african music
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Rema released his Sade-sampling single “Baby (Is It a Crime)” on Friday (Feb. 7). He first teased the single back in November with a 1-minute, 21-second clip of him smoking while nonchalantly vibing to the track. “Baby/ Baby sunmoni/ You know say you match my steeze/ You know I’m a G/ Shawty I’mma always keep […]
Looks like the sample was cleared! Rema announced Tuesday (Feb. 4) that he’ll be releasing his highly anticipated single “Baby (Is It a Crime)” on Friday, Feb. 7, which samples Sade‘s “Is It a Crime.” “Baby ( is it a crime )’ out Friday. + Official music video,” he wrote on X with a black […]
AfroFuture, a global entertainment platform dedicated to celebrating the diverse culture and work of the African diaspora, and Bedrock will host AfroFuture Detroit this summer, Billboard can exclusively announce Monday (Feb. 3). The highly anticipated U.S. debut of the festival will take place on Aug. 16-17 at Bedrock’s Douglass Site, at the corner of Alfred […]
More African artists are coming for the global spotlight in 2025.
Qing Madi, who was featured on Billboard‘s 21 Under 21 list last year and has been featured on Spotify and Genius‘ 2025 Artists to Watch lists, readied fans for her debut album I Am the Blueprint, which dropped Friday (Jan. 31) with her romantic single “Akanchawa” arriving right in time for Valentine’s Day. Darkoo pays homage to P-Square and late 2000s Afrobeats on her new club jam “Focus on Me (All the Sexy Girls in the Club).” And Teni and Black Sherif get in their introspective bag with their new singles “Money” and “Lord I’m Amazed,” respectively.
We’ve also changed the name of our column from “Afrobeats Fresh Picks” to “African Fresh Picks,” to be more inclusive of artists coming out of the continent whose music exists beyond the borders of “Afrobeats.” While we’ve always featured African artists who’ve made alté, amapiano, highlife and more styles of music, we want that to be reflected in the title, too.
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 get the new year started with our Spotify playlist below.
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Darkoo, “Focus on Me (All the Sexy Girls in the Club)”
Following her frothy summer banger “Favourite Girl” — which is nominated for song of the year at the 2025 MOBO Awards — British-Nigerian singer Darkoo gets the new year and all the parties started with “Focus on Me (All the Sexy Girls in the Club.)” The infectious waist-whining anthem samples P-Square’s 2009 hit “Gimmie Dat” for a nostalgic Afrobeats vibe, while the accompanying music video pays homage to the iconic Nigerian duo’s 2007 “Do Me” visual.
Qing Madi, “Akanchawa”
Qing Madi is giving all her love to someone special on “Akanchawa,” which arrived before she released her debut album I Am the Blueprint today via JTON Music. “Akanchawa” is an Igbo word meaning “good hands” or “hands that bring good things,” and she’s beyond grateful to have this love come into her life. And Marvey’s mellifluous production enhances the sweetness of the song.
Nasty C, “For Certain”
Nasty C gave his fans “a little gift” at the end of 2024: the sizzling single “For Certain.” The South African rapper touts his cool factor while reflecting on the importance of legacy when he asks, “What is your reason for breathin’?” and “What you go leave when you leavin’?” in the first verse.
Mabel & King Promise, “All Over You”
After collaborating with Afroswing king Kojo Funds and Ghanaian rapper Black Sherif last year, Mabel teams up with Ghanian singer-songwriter King Promise on the tantalizing record “All Over You.” The duo craves an intimate exploration of one another, as Mabel sings, “That pillow talk is talking, please tell me some more/ Hands on mine, skin to skin, eye to eye.” As a fan of Asake’s right-hand producer Magicsticks, Mabel traveled to Lagos to make the song with him, according to a press release, and he makes his signature log drum-infused percussion and compelling crowd vocals loud and clear on “All Over You.”
DeJ Loaf, Runtown & Libianca, “Up Or Down”
Def Loaf recruits Nigerian singer-songwriter Runtown and Cameroonian-American artist Libianca for “Up Or Down.” Producer Cheekychizzy’s pulsating rhythm sets the tone for the topsy-turvy tune, as the Detroit rapper sings about loyally waiting for someone to come back around. Meanwhile, Runtown wants a girl for a good time but not a long time, and Libianca croons about loving someone with commitment issues.
Teni, “Money”
“They say money don’t buy you happiness/ Money can’t buy you love/ Money don’t fill this emptiness/ But I want all the money in the world,” Teni croons on her latest single, a piano ballad that’s a departure from the bops on her fantastic last album, Tears of the Sun. But the stripped-down song instead serves as a showcase for her vocals and songwriting, a simple yet deeply affecting entry into her growing catalog.
Black Sherif, “Lord I’m Amazed”
The Ghanaian MC continues sketching the story of his life through his latest string of fantastic singles — many of which have appeared in this column — and “Lord I’m Amazed” is the latest in that lineage. This is more contemplative than some of his higher-energy cuts, but it’s exactly that that sets it apart, as Sherif takes a moment to step back and reflect on the blessings in his life and how far he’s come. Even when he departs from his usual flow, no one sounds like him right now, which is the highest praise for an artist of his caliber.
Andy S feat. Sarahmée, “Dracula”
The sheer ferocity that storms through from Côte d’Ivorian rapper Andy S. on this track spans languages — she raps primarily in French — and cultures, as she and Senegalese-Canadian MC Sarahmée rip through this track, bringing high drill energy over an understated beat. The song appears on Andy S.’s brand new EP Born Ready, which is six explosive tracks of all different vibes, and is a fascinating introduction to a bright and promising artist.
Krizbeatz & Tekno feat. taves & Adewale Ayuba, “The Roof”
Veteran producer Krizbeatz took a turn as artist with his new album Daddy Daycare, and he tapped longtime collaborator Tekno to helm this track alongside saves and Adewale Ayuba. The simple hook dominates, but, perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s the production that really takes center stage, pulling from traditional Afrobeats drums, R&B stylings, amapiano log drum accents and electro undertones to craft a constantly-mutating beat that provides the perfect platform for the vocalists to groove over.
Carter Efe & Khaid, “PRAY”
Carter Eye may be best known as a comedian — certainly that’s where much of his social media energy lies — but his forays into music have borne fruit, too, first with the Berri Tiga-assisted “Machala” a few years ago and now most recently with this new cut with Khaid, one of the best young vocalists and hitmakers to emerge in the past two years. There’s not much that Khaid touches that doesn’t become an immediate earworm, and “PRAY” is no different — the rising singer is destined for greatness sooner rather than later, as his catalog keeps growing with hit after hit.
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 we’re kicking off with Odeal for January 2025.
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Odeal hasn’t stuck to one lane during his entire artistic journey. The 25-year-old artist was born in Germany and raised in Spain, the U.K. and Nigeria before settling down in the U.K. when he was 17, shortly before he embarked on his solo career. His familiarity with global genres eventually paved the way for his boundary-pushing music – even though he didn’t have the smoothest start.
