South African artists are continuing to raise the flag and represent the country musically.
The likes of Sho Madjozi, Nasty C and Shane Eagle have been featured on a special showcase for Apple Music’s A-List called African Playlist.
The one-hour special highlights the continent’s hottest artists including Darkie Fiction, Petite Noir, Kwesi Arthur, Niniola and more.
Afrobeats culture and the African influence on global pop music are discussed by the artists.
Darkie Fiction, a duo made up of vocalist Yoza Mnyanda and rapper Katt Daddy, said for them making music was about expressing their culture.
“We feel that in South Africa our sound is lost a little bit. It's hard to really tell what a South African sound is. You hear a lot of music made by South Africans that sounds very American. We very much try to instill that sense of pride of being South African through our music because that is how we feel, and we got to a point where we were tired of hearing music that sounded American, calling it South African. If you listen to Nigerian music, if you listen to Kenyan music, you can definitely hear that it's from there. We feel that lacks a bit from South African music, so that's definitely why we make music and express our culture in our music.”
Nasty C spoke on the importance of evolving as an artist.
“I'm constantly growing and improving every single day, so when people hear or see a product that I put out, they should know that that's not where I'm at at the moment. That's where I was when I recorded that and that might've been a year ago or months ago. By the time you hear it or see it, I'm probably twice as good as that if not three times or more, so that's what I went through. I'm super dedicated and I know what I'm doing.”
Sho Madjozi is proudly and loudly Tsonga. Picture: Supplied
Nigerian artist Olamide spoke on hip hop being a lifestyle and mindset in Nigeria.
“Naija music, for us, is more of way of life. It's not about the sound. Your body language, your movements, the way you talk, and all that could be hip-hop. Naija isn't about the hardcore hip hop beats and all that. No, it's not that. It's the mindset. It's the thinking. It's your movement. It's how you see life. The streets of Lagos is hip hop. The streets of Lagos is crazy, man.”
Sho Madjozi's cultural embrace in her music sets her apart from many others.
“People are able to sort of relate to my movement a lot because I think what I'm putting out there is sort of carefree, black girl, mixed with Africa rising. I'm lucky 'cause I'm part of a time where it is Africa's time and then I think I came in a style that also said like there's more than one way to be African, and young people will really seem to relate with that.”
She added that rapping in her native tongue Tsonga allowed her to get some good raps out of it.
“It's been amazing because the flows that come naturally from how we speak, make for really good raps. Some people are like, 'How did you come up with that crazy flow?' I'm like, 'That's literally how you would say it in Tsonga'.”
Maradona hitmaker Niniola said the song had global appeal because of its phoenix nature.
"Maradona" is a life-changing song. I say the power of social media cannot be overemphasized in spreading music. Maradona is phoenix of a song. It's doing well in Europe and America. I'm super, super elated.”
The one-hour special airs on Wednesday night at 8pm on Apple Music.