It’s always been problematic slotting any given artist into any specific category. It will likely take several decades to unlearn this restrictive habit – if ever. 2013 may very well have been the year earthlings had to seriously pursue this undertaking. It was the year of musical eclecticism. Any preconceived ideas of musical composition or structuring was thrown to the wind as artists created music that was a distinct extension of themselves.
The assortment of aural delicacies we have been treated to in the past year may not have been as eclectic or unintelligible as the SAMA’s Best R&B/Reggae/Soul category. 2013 was also the year of visually appealing and coherent music videos from African artists. The bar is continuing to be set higher and higher and that is more than enough reason to look forward to what these talented versifiers will create in 2014. To kick off the year, we’ve compiled a list of our favorites from 2013 that we’re keep close watch on in 2014.
Kelela (pictured above. pic via Dummy Mag)
Some of the most beautiful music in the world is sung by Kelela. She slyly entered the music scene with her October release Cut 4 Me and she is currently working on her next project. Her sound is eerie yet calming and petrifyingly emotive. Hard electronic sounds are juxtaposed with her honey sweet voice. Perhaps, one could call it R&B –electro pop but that description does not seem to be sufficient. Her story does not quite follow the typical narrative of the talented child who knew since age 5 that music and entertainment are what she wanted to do. She told Billboard that she only considered a music career 4 to 5 years ago and what propelled her into the ‘business’ was a performance by Amel Larrieux in concert. What a pity it would be if she had not seen Amel Larrieux that day because before joining Fade to Mind (her record company), she used to work in telemarketing.
Burna Boy
Breakout star is one of those terms that old record execs used to describe young artists whose transcendent sound they could not really define or confine. Until we find a fitting set of nouns and adjectives to describe this clearly talented and incredibly sexy artist, break out star is what Burna Boy will be. His most recent release Yawa Dey, with a video directed by Clarence Peters, is part of the artist’s ascent since his album L.I.F.E (Leaving an Impact for Eternity) dropped in August this year. It was one of 2013’s most exciting albums and each of the singles that have been released from this album was complimented by splendid visual accompaniments. The hard work he and his team put into the record is evidenced by the 19 tracks that have been included in the deluxe version of the album. Who does that – 19 tracks? He is also a Glo Ambassador and has been featured in one of their adverts already. What will 2014 look like?
Sammus
Sammus is hilarious. Her Youtube page is teeming with ‘webisodes’ of her journey as an artist and several other video projects. Her name is an adaption of Samus Aran, the female protagonist from the Metroid series by Nintendo and one of the first female lead characters in a video game. The synths often associated with old school video games are apparent in the rapper-producer’s sound. It’s her trademark. However, this in no way limits the number of topics she is able to broach in her songs. The themes in the Congolese-Ivorian New Yorker’s music are as varied as there are stars in the cosmos. She is quite flexible with her rhyme and flow, and her lyrics can be mildly technophile. The Fly Nerve’s oeuvre is largely epitomized by her song Games and Cartoons. Currently, she is working on a 7 track EP, An[other]M: Metroid Inspired EP, which she funded by beginning a Kickstarter. After nearly a month of campaigning, she raised the $2350 she needed to create the EP. She raised much more, actually. We sit with bated breath for the project that will be out later this month.
Stromae
“The only thing standing between Stromae and outright world domination is a (reliable) translator”, we said not too long ago when Tous les Mêmes, the maybe satirical or possibly ironic single of the multifarious artist came out on Youtube. Most people remember him for Alors On Danse but his recent work Racine Carrèe has been his most provocative to date. Stromae is possibly the most challenging artist on this list. His music speaks of deep, serious frustrations while beckoning one to put on their dancing shoes and burn holes in their carpets. Stromae’s music makes you pause and ponder the content of the song – if you understand French. Papaoutai, for example, is a dejected and angry tune directed at an absent father. Tous les Mêmes is an indictment of immature men who are a “bande de mauviette infidèles”. How Stromae manages to marry the depth of a sombre message with rhythms that call audiences to dance is an incredible talent.