Some of his older friends in the U.K. realized his propensity for music and encouraged a young Odeal (real name Hillary Dennis Udanoh) to make an original song at a studio in one of the youth clubs. He spent one evening after school there recording his first song and returned for a few days before the youth club shut down weeks later. When he moved to Awka, the capital of the Anambra State, Nigeria, at 14, Odeal’s father connected him to his cousin who always hung out at a studio. “I’d literally sit and watch everyone come in and record because I wasn’t making their type of music. I was more into R&B. And they were like, ‘R&B doesn’t work over here,’” he tells Billboard. “I was watching different artists to see how they record, the way they pronounce things, the beats, their choice of melodies. By the end of the summer, I learned what moves people and what doesn’t.”
While attending boarding school, he downloaded FruityLoops onto one of the laptops in the IT suite and snuck the laptop back to his dorm room so he could make beats while everyone was asleep. After a student snitched and the laptop was confiscated, Odeal’s “production journey kind of ended there,” he says. His cousin later advised him to spend time in Lagos so he could connect with producers and record music, where Odeal thought he’d have yet another shot at making it.
“I didn’t break in Lagos,” he recalls with a chuckle. “That was just like a dream.” At 17, he returned to London and witnessed the rise of Afroswing, an amalgamation of Afrobeats, dancehall and hip-hop created by the Afro-Caribbean diaspora in the U.K. Odeal immersed himself in the scene by joining a group called TMG, featuring other members Curtis J and Zilla, before they disbanded soon after.
Odeal embarked on his solo career in 2017 with the release of his debut EP New Time, but just a few months later, he became severely ill and spent the majority of November in the hospital. “If I get out of here, I need to make sure that I make an impact as much as I can and give back to my fans so that I can leave a legacy,” he remembers telling himself. Every November since then, Odeal has intentionally increased his musical output, from new singles to even OVMBR-branded EPs (2020’s Roses, 2021’s Hits No Mrs and 2022’s Maybe I’m Best Alone). In a similar vein to Drake’s OVO (October’s Very Own), Odeal’s OVMBR – which stands for “Our Variances Make Us Bold and Relentless” – doesn’t just represent the artist’s brand but has evolved into a movement that honors the individuality of his fanbase and even includes live events in Lagos, London, Berlin and Paris.
He heated things up last summer with Sunday at Zuri’s, a sultry, smooth four-song EP that represents a Sunday well spent at a woman named Zuri Awela’s beach house in Lagos. The scintillating highlight “Soh-Soh” became the project’s breakout hit, scoring A-list co-signs from SZA, Ciara and Victoria Monét, earning a song of the year nomination at the 2025 MOBO Awards and reaching No. 12 on U.S. Afrobeats Songs and No. 33 on Rhythmic Airplay. Last November, Odeal continued his OVMBR tradition by releasing the critically acclaimed EP Lustropolis, a heart-wrenching expedition about strained love affairs that features the Aaliyah-interpolating single “Temptress” and “You’re Stuck” collaboration with Summer Walker.
Billboard spoke with January’s African Rookie of the Month about making certain types of music for specific seasons, going viral with “Soh-Soh,” signing with LVRN and linking up with his labelmate Summer Walker on “You’re Stuck.”
How did your international upbringing impact the music you listen to and the music you make?
It made me understand different cultures and languages that people speak all over the world. It made me understand why other cultures like one style of music over another. So when making my music, I know exactly what to do and how to execute in a way that will resonate with certain people and the elements needed for it.
How many languages do you speak? And how many languages do you typically sing in?
To be fair, I’ve sang in French before, but I don’t speak French like that. I’ve sang in Spanish before, but I don’t speak Spanish as well as I used to. I used to speak it fluently, and then as I grew up, it fizzled away. I’m still trying to get [German and Spanish] back because I really want to connect with my fans in their own language. Stuff just hits different when you speak a certain language — the banter is different, the whole feeling is different.
Who were some of your favorite artists whom you grew up listening to?
Outside of Africa: Michael Jackson, Céline Dion, Brandy, 2Pac, Biggie. Inside of Africa, Wizkid, Davido, 2Face, Olamide, P-Square, Mi Casa. When I was growing up around the ages of 14-15, we used to listen to [urban music channels] Trace Urban and Soundcity when I was in Nigeria, and we listened to a lot of South African music like Uhuru.
And what kind of music do you listen to now?
I listen to anything that feeds my soul. At the moment, I’ve been listening to a lot of Afro-house, amapiano, R&B.
What kind of sounds and styles does your music encompass?
Afro-fusion, alté and R&B.
A few days after you released Lustropolis, you tweeted “the duality of man” and described Sunday at Zuri’s as “Afrofusion/Alte” and Lustropolis as “R&B/Soul.” Were you consciously thinking about genre when you were making both projects?
It’s definitely intentional. I normally make music seasonally. You need a theme song for your winter, and that’s what I feel like soul and R&B is for, when you’re inside and you’re in your feels. It’s more introspective. And for the summer, I’ll do Afro-fusion or Afrobeats or whatever experimental project for that season.
As someone who is as multidisciplinary as you in their approach to music, has it been difficult to find producers to help bring your unique sound to life? When I first interviewed Tems last year, she told me a major reason why she produces a lot of her own music is because she had a hard time being in studio sessions with other producers who just kept making Afrobeats. I’m curious if you had a similar experience.
Yeah 100%. The main reason why I started making music was because I wanted to hear something out there that was catered to me. Not being able to find something out there that fully embodied what I wanted, I had to start producing. But from making the music I have made, I’ve been able to meet a lot of incredible producers who are on the same page and want to experiment and explore and are ready for me to take the lead on where the sound should go.
Do you feel like it’s becoming more acceptable/more the norm for artists with Nigerian backgrounds to make music outside of Afrobeats?
Yes, 100%. Shoutout to everyone who’s been able to break out of that stigma that Nigerian artists should only make Afrobeats, or African artists should only make Afrobeats. We’re definitely capable of so much more and shouldn’t be boxed in.
Take me back through the making of both projects, starting with Sunday at Zuri’s.
I needed a summer tape. I was working on a project prior to when I went over to Nigeria. A week before I left Nigeria, I scrapped the summer project, everything I encountered while being in Lagos around April, May last year led to the creation of Sunday at Zuri’s.
On X, you wrote that Sunday at Zuri’s was influenced by Zuri Awela. Who is she, and how do you know her?
We’re calling her Zuri Awela, but she is someone that I spent time with in Lagos. I got to understand her background more of being South African and going to the beach houses in Lagos and having a good time. Having to leave Lagos and come back to the U.K., there was a certain feeling I had of having to detach from that situation. I made a story about that.
Was there one specific beach house you were spending time at, or were there multiple?
There were different beach houses. One’s called Ilashe Beach House, there’s another one called Koko Beach.
Out of the four songs on Sunday at Zuri’s, why do you think “Soh-Soh” resonated the most?
The chorus is provocative, it gets you moving, singing. It’s a catchy chorus, but then the second verse is very R&B-esque. There’s something about it, from the melodies and everything, that really resonated with people.
