The 5 Best Afrobeat/Afropop Albums Of February 2023

 

The noteworthy albums released in February included Spinall’s ‘Top Boy’ album ”, AKA’s posthumous long-length studio project “Mass Country”, Pheelz’s
amazing ