forthcoming album IRON BOY, and this collaboration with Fireboy DML softens some of his rougher edges without losing the depth of feeling he manages to convey consistently. Fireboy’s melodic flow complements him perfectly, too, and the hook is a memorable addition to his growing catalog.
ODUMODUBLVCK & Victony, “PITY THIS BOY”
A track that shows off another side of ODUMODUBLVCK, who has so far in his career defined himself through frenetic energy and breakneck verses, “PITY THIS BOY” finds him taking a deep breath and sitting in the pocket more, showcasing the versatility in his flows. And Victony — who broke out with the distinctive earworm “Soweto” in the last few years — helps to underline that vibe; the two have some of the most recognizable voices in the world of African music right now, and this link up puts a spotlight on each of them.
Shallipopi, “Laho”
There’s something sinister yet alluring about the feel of “Laho,” a track that almost oozes and seeps into the consciousness. Shallipopi exudes cool over the beat, not trying to do too much with it, which is what makes the listener keep coming back for more. He’s one of the more creative talents on the scene right now, and just about every release is worth dissecting at this point.
Billboard is expanding its Rookie of the Month interview series by highlighting rising stars from more genres like dance and rock. But the new crop of artists emerging out of the African continent have continued making it clearer that their music can exist beyond the borders of “Afrobeats” and should not be broadly and lackadaisically labeled as such. “It has African intonations in it,” Tems said of her genre-bending music during her Women in Music interview last year.
Like Tems, many African artists have discovered one-of-a-kind ways to express themselves that cannot fit into one box while staying true to their roots. And Billboard is dedicating a spotlight to them through our new African Rookie of the Month series, which Odeal kicked off in January and Qing Madi is continuing in February.
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Qing Madi learned in high school that “the only reason a queen exists is because of the king.” But her majestic moniker – pronounced “King” and spelled with a “Q” to symbolize her femininity – honors her rapid ascent in the African music space, and foreshadows her lasting reign.
Upon graduation, the Benin City native (real name Chimamanda Pearl Chukwuma) moved to Lagos with her family and started writing songs for the country’s stars like Skales, Iyanya and Larry Gaaga. While she was grateful her pengame paid the bills, she also posted covers on TikTok and freestyles with guitarist and producer Wademix on Instagram. “He created this safe space where I could create my music even though I didn’t have a platform or anyone that was going to download it,” Madi, now 18, tells Billboard at Soho Warehouse in downtown Los Angeles, California.
One day, she went to the studio to record backup vocals for Blaqbonez, and his producer Ramoni played her the beat’s warped acoustic guitar loop and subtle trap hi-hats. Madi asked Ramoni if she could freestyle over it, and her poignant debut single “See Finish” was born in 2022. “I never put out anything original, because I wasn’t bold enough and didn’t think people would like it,” she told Billboard in an interview last year.
The viral TikTok success of “See Finish” eventually landed Madi a label deal with JTON Music and Columbia Records via BuVision. With only three singles to her name – “See Finish,” “Why” and the saucy standout “Ole” – Madi opened her “Ole” collaborator BNXN‘s six-date U.S. tour in October 2023, before dropping her eponymous debut EP the following month. The seven-track project melds her sweet R&B melodies and innocent, imaginative lyricism about embracing love and what the future holds while not letting her enemies get the best of her with irresistibly smooth Afropop production. “Vision” – a mesmerizing Afrobeats/R&B track Madi believes is “the most perfect thing I’ve ever written” – received an even dreamier remix treatment from her Columbia labelmate Chlöe for the deluxe edition of Qing Madi.
But for her debut studio album I Am the Blueprint, which dropped at the end of January, there’s only room for the Qing. She’s self-assured in the artist she’s always meant to become, and incredibly in tune with her emotions when it comes to love.
“You can tell that this is coming from a teenager, someone who’s lived a certain life and is trying to open her heart to the public,” she says. “My music is euphoric, it’s timeless. It’s going to live 100 years, even when I’m gone.”
