K.O, Young Stunna, Blxckie SETE (2022)
West Africa has long been making stellar musical contributions to the world. From highlife to Fela Kuti’s pioneering melding of jazz, blues and Yoruba music to create afrobeat, we now have the warm and rhythmic afrobeats – and yes, there is a distinction between afrobeat and afrobeats.
The most recent iteration of a global Nigerian sound is called afrobeats. You must know it, it is the new pop music. Time after time, artists working in this genre are producing some of the biggest hits of the year. The beginnings of the sound had been brewing for some time, its early pioneers including the likes of P Square, Dbanj and so many more. The wave is now peaking and producing superstars like Burna Boy, Tiwa Savage, Davido, Tems, Rema and Wizkid.
As one of the new tenets of pop music, there are artists from countries other than Nigeria making afrobeats songs, the most famous of these probably being Drake or Justin Bieber, but Selena Gomez and Ed Sheeran have thrown their talents behind the genre by collaborating with afrobeats artists and enjoying massive success. Enter South African rapper K.O with “SETE”, a light, romantic afrobeats number. The song’s melodies are perfectly primed to get the body swaying. Featuring Young Stunna and Blxckie, it’s a pan-African pop confection.
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