As far as music is concerned, 2022 has been a year of collaborations.
South African artists joined forces more than ever to create some of the most memorable music in recent years across genres like amapiano, afro pop, hip hop and more.
Here’s a countdown of the best collaborations of the year.
Ch’cco - Pele Pele ft. Focalistic
There’s a viral video making rounds online of Ch’cco visiting Price Cell and Sound, a cell phone repair and accessories shop in Durban, and dancing to “Pele Pele” with the store’s owner, Hassan.
In the shop and in the mall parking lot, Hassan, rocking Ch’cco’s Balmain shades, dances joyfully throughout. As is evidenced by Ch’cco’s previous viral dance challenge for “Nkao Tempela” last year, he really knows how to get our attention.
And he’s done it again with his new single “Pele Pele” featuring Focalistic and Mellow & Sleazy.
After only about a month since its release, the music video is already approaching a million and a half views on YouTube and it’s fast becoming December’s most unlikely amapiano anthem.
The hook is catchy, the beat by the popular amapiano duo Mellow & Sleazy hits all the right spots and Focalistic ties it all together neatly with a great guest verse.
Kelvin Momo - Fool Me ft. Nanette, S.O.N and Jay Sax
Kelvin Momo has a way of effortlessly unearthing new stars through his music. On his last album, “Ivy League”, he introduced the mainstream public to the likes of vocalist TBO and blew wind in the sails of the aforementioned mercurial amapiano star, Ch’cco.
This time around, Nanette is the name on everybody’s lips following her excellent showing on the two standouts of his new album: “Fool Me” and “Imfula”. But it’s “Fool Me” that takes the cup for me – Nanette’s melodies and lyrics just blend in so perfectly with Momo and his cast of producers’ mellow and laid back production.
“Don't step on my shoеs, don't make me blow a fuse / I don't really gotta dance, but I got 'em in a trance,” she sings, majestically. Momo’s work doesn’t typically rely much on vocals and Nanette seems to understand this as she casually floats in and out of the song. It feels just… right.
K.O - SETE ft. Blxckie and Young Stunna
It’s almost impossible to make any legitimate 2022 music list without including “Sete”. This collaboration by K.O, Blxckie and Young Stunna has been so universally acclaimed that it’s topped almost all major local playlists and charts since its release in August.
After just four months, it's already the most viewed local music video of the year with an astonishing 20 million views on YouTube, and it’s on pace to top Nasty C’s “SMA” to become local hip hop’s most viewed video ever by early next year.
What makes “Sete” so special, you ask? A lot of things, but mainly K.O’s genius in enlisting two of the most unique and versatile new acts in Blxckie and Young Stunna, as well as how it blends various genres in an intoxicating melting pot of sounds that seem to appeal to althe most every music lover across the country.
Kabza De Small - Khusela ft. Msaki
Similarly to “Sete” it’s difficult to create any meaningful list of this kind without including Kabza De Small and Msaki’s ethereal collaborative single, “Khusela”.
Speaking to IOL Entertainment, Msaki explained how the song came about: “It was just a one take kind of song that just needed to arrive, I think. I didn’t really think too much about it, but Kabza and I had been spending a bit of time in studio and he had been insisting that I don't come without my guitar cause he was like this is how to bring your world into this world.
“And I appreciated the insistence and encouragement cause it did mean that I was more comfortable in studio.
“The chord movements were inspired by Kenyan musician Ayub Ogada’s “Kothbiro”. Kabza inhabited that rhythm and vibe and came up with a chord progression that was very much in that world. I didn’t see it as a song that was gonna do well and I was initially upset about how it was just released. But Kabza had an instinct for it and he was right.”
AKA - Lemons (Lemonade) ft. Nasty C
When AKA sent Nasty C the first idea behind “Lemons (Lemonade)”, the Durbanite wasn’t immediately on board and asked AKA to send him something else. Convinced that it was the perfect song for him and Nasty C to finally work together, AKA insisted that he give it a go because sonically it was unlike anything he’d ever done.
“He thought we needed to find something different,” AKA told The Africa Report in a recent interview. “I looked and looked and looked and then one night I was like ‘Bro trust me, you have to do this one. You just have to.”
And so he did and the result was magical. Upon release, Nasty C’s verse was instantly dubbed the verse of the year ). Many also consider it the best verse of his career). It’s also put AKA back on the map after a lacklustre couple of years on the music front.