Below, Billboard speaks with February’s African Rookie of the Month about the years-long journey of making I Am the Bluepint, the meaning behind her blue motif, how “The Rumble in the Jungle” inspired her single “Ali Bomaye,” and why “love songs are the easiest songs to write.”
My first question has to be about Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show performance since you’re a superfan of his. What did you think about it?
There were a lot of things were I was like, “Kendriiick.” I liked the Easter eggs, especially with the [Laughs] “A minor” necklace. I liked the coordination of Uncle Sam. There was a lot of stuff I pinpointed and was like, “Wow, this is so tough.” I like the fact he didn’t start with “Not Like Us,” because that was such an expected move. It was so sick.
When did you know music was your calling?
I genuinely believed songwriting was my calling because I loved it so much. I liked impressing other people because I would sing what I had written and everyone was like, “Oh, this is so sick!” I felt fulfilled. I never had stage fright, I was quite confident, but I didn’t think the world would put me in a position where I had to sing my own lyrics. But when I blew up on TikTok, and I got signed and started performing, I was like, “Ooh, this is definitely what I’m meant to do.”
I read in your OkayAfrica interview that you were “very jealous” of people who got to sing your lyrics, because “people appreciated it way more, because they had a familiar face in front of it.” How did you eventually transition from songwriter to the stars to a star in your own right?
It was really God — because originally, I hated the fact that I couldn’t really be a face to my music. I felt like I was selling a part of me, and I couldn’t argue with it because I was getting money off of it. But then I was always intimately hurt by the fact that I couldn’t really say, “Yo, these are my lyrics you’re singing!” I didn’t think it was possible, because at the time I was doing all of this, there wasn’t a lot of African female artists that were being appreciated. This space was very small for us. Once the new people started popping up, and I popped up, I was like, “Oh, OK, y’all letting us in? Thanks.” [Laughs.]
What kind of music did you grow up listening to, and how did that influence the music that you make?
I grew up listening to Kendrick Lamar, Brandy and a lot of other artists that I’m not even certain I know their names, because I lived next to a bar [that] used to play music all night. I would fall asleep to ‘90s R&B. And then I fell in love with rap music. Because of how much storytelling Kendrick has in his songs, I always want to think my songs should have a direction, a storyline, a target. I’m trying to hit a particular nerve or emotion. I’m like, “OK, if I’m writing a heartbreak song, there has to be a reason, a subject and a person.” I also listened to a lot of Wande Coal – he’s an African GOAT, melodic genius.
And what kind of music do you listen to now?
Kendrick Lamar. I was listening to GNX, DAMN., To Pimp A Butterfly. It’s a nostalgia thing, because I grew up on him. Listening to him puts me back in Benin [City], in that house.
You’ve also sung background vocals for other artists. How did you get on Wizkid’s 2023 “Diamonds” track?
My friend P. Prime called me and told me he needed assistance on a particular record. I pulled up to put my vocals on the song — but when I got there, I met Wizkid and Wande Coal. I was like [nervously chuckling], “Hi.” That is such a random thing to do on a Tuesday. Growing up, [I was] in school and trying to have discussions about these artists, and now I’m right in front of them [and] on their songs. It was an insane feeling.
They really did a good job of making me feel comfortable. [Wizkid] vocally led me on what he wanted, because he knows exactly what he wants on his record. He loved it, he was like, “Yeah, this is it. It’s perfect.”
How did you get Chloe on the “Vision” remix?
For my deluxe, I remember my team saying we have to get a feature on a record. And I’m like, “Oh, ‘American Love.’” And they were like, “No, no, no, no. We can’t hear nobody on it. We want to get a feature for ‘Vision.’” At the time, I was like, “I cannot hear anybody on ‘Vision.’ That is my baby, do not put nobody on that record.” I was so against it. Then they went ahead and reached out to Chloe’s team and sent her the record. She recorded her verse, and they sent it to me.
I loved it a lot, I can’t even lie. I was like, “Wow.” I never thought anyone would sound good on ‘Vision’ ‘cause it’s such an alternative track, and I’m like, “What are you going to add to it? It’s perfect.” But she really brought out a different perspective, and because she’s an R&B-based artist, it was such a perfect blend.
When you toured the U.S. for the first time with BNXN in 2023, how was seeing your fans live and the way they received your music?
It was great. I had never traveled to America before in my life, so [it’s] my first time in America and I’m going on tour. I got to meet fans, like, “How do people even know me?” I was shocked.
BNXN [is] the best big brother in the entire world. He would always hype me up on stage and say, “Everybody say, ‘Go Madi! Go Madi!’” It was less of a performance and more of a family reunion. It felt great being on stage and knowing that music is beyond my geographical area. The world is actually paying attention.
What’s your favorite place that you’ve performed at, and why?
Uganda. It was my concert, and as a new artist, that is an insane thing to do. Having a whole country that I’ve never been to – I don’t have any relatives from there, I don’t know anyone from there, it’s a place that is so alien to me – and receiving so much love, it’s definitely a significant place in my mind.
Take me back through the making of your debut album I Am the Blueprint.
There are songs from different versions of me as a person. There are songs I wrote when I was 14, when I was 16, when I was 18. I’m 18 now. It’s like a letter to myself. The first record is called “Bucket List.” It’s me prophesying a bunch of things I want to achieve, and saying, “I hope I become that artist.” And the last record is called “Right Here.” It’s me being more confident and being like, “I’m that artist.” It’s a confirmation.
I Am the Blueprint is a journey of me growing to discover that I am the blueprint. It doesn’t start with so much confidence. It starts with this 14-year-old girl confirming that, “This is who I am, this is who I believe I am” — and it ends with this is who I’ve become.
Explain the blue motif that’s not only been central to I Am the Blueprint but your overall aesthetics, from your hair to your style.
According to my mom, I’ve loved blue since I was literally conscious. It’s funny, because I was born left-handed, so she would beat my hand and tell me, “No, no, you’re doing things the wrong way. You’re supposed to use your right hand. Pink is for girls.”
I never changed. Every time, I’d be like, “I want it in blue.” Whenever I talk about blue or I implement blue in my hair or my album, it’s me putting in that little piece of me, that younger version of me, in everything I’m doing. If I have blue hair, I’m trying to say Chimamanda is still there. That blue is a remembrance of her.
Love plays a paramount role in this album, from feeling that intense chemistry for the first time with someone special on “Goosebumps” to questioning if your feelings are even valid or reciprocated on “It’s a Game.” Are you singing from personal experiences, or where does your source of inspiration come from?
Love songs are the easiest songs to write, because when I used to write for other artists, I prioritized putting myself in different people’s situations because they were very specific. They would say, “I want to buy a love song about this,” and tell you exactly what they wanted. I play with it sometimes. I have songs like “Ole” that talk about wanting another person’s partner. I’m like, “How crazy would it be to talk about love from this perspective?” So when it comes to love songs, it’s just me playing with my imagination and trying to talk about love in every way possible because it’s such a broad topic.
Considering this album reflects the emotional roller coaster that comes with being in a relationship, how did you figure out the sequencing of the tracks?
I purposefully arranged them to tell a story. We have “Bucket List,” “Ali Bomaye” and “Akanchawa,” and you can tell that slowly this person is growing from a very positive, energetic person to a very rage-filled person. From there, you slowly lurk into songs like “Pressure” and “Damn It All” that are so aggressive that you’re like, “Where does she come from?” In the beginning of the album, it was so welcoming and we’re just trying to lure you into this person who was so sweet and saw the world from this angle, and now she’s growing into realizing not everyone is as pure as she imagines.
It’s a journey of my emotions as a person and how I’ve seen life. The album sequencing is very intentional. I feel like we got the perfect arrangement to tell that story.
“Ali Bomaye” is derived from the chant yelled during Muhammed Ali and George Foreman’s 1974 match in Zaire (now called the Democratic Republic of Congo), also known as “The Rumble in the Jungle.” How did you find inspiration from that?
I learned that in school, and I was like, “That is so tough.” Having a word that is so significant to a violent sport put into love was something I thought would be so sick. Some people say, “You knock me off my feet,” like the wind. And I’m like, “You knock me off my feet,” because literally he knocked his opponent off. It’s wordplay for me — and then, obviously, referencing the legend Muhammed Ali is. It shows how deep in knowledge I am about being descriptive about my love toward you.
If you grew up in Lagos, Lagos is such a busy place, everything is always on the go. The record “Ali Bomaye” is about living in this place where there’s so much stress — but when you meet that person, it just knocks you off your feet.
BNXN, Chloe and Kizz Daniel were all featured on the deluxe version of your self-titled EP last year. Why did you decide to not have any features on I Am the Blueprint?
With the album, I really wanted to be selfish. I wanted to show the world, “This is about me. This is not about any other artist.” There are so many artists that would have sounded so great with a lot of the records, but I’m more concerned about showing you who I am. It’s a statement, it’s a movement, it’s a whole confirmation. That’s the artistic part of it.
On the business side, you could put a bunch of artists and say it’s for promotion. But I’m a true artist — I really care more about making sure that my message is heard and I’m able to accomplish the artistry I’m going for.
“Bucket List” mentions some things on your bucket list that you want to accomplish, like winning a Grammy and buying your mom a mansion. What else is on your bucket list?
Definitely tour. I want to go on tour so bad. There are so many countries I’ve never been to, and the fact that I’m not going as a regular person is intriguing to me. I want to meet my fans all over the world. I would try different aspects of art – acting, maybe screenwriting.
What’s been the biggest “pinch me” moment of your career so far?
Naomi Campbell followed me on Instagram. I was like, “No freaking way!” And then I saw she commented, and I was like, “OK, stop.” It was a lot for me, because it’s Naomi Campbell.
Who would you love to collaborate with this year?
I would love to collaborate with Wande Coal, Fave, Chris Brown, Billie Eilish. Kendrick Lamar. I would love to collaborate with him for sure.
What’s next for Qing Madi in 2025?
More collaborations — so many surprises that me and my team are working on. I can’t wait for the whole world to be a part of it.
While Spotify’s Billions Club contains an exclusive group of artists who’ve had songs reach one billion streams, there’s an even more elite crop of African artists who are members. “Essence” collaborators Wizkid and Tems have both reached this milestone, but not for their Billboard Hot 100 top 10 smash, and they both did it alongside […]
Wale Davies first met Nigerian singer Tems in 2018, shortly after she released her first single, the stirringly plaintive “Mr. Rebel.”
“Initially it was informal; I just liked her song, I was just helping her put it on sradio and connecting her with people in the industry in Nigeria,” says the artist-turned-manager. “I’m always attracted to music that makes me feel something, so when I heard the first single, what I felt was somebody singing for their life — she meant every word she was singing in that song.”
Davies, who co-manages Tems with Muyiwa Awoniyi, has been with the singer ever since — and has watched her grow into one of the biggest African artists on the planet. To name just some of her accolades: She’s landed 28 songs on the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats chart, including 10 top 10s and two No. 1s; she’s collaborated with the likes of Drake, Beyoncé and Future and covered Bob Marley’s classic “No Woman, No Cry” on the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack; she reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 in 2021 with a feature on Wizkid‘s inescapable hit “Essence,” which got a remix from Justin Bieber; she’s earned eight Grammy nominations, and became the first Nigerian to ever win two Grammys after taking home best African music performance for her single “Love Me JeJe” earlier this month; and this week, she became the first African female artist to hit 1 billion Spotify streams for her feature on the Future and Drake song “Wait 4 U,” which samples her 2020 single “Higher.” That’s to name just a few of her accomplishments.