Prior to the success of “Soh-Soh,” when was the first time you remember a song going viral?
“Vicious Cycle (Policeman)” in 2019. I was in uni at the time. I’d wake up in the morning and record at the same time when people would be going to lectures. I started making the beat to “Vicious Cycle,” and then my boy came up and was like, “Yo, this is sounding crazy.” I laid the verse, it must’ve been before 12pm. I was done by 1, and then immediately, I posted a video of it on social media and it went off. Loads of people posting like, “Yo, when’s this dropping?” That was a moment.
Now take me back through the making of Lustropolis. How long did it take you to make it?
One or two of the songs were started earlier on in the year, and then the rest of them were made within a week or two.
You tweeted “Zuri’s absence paved the way to Lustropolis.” Can you expand on that? How are your two latest projects connected?
There are two different feelings: When you’re happy in summer, you’re a completely different person than who you are in the winter and not in the best place. Being with Zuri in Lagos, I felt like it was paradise. And then leaving that situation and coming back to the U.K., and it being winter and I’m about to head on tour and go to all these places, it was kind of dark. Maneuvering through that dark space and uncertainty and living on the edge was Lustropolis. I personified that mind frame. It led me to a place where I was acting off impulse, off something not going right in the previous situation and being in this place of self-destruct mode.
How did you and Summer Walker come together on “You’re Stuck”?
Her A&R and my A&R were in talks of having her on the record. They played it for her, and she loved it, she really wanted to be part of it. She brought her own perspective to it. I don’t really have many female features on my records, so it was really dope.
And then to link up with her in L.A. to do the video was another thing. She was really cool, down to earth. We went to the studio while I was out there, just working on a couple of things.
You’ve independently released your music through OVMBR, but you signed your first label deal with Warner Records UK in 2020. What was that adjustment like, from working on music on your own terms to working with a team?
It was more approvals. When you’re working independently, you can literally wake up in the morning, make a song and drop it tomorrow, which built most of the beginning of my career. But getting with a label, it was more like, “OK, you can’t just do that.” You’re working with a whole business now, and there’s an investment. You can’t be as spontaneous. That was the only difficulty. But apart from that, it was good because I understand now the importance of planning and preparation. If you want to operate on a global level and really scale, there’s certain things that you need to do.
How did you get acquainted with LVRN, and why was signing with them the right decision?
They reached out over a period of time. I really love their whole team structure. Just like OVMBR, it’s a bunch of friends who’ve become family and they really care about quality, have their own story. It was deeper than one company over another company. We share similar values, and they were really huge fans of the music, which is what I always want people to lead with outside of everything else.
I saw you were in the studio with Kaytranada recently.
That was crazy. In terms of production, he’s a huge inspiration. Getting in a session with him and really connecting over the music and sharing our taste, that was another thing.
Can we expect new music from you two anytime soon?
I’m not saying anything as of now, but hopefully. [Laughs.]
JayO posted some pictures of you two in Cape Town, and people in the comments were saying they need the joint project. Is that something you two have seriously discussed?
We actually do speak about it. We’re like, “OK, if we were to put out a project, that would be dope.” We don’t schedule sessions together. We’re really good friends. We’ll be chilling and music is made, or we’re on holiday and we end up making something together. We like to live life and then see how it pours into the music.
Who would you love to collaborate with this year?
I’d say Tems, Billie Eilish, Rema, Wiz.
What’s been the biggest “pinch me” moment of your career so far?
There were two moments, and they both happened the same day. I was at the British Fashion Awards, and Issa Rae was like, “There he is.” I was literally watching Insecure the day before. And she was like, “I absolutely love your music.” She really loves how I’ve been blending genres, which told me she was really listening. It wasn’t just one song. I told her I’m a huge fan of her. And then literally moments later, Wiz was like, “Yo, I love your music.” I was like, “Bro, this is actually insane.” Those were two moments that were like, “There’s no way this is happening right now.”
Nominees: Take It Easy (Collie Buddz); Party With Me (Vybz Kartel); Never Gets Late Here (Shenseea); Bob Marley: One Love – Music Inspired By The Film (Deluxe) (Various Artists); Evolution (The Wailers)
Technically, there are only two original reggae albums nominated here this year. Incredible.
Vybz Kartel and Shenseea scored their first career nominations for their own music this year with Party With Me and Never Gets Late Here, respectively, both dancehall records. Reggae legend Bob Marley is represented through the One Love soundtrack, which features covers of Marley classics from several artists, including Grammy winners Kacey Musgraves, Daniel Caesar, Leon Bridges and Wizkid.
Collie Buddz’s Take It Easy and The Wailers’ Evolution are the remaining nominees. This is Buddz’s second nod in this category in as many years, while Take It Easy features contributions from Caribbean music giants such as Bounty Killer, B-Real and Demarco. The Wailers — formed by former members of Bob Marley’s backing band — are nominated with Evolution, which hit No. 5 on Reggae Albums.
As previous nominees, Shenseea and The Wailers are likely the frontrunners here, but keep an eye out for Vybz Kartel. Last summer (July 31, 2024), the King of Dancehall walked out of prison a free man after serving 13 years of a now-overturned life sentence for the murder of Clive “Lizard” Williams. By New Year’s Eve, the legendary deejay mounted Freedom Street — his first performance since his release, and the biggest concert the country had seen in nearly 50 years. Though Party With Me lacks an all-out smash à la “Fever” and “Clarks,” Kartel’s narrative may prove too irresistible for any of his competitors to put up a fight. The Freedom Street concert dominated social media, but it happened near the very end of the voting period (Jan. 3), when many voters had presumably cast their ballots already.
Shenseea is probably his stiffest competition here. Never Gets Late Here reached No. 4 on Reggae Albums and incorporates notes of pop-dancehall, R&B, rap, Afrobeats and, most importantly, reggae. With Grammy-approved producers like Di Genius, Tricky Stewart, Ilya, Stargate and London On Da Track in tow, Never Gets Late Here could muster up enough support to pull ahead of Worl’ Boss.
Nonetheless, there’s also a scenario in which Marley’s legend and the film’s box office success lifts the One Love soundtrack to a victory — even if the more exciting win would be Buddz’s project. Traditional reggae projects tend to triumph here anyway, which counts against Kartel and Shenyeng despite their strengths elsewhere.
Prediction: Vybz Kartel, Party With Me
Look Out For: The Wailers, Evolution
In July, Jamaica’s most influential living artist walked out of a Kingston prison after 13 years, drove straight to his mother’s house for a tearful reunion over steamed fish and okra — and dove immediately into preparations for Freedom Street: his first performance since his release, and the biggest concert the country would see in nearly 50 years.
Locked up for the murder of Clive “Lizard” Williams, Vybz Kartel went away as a 35-year-old man at the height of his career with seven children, two of whom would make their own musical debuts in 2014. But even behind bars, he never stopped making music — managing to secretly record and release five projects that would reach the top 10 of Billboard’s Reggae Albums chart.
