The year in music
As selected by DJ Darlyne Komukama, a curator of the Nyege Nyege Festival.
Foug El Nakhl – AlMutaqa Orchestra
The AlMutaqa Orchestra from Sudan released their first EP Dafayer this year. The four featured tracks showcase the group’s particular blend of Afro-Arab musicality expertly led by maestro Ahmad Shamma. Foug El Nakhl is my favourite by a very close margin – the whole EP is worth taking the time to listen to all the way through.
Matlatsi – DJ Dadaman & Moscow Dollar
Matlatsi opens Pretorians DJ Dadaman and Moscow Dollar’s Ka Gaza, a previously never-heard collaboration from the Bacardi music hitmaking duo released this year. The whole album compels you to move and echoes the kwaito and house that inspires Bacardi music, while signalling towards the gqom and amapiano it will birth.
SIDE B Lagos City Unloaded – DJ Tobzy Imole Giwa
This one is a bit of a cheat because the track is technically a 25-minute mix of DJ Tobzy’s frenetic foot-tapping virtuoso mixing of everything from kwaito, palm wine, Afrobeats, gqom, and amapiano to techno, rap, and Brazilian funk to create a whole new genre called cruise coming out of Lagos.
Iyee! – Mitirikpwe Patricia
The Ugandan R&B scene is so, so delicious lately, with the likes of Joshua Baraka, Tai Dai, Mwami, Likkle Bangi and so many more. Honestly, get into it. My obsession is Mitirikpwe Patricia, whose EP Mitirikpwe I’ve had on repeat since January. The quality and tone of Mitirikpwe’s voice gives me literal goosebumps and I can just swim in that album forever.
Oli Mudoma aka Wa Wa Wa Iniwa – Dexta Rapper, Force HD, and Sturbon Joz
Ironically, the version of Oli Mudoma available to stream does not contain the “wa wa wa iniwa” refrain that popularised the song, together with Dexta Rapper’s father’s soft waist. Turns out we really needed that father-son dancing joy energy, even if it was just for 30 seconds at a time on social media video clips. A wawawawonderful holiday season to us all!