It’s been a rapid-fire rise in just a few years for the singer, and one she’s had to handle in the public eye. “Just seeing her grow as a human being, first, has been the most remarkable thing,” Davies says. “She’s had a lot of fame thrust on her super early, and her adjusting to those changes and how everything came, and now working with the record label and getting global attention and big artists reaching out to you, and social media and all these different platforms and people, seeing her adjust to that and learn and grow and work on herself has been the most impressive thing.”
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Now, all that success helps Davies earn the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week. Here, he discusses Tems’ rise as an artist, the work that went into her 2024 debut album Born In the Wild, the record-breaking success of “Wait 4 U” and the rise of African music in the U.S. “I’ve worked in the music space in Nigeria for quite a long time, and I’ve never seen anybody grow and accelerate that quickly,” Davies says. “Seeing the change of where she was to where she is now, and the confidence and how she’s grown as a person, is as close to a miracle as I’ve ever seen.”
This week, with “Wait 4 U,” Tems became the first African woman to hit 1 billion streams on Spotify. What key decisions did you make to help make that happen?
For Tems, her music is very personal to her and comes from a very personal place. So initially when we got the call [about the song sample], the first thing she said was, “What do you think?” And I said, hearing what they’ve done with the song, they honored it in a good way and it would appeal to a whole bunch of different, new people, and if the goal is to have people feel something from your music, as long as the music still represents that, and it opens the door to new people to hear it, I think it’s a great idea to do it. And she loved Future as well, she just wanted to see how that marriage would work, and it turned out beautifully. And with all the structure and all the business behind the scenes with the song, my job is to make sure that everything is done for the benefit of my artist, and making sure that, yes, we are coming from Africa, and yes, these are big global superstars, but that we’re well represented at the table as well.
You mentioned the sample is “Higher,” which is off her first EP For Broken Ears, which came out five years ago now. What is it about that song and that EP that has given it such staying power?
One of the things I noticed very early on in Tems’ music is, each time I listened to her songs, I found new things and loved them even more. And that’s very rare with records, because after a while you can hear a record too many times. And even going on tour with her, having been in the studio with her working on these records for years, and then hearing them live, they still sound fresh and new, and I still feel something every time. I think people are trying to tap into their emotions and tap into things, and when music allows you a safe space to do that, it has a quality that’s timeless and lasts. The best music, you remember the first time you heard that song, and that’s timeless music. And that’s what it does — it evokes emotions, it helps you place it. So for me, “Higher” does that as well. It’s such a beautiful song. I heard it from voice note to this version to “Wait 4 U,” and each iteration of the song has been great.
“Wait 4 U” won her a Grammy, and then she just won another with “Love Me JeJe” a few weeks ago. That makes her the first Nigerian to have ever won two Grammys. What’s the significance of that for you?
We never really started out with the intention of global stardom or anything, she just really wanted to sing. She would joke at the beginning, “If I didn’t meet you guys, I would just be happy to sing in hotel lounges, just for people to hear my music.” But the way it’s gone and the way it’s grown and the way it’s resonated with people, what the Grammys do is they solidify the fact that you can still make music that is true to yourself and have it recognized globally.
“Love Me JeJe” was a strong choice for us to be the lead single from the project because it referenced something nostalgic to us, because the original “Love Me JeJe” song was one that we all grew up with in Nigeria, our parents loved the song, and so for us to be able to pay homage to that song was really special. We spoke afterwards — the original guy who sang the song, Seyi Sodimu, is also now a Grammy winner, 21 years after. So it was also giving him his flowers for doing something remarkable at a time when there wasn’t that much light being shown on our music and where we’re from. It just gives people the opportunity to dream — yes, you can get this global acclaim. And for us, it being the first song that she’s done herself by herself to win a Grammy, it just shows that the work is being seen and felt.