“Being in prison, you can’t feel sorry for yourself. I didn’t have time to do that. I had kids to feed. I had family to take care of. I had health issues, too,” Kartel tells Billboard in a private room at Downsound Records, the live-entertainment producer behind Freedom Street, in Kingston. “There was no time to be weak. You just fight the case and do the right thing.”
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Now, just days before Freedom Street — his New Year’s Eve show that will draw over 35,000 people to Kingston’s National Stadium — Kartel tells me he’s been holding daily three-hour rehearsals to ensure a “Taylor Swift- or Madonna-style” show while he records a new album at several studios, including one his children built for him while he was away. As I follow the Teacha around Kingston over the course of a sunny December day, fans of all ages stop him to profess their love and grovel for selfies — and if they aren’t trying to get his attention, they keep their eyes glued to him and hum whatever song of his comes to their minds.
It’s no exaggeration to say that Vybz Kartel is the most influential Jamaican recording artist since Bob Marley. But understanding Kartel’s singular career means grasping that his pop stardom and underground dominance have always worked in tandem. For every song of his that became a global mainstay, one of his raw, evocative mixtapes simultaneously ruled the streets of Kingston. Born Adidja Azim Palmer in Portmore, Jamaica — a coastal municipality about 15 miles outside of Kingston — Kartel has racked up 1.58 billion official on-demand U.S. streams, according to Luminate, making him one of dancehall’s commercial giants. But his countless controversies and towering sociopolitical influence have also made him a divisive cult figure.
His ’90s Alliance era cemented him as one of dancehall star Bounty Killer’s protégés and the genre’s fastest-rising star, wielding an impressive songwriting approach that blended his private and public personas through riveting gangster narratives and sexually explicit anthems. In the early to mid-2000s, Black Kartel reigned, with spunky, lewd hits like “It Bend Like Banana” launching his near-absolute rule over Jamaican society, which culminated in a seismic yearslong beef with fellow dancehall star Mavado (born David Brooks). By the dawn of the ’10s, White Kartel — by this point, the skin-bleaching he controversially sung of in 2011’s “Cake Soap” had visibly altered his skin tone (and spawned a new nickname) — had achieved several bona fide global crossover hits despite Jamaica’s banning of “daggering” songs (extremely sexually explicit tracks).
Fittingly, the Kartel I meet today is clearly a changed man. This newest iteration of Kartel is calmer and more collected; he seems firmly in his Unc era — cream Amiri beanie, custom tour T-shirt and a naughty joke always in his back pocket. His excitement for his upcoming show beams through the black sunglasses he never takes off, and the reverent air of gratitude around him is unmistakable. Kartel and his co-accused — Shawn Campbell, Kahira Jones and Andre St. John — have always maintained their innocence, and their second chance at freedom was hard-fought. According to a unanimous Court of Appeal ruling in summer 2024, the trial judge marred the original guilty verdict by allowing the jury to proceed despite knowing that one juror had attempted to bribe the others.
“Towards the end of my incarceration, I started connecting more with God. That’s why I tattooed ‘love God’ on my forehead,” Kartel reveals. “Nobody can tell me that God isn’t real. Ten years ago, I would have been saying something else, but God is real.”
Destinee Condison
Kartel’s return marks the start of a new era for both him and dancehall at large. In a Downsound Records rehearsal room, a poster displays five different Kartels with varying hairstyles, fashions and skin tones, each representative of a different chapter of his illustrious career. But whether he’s sporting a New York fitted or showing off his locs, the 48-year-old man known to his fans as Worl’ Boss has always been a chameleon, unafraid to alter his appearance to deepen his own mythos.
Inspired by dancehall icon Ninjaman and uncles who “used to DJ around the sound system,” Kartel began “writing 10 to 15 songs a day” as a teenager and released his debut single, “Love Fat Woman,” in 1993, which eventually landed him a spot in The Alliance, a group of dancehall DJs. “I’ve been fascinated with writing ever since I found out Babyface wrote [Karyn White’s 1989 hit] ‘Superwoman,’” he recounts. “As a kid, I was like, ‘How does a man write a song for a woman?’”
Two major factors ignited Kartel’s mainstream ascent in 2003: The release of his debut album, Up 2 Di Time, and a contentious clash with Ninjaman at Sting, Jamaica’s longest-running one-night-only reggae/dancehall showcase. At the time, Sean Paul was leading the early 2000s stateside dancehall crossover wave, but Kartel’s gritty “gun tunes” and X-rated “gyal tunes” were a far cry from the sugary-sweet riddims that made their way to top 40 radio. He smartly gilded his edgier lyrics with slick wordplay and head-spinning flows; Kartel could, and still can, dictate Jamaica’s culture with the flip of a single phrase. But some of those lyrics courted levels of controversy that threatened his — and the genre’s — continued crossover: In 2004, the U.K. Music of Black Origin Awards revoked Kartel’s nomination for best reggae act, alongside fellow Jamaican dancehall artist Elephant Man, over homophobic lyrics — a longtime point of tension in the genre as a whole. Twenty years later, speaking to Billboard, Kartel alludes to an evolution in his point of view: “The world has changed, and sometimes, you got to change with the times.”
By 2006, Kartel’s highly publicized split with The Alliance culminated in him joining the Portmore Empire — a collective of artists hailing from the neighborhood and signed to his Adidjahiem Records, which he’d established three years prior — leading to a feud with The Alliance’s Mavado, who took it upon himself to reply to Kartel’s disses. From 2006 to 2009, Kartel and Mavado lobbed searing disses at one another over the hottest riddims; Kartel even once carried a coffin with Mavado’s name on it onstage. Jamaica’s youth divided themselves between the camps — Kartel’s Palestine-referencing Gaza crew and Mavado’s hood-repping Gully clan — and, in certain cases, committed street violence in their names. On Dec. 7, 2009, in an effort to end that strife and unite the country’s youth, the two officially ended their feud with a joint performance; the next day, both met with Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding.
Like any good dancehall clash, the Gaza-Gully feud only boosted Kartel’s popularity. Buoyed by its irresistible interpolation of Ne-Yo’s “Miss Independent,” Kartel and Spice’s intensely carnal “Ramping Shop” duet reached No. 76 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in 2009, marking both artists’ charts debut. His crossover continued with 2010’s “Straight Jeans & Fitted” and “Clarks,” the latter a team-up with Popcaan, Kartel’s most successful protégé — a testament to his influence on late-’10s dancehall crossover artists. But as Kartel finally started to snag true crossover smashes, he continued oscillating between being dancehall’s global face and an underground provocateur: In 2011, he became the first musician to receive an artist-specific ban from Guyanese radio.
Kartel calls Lil Wayne his “favorite rapper,” and his life outside the studio mirrored that of the hip-hop legend in 2011. Charged with two separate murder counts, Kartel was found not guilty of murdering Jamaican businessman Barrington Burton by one jury, while a different jury found him guilty of the murder of Clive “Lizard” Williams. On April 3, 2014, Kartel was sentenced to life in prison after a 65-day trial, one of the longest in Jamaica’s history.
While incarcerated, Kartel clandestinely recorded — with the help of an iPad and his producer, Linton “TJ” White — a litany of projects, including 2016’s King of the Dancehall, which spawned “Fever,” arguably the biggest dancehall crossover hit of the latter 2010s. “Fever” entered two Billboard airplay charts and has earned over 104 million official on-demand U.S. streams — a win for Jamaica in a year when non-Jamaican artists such as Drake and Justin Bieber had propelled dancehall back onto top 40 radio. But between his incarceration and dancehall’s nonstandardized approach to music distribution (compilations of years-old singles tend to lord over regular studio album cycles), Kartel’s impressive consumption numbers don’t paint the full portrait of his cultural impact.
“Freedom Street [will] bring dancehall back as a serious contender in the international market,” says Downsound Records owner and CEO Joe Bogdanovich, who also notes that 700 police officers and private security workers were enlisted for the event. “[Kartel] is more conscious of good over evil and he’s doing something really positive for the youth and himself. That kind of positivity is going to make Jamaica uplift fans around the world.”
Destinee Condison
The concert — which featured explosive appearances by Spice, Popcaan, Busta Rhymes and more dancehall heavyweights — set the stage for Kartel’s incredibly busy 2025. A deluxe version of his 2015 Viking (Vybz Is King) album is due later in January, while a proper comeback album is currently in the works. “Kartel won’t say nothing. Then, tomorrow, he drops a banger that he recorded last night or the day before,” producer Cordell “Skatta” Burrell jokes. “So there’s not much I can say!”
Outside of the studio, Kartel can finally focus on the kinds of major life activities he couldn’t address in prison — like treating his Graves’ disease and wedding planning (he got engaged in November). The evolved, post-incarceration Kartel is ready to reclaim his throne — but don’t expect a run for Parliament. “Everybody loves me on both sides — I want to keep it that way!” he quips.
“Freedom Street is about Vybz Kartel’s journey for the past 13 years,” Worl’ Boss explains. “The concept is me coming out of prison, the road to that freedom and celebrating with the fans as I go into the new year a free man. We were planning this concert before I even got released. I’ve been prepping for this concert since birth.”
What was your first time back in the studio like after you were released?
The first song I recorded when I came out was at my house. When I got arrested, my kids were [so small]. Now, I’m out and recording in a studio that my children built.
How exactly did you record while incarcerated?
Initially, I figured out how to record using an iPad but a lot of times, the sound was metallic because the cell didn’t have padding like a recording studio. The sound bounced all over the place. Then, I figured out that I could use my mattress as a sponge over my head.
Me and Linton “TJ” White produced the riddim for “Fever.” At the time — don’t come for me! — I used to love watching Gossip Girl and Vampire Diaries. Every time this show ended, a voice would say, “XOXO, Gossip Girl,” so that’s where I got the concept from to start “Fever” with “XOXO, my love is very special.” I recorded the song line by line, looking outside to see if anyone was coming. One line, look outside; two lines, look outside. It was necessary at the time to do what I love most. I would send the iPad out to TJ and then he got it mixed by Dunw3ll and the rest is history.
The entire process probably took a half hour. If I was in a studio, it would take maybe five or six minutes.
Did you ever get caught?
Never. I had people in other cells. If someone was coming, they would knock on the grill. [The guards] found a recording device lots of times, but they never caught me in the act of recording.
Were you aware of just how big “Fever” was even while you were away?
Not initially, but when we released the video and the numbers started going up, I [understood]. I wanted to shoot a video for “Colouring This Life,” but TJ thought how I was flowing on “Fever” was tough. I was like, “Alright, do whatever, man,” and he shot the “Fever” video. Bro, in a few months… Jesus Christ! I was like, “Good choice!” (Laughs.)
Being in prison, you can’t feel sorry for yourself. I didn’t have time to do that. I had kids to feed. I had family to take care of. I had health issues, too. There was no time to be weak; you just fight the case and do the right thing. It was crazy seeing the impact the song had, especially when it [got certified] gold [by the RIAA].
How far into your sentence were you when you started recording new material?
In 2013, we started running out of prerecorded material, so we started recording new songs. I dabbled in it one time in 2012 with “Back to Life,” but the quality [wasn’t the best]. Young people were in the comment sections of the new songs like, “No way Kartel can see the future!” (Laughs.) They knew what was up.
What went through your head when you learned your sentence was overturned?
We had been fighting for so many years, so the feeling was overwhelming. The other guys I was charged with started getting ready and putting their clothes on, but then the judge said, “The case is overturned, but we are sending it back to Jamaica [from the United Kingdom] to let them decide if they’re going to retry the case or throw it out.” I was just listening because, as a ghetto yute, I’m used to disappointment. I don’t get excited too quickly. It’s never over till the fat lady sings, right? I was sitting with my legs crossed in my cell, listening to the radio and talking to my lawyer on my cell in my cell — get it? (Laughs.) He was like, “Yo, I think this is it,” and I said, “I’m going to put my clothes on.”
Immediately as I hung up, it was like an earthquake. [The decision] came over the radio and everyone in the prison was listening. Imagine 2,000 people shaking the bars and rumbling and celebrating — that’s when I knew, “Yeah. This is it.” I put my clothes on, jumped up, they came for me, I packed and left. I didn’t even bring anything with me; I gave my sneakers and TVs and stuff to the guys still in there.
What was the first meal you had after your release?
Steamed fish with okra. My mom made it for me. I went to her house first before I went anywhere else. It was a tear-jerking moment; tears of joy, and, in a sense, tears of sadness to know that I missed out on so much with my mother and my kids. [Kartel has five sons and two daughters.] My mom didn’t say anything to me when I went away because I never made her come visit me. It’s not her fault that I was in there. Why would I want her to see me in that place? I only saw her once during my incarceration; I was so sick that they had to take me to the hospital. I said to the superintendent, “Can you grant me a special visit, so I can see her?” And she and my dad came to the hospital.
How does present-day Kartel compare to the man that went away 13 years ago?
The Vybz Kartel of now is more chill and more mature. He’s more laid-back. The one that went in was a beast. I’m still a beast musically, but Iooking back at my personal evolution, I like who I am now. The Vybz Kartel of old gave me musical fame and fortune, so I don’t have any regrets about him. But I don’t want to go back to that Kartel. I’m good right here. That evolution was something I never knew I needed, but I did — especially having faith in God and believing and seeing him work.
I was born in the ’70s, so of course I grew up going to church. I started going around 11 years old, and, like most Jamaicans, when you reach a certain age, you start to fuss about going. I haven’t been to church yet since I’ve come home; every day my mom is asking me, but I’m going soon, mom!
Destinee Condison
How has Kingston changed from when you first went away?
The roads look different. The other day, my fiancée [Sidem Öztürk] had to tell me where to drive, and I’m like, “You’re from England!” But she’s been here for two years while I was locked down, so she got to know the place. Even on the highway going to the country, she had to drive me. It’s like relearning your own country. It’s fun, though! The other day, I literally got lost. I couldn’t believe it. I eventually figured it out, but so much has changed.