P-Square
The twin’s album Invasion which featured their hits Beautiful Onyinye and Chop My Money was released two years ago. In 2013 they released their Greatest Hits album which included several hits from their decade or so long career such as Bizzy Body and E No Easy. The impromptu compilation has on its track list the controversial dance hit Alingo. Tweeple (Twitter people) alleged the twins re-appropriated a Timaya beat without proper acknowledgements. However, their tributary video Personally from a yet to be named album eclipsed that controversy. Continuing the high that was started by Alingo, the video features Michael Jackson-inspired choreography. It is not common these days to see African pop artists perform choreographed dance moves in their videos, especially not the male artists. Personally was a refreshing clip and a mere glimpse of the wonderful stage performances they made on their Invasion Summer tour. One question though: why doesn’t Paul dance in videos like he used to?
Mafikizolo
This South African duo’s couture comeback was momentous. After a six year hiatus and one or two solo projects from both Nhlanhla and Theo, the duo came back on to the scene with their brand of head-bopping love-themed music. Kwaito cum marabi cum house is how music outlet Musica describes their sound. The first single off their newest album (which shares a name with that extremely popular Peaches and Herb song), Khona, swooped in and took audiences by storm in 2013. It is an energetic lament for lost loves. It is a spectacularly articulated song, so well-articulated it was that some people on Twitter joked that Nhlahla should been given an award for best rap for her stanza. For those that could not make heads or tails of the sonorous, melodic rappity rap lyrics, you can read a breakdown of the song here. The pair even won Most Gifted Dance Video at the Channel O Music Video Awards for Khona.
Reason
The Mail and Guardian called him flashy and MTV said he was “young, gifted with rap.” Hype magazine named him the King of the Bedroom, a dubious if not slightly worrisome title. He outshined his guests on the No Sleep Remix, no Kendrick Lamar. Battle rap royalty Reason’s career has been on the up and up since joining Motif Records in 2011 – a stable he shares with Zaki Ibrahim and Tumi, No Volume. His singles All on My Mind and Do It Like I Can from his Audio 3D were considerable hits on the South African radio circuit. He was even he was nominated for two SAMAs earlier in the year but he lost to Khuli Chana. The only thing working against this talented artist is the questionable video to Bump The Cheese Up.
Alec Lomami
His music is as compelling as the story behind it. A 21st century nomad who has struggled to find a home – originally from the DRC but born in Belgium and currently living in Cape Town, Lomami was detained in an immigration centre in the United States for 9 months, even though most of his 14 years away from home were spent in the United States. His musical releases over the last few years have been sporadic and through no fault of his own. He lost his 2 years’ worth of work when both his laptop and hard drive crashed in 10 days, an episode which activated his existential angst over his musical career. Read more about that here. Nevertheless, he continued to work on Melancolie Joyeuse, the EP, and the results were the singles Pardon My French, Kinshasa and CLV (C’est La Vie). The latter features Sammus (see above) and Badi Banx. He is also studying for a Masters in Philosophy at Stellenbosch University.
Maleh
Having your song remixed by a DJ can be a blessing and a curse. While it may offer the artist exposure and introduce a singer to much wider audience than they may have been able to reach, the DJ version of song may gain more traction than the original song. Many may even believe that the original artist who made the song was simply a hired vocalist for that particular song. Maleh is best-known for being the voice behind Dj Kent’s house mix of Falling. What most may or may not know is that the song originally appeared on the indie artist’s Step Child. Since then, Maleh has moved from being an artist under Black Coffee’s Soulistic Music to promoting her effort independently with Leconelle Music. She shot the first video for one of her other hits Chimsoro earlier in the year and she won the 2013 SAMA for Best African Adult Album for Step Child.
MNEK
Uzoechi Osisioma Emenike is a British singer-songwriter and producer of Nigerian descent and he does not like Comic Sans. A newly inked record deal under his belt with Virgin/EMI means that 2014 promises the first full solo by MNEK (pronounced M.N.E.K). So far his robust opus comprises a number of refixes of popular singles, a few singles of his own and features with collaborators Rudimental and Duke Dumont. He has made a thing of refixing classic R&B and pop songs – among them Sade’s “No Ordinary Love” and Janet Jackson’s “That’s The Way Love Goes.” Through Moshi Moshi Records he released his debut single If Truth Be Told which he wrote when he was 13. He also co-wrote and lent his vocals to British chart toppers Duke Dumont’s Need U (100%) and All Fired Up. Now we wait for the former child prodigy to save pop music.
Which artists are you keeping your eyes on in 2014?