This song is off Born In the Wild, her official debut album. How did you want to roll that out and market it? And did you feel like you needed to introduce her with this project?
She had her first two EPs, she had “Wait 4 U,” she had “Free Mind,” “Essence” was a big song as well; all of this was without actually putting out a debut album. The phrase we would laugh about while we were recording was just trying to figure out a way to dance like you’re still in your little studio by yourself. Now we’re in bigger studios and there’s more opinions and more people. So it was trying to, first of all, block out all that noise and allow the artist to just be themselves, and then helping sometimes when they have internal noise telling them to do this or that. So it was trying to do something that felt really true to Tems. She listens to loads of different music, she creates loads of different music, and I think with the EPs you got certain glimpses of what types of music she makes, and with the album she wanted to lay it all out: Here are the different influences I have, some of them might be reggae, some of them might be Nigerian songs, some of them might be Sade Adu. So in all those different worlds, how do you connect that seamlessly?
And it was also important for us that we started the project back home. For us, we feel like there’s a lens through which people are able to look at Africa, look at an African woman and look at what a modern African looks like through Tems, whether through the way she portrays herself or carries herself, or through her music as well. So it was important that the first look we gave from the album was “Love Me JeJe.” We shot the video in Lagos, she was on a flatbed going through Lagos, which was surreal in itself because of the traffic in Lagos. It was a crazy moment.
Starting with “Essence,” she’s really been at the forefront of African music’s rise in the United States in the past couple years. How do you feel that’s progressing?
My theory is that we’re in a world now where we’re constantly looking for new things, consciously and subconsciously. I feel like with music you were hearing a lot of versions of the same thing you’ve heard before, and I think it came to a point, to me, where people started looking outwardly. Initially, I felt like the U.S. was very insular: U.S. music, U.S. charts. But once they started listening to new things, what people found was that there’s similarity and threads in everything. It’s called Afrobeats, but a lot of the songs Tems does are R&B songs. All of us grew up on American music, but also on Nigerian music and Jamaican music. Our music is more or less like a melting pot of all of our influences growing up, and I think there’s definitely a part of that that people will relate to because they’re mostly global references, and then you’re hearing Nigerian sounds that you may have never heard before which sounds new. So I think the rise of African music is extremely needed, and what people will realize is that they will find there are more artists in different genres playing in different spaces and different lanes, and it’s really a beautiful thing.
What’s next for you guys?
Tems has different ways she wants to express and showcase the music, so we’re finding different ways of how to push out the music. The project is already out, but what does it sound like reimagined, with different musical elements added to it or stripped back from it? She’s interested in exploring that more. At the same time, she’s always recording and working on new music. She’s got an interest in film, so that’s something we’re exploring.
And then on the business side, we’re trying to figure out, how do we utilize this position we’re in to create more opportunities back home? Our vision is in a lot of ways very global, but also very Africa-focused. Right now, we’re putting together an initiative to support young women producers on the continent, what that will look like, and that will be rolled out very soon. We just got involved in the sports world as well; that’s mainly to see how we can bring opportunities in sports back home to young people because we come from a place where we have to create opportunities for the younger generation ourselves. So that’s where our head’s at, and Tems is always recording. So there will be new music and new recordings and new versions of Born In the Wild out soon.
Tyla becomes the first African solo artist to hit one billion streams on Spotify with her 2023 breakout smash “Water,” Spotify confirmed Wednesday (Feb. 19). “Water” was released as a single on July 28, 2023, via FAX and Epic Records ahead of her self-titled debut album last March. The song, which included official remixes featuring […]
Tems has become the first African female artist to hit one billion streams on Spotify with Future‘s “WAIT FOR U,” also featuring Drake, Spotify has confirmed. “WAIT FOR U” samples Tems’ “Higher” from her 2020 EP For Broken Ears and was featured on Future’s 2022 Billboard 200-topping album I NEVER LIKED YOU. The song hit […]