In hip-hop, there have been a few instances where prosecutors tried to use artists’ lyrics against them, which has sparked interesting debates about music censorship. Do you have any thoughts?
I don’t think art should be censored for the artist. It should be censored for the consumer. For example, “Vybz Kartel does adult songs, don’t let your kids listen.” But you can’t tell me that, because your children have ears, I can’t sing what I want to sing. That’s rubbish. The same shop that sells sweets also sells alcohol. If you catch your 10-year-old son drinking a beer, you’re not going to run to the beer-maker like, “What the hell are you doing?” So, if you catch your child listening to Kartel, don’t come to me. That’s a “you” problem.
Drake has called you one of his “biggest inspirations.” How do you think he handled his feud with Kendrick Lamar last year?
I’m not a fan of Kendrick. I don’t even listen to Kendrick, so I wouldn’t know. What does he rap? I saw it on the internet, but no disrespect to the dude, I hear him, but I don’t listen to him. Drake is more in tune with Jamaica and the culture. Drake is a better and bigger artist.
When did you and Mavado last speak?
When I came out! But we spoke a lot of times while I was inside. His son is also in the same prison that I was in. His appeal is coming up next year. Our sons grew up together, were in the same class at school and went to each other’s houses for birthdays. They’re still friends to this day. Me and David cool.
Since you went away, Afrobeats has exploded in global popularity. How in tune with that world are you?
Shatta Wale, Wizkid and Burna Boy are my three favorite Afrobeats artists. I like Tems too. Afrobeats is nice, you can just vibe to it. I think Buju Banton was saying something [controversial] about it [during an interview last year], but I understand where he’s coming from. Buju is a dancehall/reggae artist, so he’s going to be singing more conscious stuff about society. But there is a space for happy, fun music.
Destinee Condison
How can dancehall score another crossover moment?
What they do now is called trap dancehall, so it’s going to take a minute for the big markets to get used to it. It’s the kids’ time now. I like Kraff Gad and Pablo YG. Once the sound catches on in mainstream markets — London, New York, Toronto — I think they will have success.
There was a big thing a few years ago — I was even a part of it — with older artists saying, “This music is not going to go anywhere!” The music that runs the place is dictated by the kids at all times. That doesn’t mean the legends can be removed, but don’t fight the kids. Let them do what they’re doing.
I think the lyrics could [also] be a bit more tolerant and less X-rated. Says Kartel! (Laughs.) Afrobeats made such a big global impact because it can be played anywhere and for all ages. The lyrics need to be more commercialized and more tolerant, and sky’s the limit. Jamaica gave the world five genres: reggae, rocksteady, ska, mento and dancehall. We had hands in creating hip-hop and reggaetón. We’re not short of talent.
You’re nominated for your first Grammy, for best reggae album for Party With Me. How does it feel to finally earn that recognition?
If I wasn’t incarcerated, I would have been nominated already. But I understand, why would they want to nominate a dude in prison? I know if I wasn’t arrested, based on the trajectory that my career was on, I would have definitely won. But I’m very, very grateful.
[The 2024 Party With Me EP] was done in prison. I was under a vibe and got some beats from [producer] Din Din. It was getting closer to crunch time because the case was now in England. I was writing to keep my mind occupied, ended up with these songs and said, “Let me just put them on a little EP.” Bam, Grammy.
How’s the process of organizing your catalog been going?
Slowly but surely. I’m going to shoot videos for a lot of those songs I released while in prison. I’m in talks right now with a few American companies that want to give me a distribution platform so I can sign artists and get Jamaican dancehall music released in a more standardized way. We’re also working on a new album.
Destinee Condison
When will you be back in the United States?
We put the documents in. It would be a good look for all of us who are nominated to be at the Grammys. I’m headlining Wireless Festival in England this year. I’m already booked for some German shows in July. My No. 1 market was always America, but, over the last two years, my biggest streaming market is now the U.K. My fiancée is from the U.K. too. [The couple met during his incarceration in 2015 after she found him by “stalking his babymother’s Instagram”; he moved her to Jamaica in 2022.] I think that has a lot to do with the love, like, “Oh, wow. He’s dating one of us.”
When’s the wedding?
We wanted to do it in January on my birthday, but we’re going to wait because of unforeseen circumstances. Maybe Valentine’s Day. I’m such a romantic, right?
How did you prepare for Freedom Street?
We did roughly three hours of rehearsal each day, but the first one was four hours and eight minutes — and we still didn’t DJ half of the songs. We sacrificed around 1,000 songs and ended up down to three hours. And that’s just like my performance. Everybody and their mom wanted to come. And I have no problem with that anyway, because it’s New Year’s! Let’s ring it in in a star-studded manner.
Where are you most excited to perform?
The entire Caribbean and New York — that’s Jamaica outside of Jamaica.
Speaking of New York, would you ever hop on a song with Cardi B? She recently jumped to your defense when people criticized your post-release appearance.
I love Cardi! We got a song coming out next year. We are actually in the process of writing it. Even if I have to walk, I’m performing that song in New York!
Culture Management Group (CMG), the African-focused media management company that oversees AfroFuture and more, unveiled its 2025 AfroFuture Culture Calendar on Monday (Jan. 6). This year’s calendar features AfroFuture’s first-ever major activation in the United States in August (at an unspecified date), underscoring CMG’s commitment to expanding its platform globally and amplifying African excellence worldwide. […]
As we come to the end of 2024, it’s a good time to look back at all the great music that has come out this year, with December rounding out the past 12 months on another high.
And 2025 is already looking promising, with Afrobeats heavyweights Burna Boy and Davido announcing their new albums No Sign of Weakness and 5ive, respectively, and entering rollout mode with their prosperous singles “Bundle By Bundle” and “Funds,” featuring Odumodublvck and Chike. It’s no surprise that Chloe Bailey, who’s been cuddling up with Burna in Lagos, is featured in the “Bundle By Bundle” music video. Meanwhile, there has been a ton of great music releases, including by highlife icons The Cavemen., Afrobeats legend Wande Coal, superproducers Sarz and Kel-P and a gorgeous reinterpretation of “Jerusalema” by the incomparable Angélique Kidjo.
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 get in the spirit of Detty December with our Spotify playlist below.
Trending on Billboard
SuperSmashBroz & Fave, “Shut It Down”
On the heels of her sophomore EP Dutty Love, Fave links up with Nigerian American sibling DJ duo SuperSmashBroz (Muyi Fre$co and Noma Nomz) on the slinky club single “Shut It Down.” “Lesson of the day: Don’t trust DJs, ‘cause all they do is play me,” she sings while continuing to tell off someone who lost her trust. But the irresistible Afrobeats production will send us straight to SuperSmashBroz’s booth to have them run it back.
Boj & Minz, “Sara Jay”
The alté pioneer cooks up a heater with Minz on “Sara Jay,” one of four new tracks featured on the Summerfornication deluxe edition of his 12 Summers album. Boj and Minz love their lavish bachelor lifestyle, and whichever girl understands they’re here for a good time and not a long time gets to enjoy their flashy whips and other pleasures. From Genio Bambino’s skittering beat to the catchy “Put your ass in a Murciélago” refrain, “Sara Jay” will have you coming back for more.
The Cavemen., “Medicine”
Nigerian highlife sibling duo The Cavemen, featuring bassist Kingsley Okorie and drummer Benjamin James, take your troubles away in less than four minutes with “Medicine.” The sweet antidote is composed of faded, dizzying horns, twinkling keys and jazzy percussion, making it livelier than its temperate B-side “Opportunity.” “In a world where all has been said, we have decided to end the year with a call to groove and reflect,” The Cavemen. said in a press release. “‘Medicine’ and ‘Opportunity’ explore the possibility of therapy in modern highlife. Both songs are a mix of two worlds heading in the same direction to uplift listeners.”
Tayc & Davido, “PrAy”
The Cameroonian-French crooner connects with Davido on the touching standout track “PrAy” from the former’s latest album TESTIMONY. Tayc wonders who’ll pray for him long after he’s gone, while Davido bodies his verse about maintaining his peace amidst life’s mystery. And their smooth R&B-tinged melodies have us in our feelings just like them.
Burna Boy, “Bundle By Bundle”
When Burna throws money in the club, he’s throwing it “Bundle By Bundle,” as evidenced by his new single that will be featured on his upcoming eighth studio album No Sign of Weakness. It’s an anthem of abundance, with Burna stacking his W’s and relishing in the lifestyle they’ve earned him. Produced by Telz, who worked on much of Burna’s 2020 Grammy-winning album Twice as Tall, the pulsing bass line and intoxicating rhythms will surely be blasting at every Detty December party, while its swelling orchestral flourishes make the African Giant sound truly larger than life.
Davido feat. ODUMODUBLVCK & Chike, “Funds”
Davido’s melodic and effortlessly creative hot streak of the past decade continues with this new track, which brings in both ODUMODUBLVCK and Chike to celebrate the high life, and what they plan on doing with the money they’ve accumulated — namely, “mismanage my funds on you,” as the hook states. The production is bright and airy, and matches the vibe effortlessly.
Sarz feat. Asake, “C’mon, Look!”
Super-producer Sarz returns with this propulsive, insistent beat that powers Asake’s flow perfectly — almost a spiritual successor to their collaboration on Asake’s latest album, with the Travis Scott-assisted “Active.” If Asake has proven anything this year, it’s that he’s one of the most versatile vocalists out there, and Sarz continues to provide him with production that allows him to stretch his horizons — with this being another great example.
King Promise & Tom Walker, “Eyes Dried Over”
King Promise has been on a great run of late, with his vocals standing out among his peers. This collaboration with the Scottish singer/songwriter Tom Walker represents him stepping out of the lane he carved so well on his album True To Self, and seems in line with the Ed Sheeran-assisted remix of Fireboy DML’s “Peru” that made such a big splash a few years ago. This song is an emotional ode to the healing powers of liquor to mask the pain of relationship drama — in other words, a timeless feel.
Wande Coal & Kel-P, “Old Soldier”
Another collaboration between Afrobeats icon Wande Coal and innovative producer Kel-P — the first since “Kpe Paso” nearly two years ago — produced, unsurprisingly, a serious gem of a song, with Kel-P bringing the vibes with a danceable groove augmented by staccato guitars, steadying keys and a horn section that pushes things forward, while Wande Coal floats over top MC’ing the party. A great feel for the end of the year.
Angélique Kidjo, “Jerusalema”
Kidjo is truly a legend, and her take on this track brings beauty and emotion to a song that positively overflows with it. The original, by Master C and Nomcebo, became a sensation when it was released several years ago, and Kidjo’s rendition — released as a single following her performance of the track at the reopening of Notre Dame cathedral — replaces the underlying pulse of the original with ethereal strings, slowing it down and bringing the deep feeling of it out in full force — particularly towards the end, when she digs deep and lets her voice truly shine.
African music is pop music. The long-awaited introduction of the best African music performance category at the 2024 Grammys, when Burna Boy became the first African artist to perform during the awards ceremony, is proof of its undeniable cultural dominance. And U.S. superstars like Chris Brown, Travis Scott and Beyoncé are reaching out to African artists like Lojay, Tyla and Tems, respectively, for hit collaborations.
However, Western recognition only scratches the surface of what’s coming together on the continent. Music consumption in Sub-Saharan Africa increased by 114% in the last year, according to Spotify’s annual Wrapped data report. Burna Boy, Wizkid and Davido’s top cities on Spotify are all in their native Nigeria, solidifying Africa’s foundation to launch homegrown music to the rest of the world. And no other label in Africa has been as successful in doing so as Nigeria’s Mavin Global.
Trending on Billboard
Founded in 2012 by legendary Nigerian producer and executive Don Jazzy, Mavin Global has been instrumental in making Afrobeats one of Nigeria’s greatest exports. With Tiwa Savage and Wande Coal as the label’s first artists, Mavin is still regarded as an incubator and launchpad for an entirely new generation of Afropop stars. Its current roster is larger than ever with 12 artists: There’s Johnny Drille with his alternative-folk sound, Ladipoe who leans into rap, and Lifesize Teddy, whose Afro-fusion blend speaks to Gen Z.
And of course, there’s Rema and Ayra Starr, two artists signed as teens in 2019 who’ve become the label’s marquee stars and commanded the world’s attention. Rema’s 2022 single “Calm Down” from his debut album Rave & Roses is one of the most commercially successful Afrobeats songs of all time, reaching No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, with the help of a Selena Gomez-assisted remix, and became the first track by an African artist to hit one billion streams on Spotify. And Starr’s 2022 single “Rush” earned the Afropop singer her first Grammy nomination in the best African music performance category.
Both artists also released their seminal sophomore albums this year, Rema with his daring HEIS and Starr with her coming-of-age The Year I Turned 21. Rema’s gothic tribute to his hometown of Benin City was created in response to the backlash from his sold-out, headlining show at London’s O2 Arena last November. He rode a giant bat – a nod to Benin City’s most popular animal – and wore a replica of Queen Idia’s famous mask in reference to historical artifacts, known as the Benin Bronzes, that were looted by British troops in 1897 and are currently being held at the British Museum. Meanwhile, Starr’s sophomore album calls upon an international assembly of artists – from Nigerian street pop stars Seyi Vibez and Asake to Brazilian pop superstar Anitta to American R&B singer-songwriters Coco Jones and Giveon – for support as she examines her transition into womanhood and navigates love, loss and life.
But there’s been one person behind the development of both artists: Rima Tahini Ighodaro, senior vp of A&R and creatives at Mavin. Guiding artists through what she refers to as “world-building,” the Lebanese-Sierra Leonean executive leads the 10-person A&R team that works with the label’s roster to both realize and reimagine their creative vision for their music – setting up studio sessions and liaising with the label’s other departments to maximize the artists’ full potential.
“With Rema, I went on maternity leave and he came to my house to visit me after I had my baby and was like, ‘Here’s my album.’ I didn’t even know when he had recorded it!” she tells Billboard.
Rema and Rima Tahini Ighodaro
Courtesy of Rima Tahini Ighodaro
While critics have described HEIS as having a dark energy compared to the lighter, Afropop sound of his earlier material like his breakthrough 2019 single “Dumebi,” Tahini Ighodaro argues “[he’s] more like experimenting with the old and what has always been true to Afrobeats to birth a new sound. For an artist like Rema, who knows exactly what he wants and desires to explore his potential fully, and continuously pushes the boundaries, he always needs a trusted soundboard.”
His experimentation paid off, and HEIS earned Rema his first Grammy nomination for best global music album at the upcoming 2025 awards show. “Last year was one of his biggest years in his career and you know we missed that Grammy moment… but there’s a saying in my culture: ‘delay is not denial,’” says Tahini Ighodaro, in reference to “Calm Down” missing the eligibility period for the 2024 Grammys. “HEIS is a project that was personal to him, he led a lot of the creativity in the music and stood by it even as it got backlash. It was a culture shock in a lot of ways, but I’m happy that he was recognized for the whole [album] as opposed to just a popular single.”
Rema’s boundary-pushing approach also rings true for Starr, who has evolved sonically as well as conceptually. Her Afropop, Afrobeats and Nigerian folk sensibilities in earlier projects have molded the sound of a well-rounded global pop star. “Making 21 was so different from [Starr’s debut album] 19 and Dangerous because she’s grown so much as a person [and] as an artist,” Tahini Ighodaro says. “She really knows how she wants to tell her story and wants to be at the forefront of everything, making certain decisions where she might have previously, due to age and inexperience, leant into A&R guidance, when it came to working with producers and other artists and crafting her sonic direction.”
Ayra Starr and Rima Tahini Ighodaro
Rima Tahini Ighodaro
On HEIS and The Year I Turned 21, Tahini Ighodaro adopted an even more hands-on approach, “giving feedback on the music, helping the artists communicate their creative vision to the teams involved and ensuring that their vision was properly executed,” she says, while simultaneously taking care of other tasks like “clearances, feature management and commissioning the right creative teams to work on artwork, music videos, photoshoots.” In the prolonged chaos of putting together an album, Tahini Ighodaro also served as a grounding force for both artists. “Sometimes the artists forget what they initially committed to or they deviate or maybe get in their heads. I was always on standby to reel them back in,” Tahini Ighodaro explains. “Creatives need a first responder.”
Six years since she started working at Mavin, Tahini Ighodaro has found that the job involves more than just developing the musical direction of an artist’s career. It’s also about empowering an artist to create their own trajectory, and she doesn’t take that responsibility lightly. “This is essentially a people business – and if you don’t have empathy, a high tolerance for working with different types of people and emotionally investing into their vision, then it just won’t work. Whatever music is made is a byproduct of how they’ve been made to feel,” she says.
Tahini Ighodaro uses this same empathy-led approach when developing artists who go through Mavin Academy, which develops newly signed artists for two years through vocal training, live performance practice, branding, creative direction and media training at Mavin’s headquarters in Lagos, before the label officially introduces them to the world upon their “graduation.” This process of grooming and preparation, dating back to Motown’s legendary artist development department in the mid-1960s, had been a mainstay of the pop music machine prior to the current era of overnight, viral success that often thrusts young artists into the spotlight. “The Academy is centered on the intentionality of building an artist [and] their craft. Artists come and go – we call it ‘blow’ in Nigeria, when they come up off one hit or a couple of bangers,” she explains. The Academy is more than a one-stop shop for making an African superstar; it serves as a reminder of Mavin’s legacy of building a foundation at home, which is a recurring theme in Tahini Ighodaro’s life and ascent in the African music scene. “It’s about shaping well rounded artists that have something to hold on to, even after their relationship with Mavin ends,” she says.
A deep sense of pride for the continent is something she has worn on her sleeve since she was designing and selling traditional clothes at diasporic gatherings and events at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass., where she studied business and economics. “I always knew I wanted to work in Africa,” she says. “I didn’t think America needed me, because Africa is where I would feel a sense of purpose.” After graduating in 2016, she landed her first job as a senior associate at Kupanda Capital, a venture capital firm focused on incubating, capitalizing and scaling pan-African companies. “I was so excited because it aligned with how I wanted to come back to the continent.” Tahini Ighodaro says.
When she joined Kupanda, the firm was looking into investing in media and entertainment companies in Africa at a pivotal time when the music was exploding into the U.S. mainstream – think Davido’s “Fall,” which gained traction on U.S. radio and reached No. 13 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, or Wizkid’s feature on Drake’s “One Dance,” which spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 and became the first song to reach one billion streams on Spotify. She moved to Lagos in 2017 to work on Kupanda Holdings’ multi-million-dollar investment in Mavin Global (Kupanda Holdings is a joint venture between Kupanda Capital and TPG Growth).
As a result of that deal, Tahini Ighodaro built relationships with Mavin CEO Don Jazzy and COO and president Tega Oghenejobo and its artists. While she was initially brought on to work on the due diligence of the deal between Kupanda and Mavin, she later grew interested in working on the creative side of the label and having a more direct impact on the artists’ careers. When the director of A&R role became available later that year, Don Jazzy and Oghenejobo thought she would be the perfect fit, in large part due to her empathy and ability to deal with so many different characters. “Don Jazzy and Tega could see how excited I was working on this side of the business. I always thought that this role was exclusively about music, but they explained that it’s more about having a high tolerance for working with others, as well as a good eye,” she explains.
Tahini Ighodaro’s senior role at Mavin is a positive signifier of increasing representation of women in African music, which she says is much better than it was when she first started but argues there’s still more work to be done. While pointing to powerful women – like Bose Ogulu, Burna Boy’s momager, and Wizkid’s manager Jada Pollock – as some of the few visible female executives, she admits navigating a male-dominated field “felt lonely at the time, not having a counterpart in the same industry who you could look at as a mentor or to be able to carve your career path.” When she started working at Mavin, her colleague at Kupanda Capital, Jordan Slick, also joined the label as its director of operations (she later became Mavin’s advisory and board observer). Tahini Ighodaro says they were the first women to work there, and six years later, there are three other women in senior roles at the company. “Women are in probably more than half of the executive roles at Mavin – operations, finance, legal and business affairs,” she says.
Tahini Ighodaro is also optimistic about the increased opportunity for meaningful investment into Africa’s musical legacy. In February, Universal Music Group bought a majority stake in Mavin Global, aiming to “accelerate Mavin’s strategic advancement” by focusing on two initiatives: nurturing talent through Mavin Academy and developing the next generation of African music executives through its executive leadership program. In addition to the pan-African aspirations, Tahini Ighadoro has her eyes on world domination beyond the continent.
“The attention from the major markets is so exciting – looking at places like India, where ‘Calm Down’ was one of the biggest tracks last year, is positive,” she reflects. “We want to continue to break barriers and build on that. But the true North Star is building on our local industry [and] channeling the global momentum into solid foundations that will pour into Africa’s creative economy.”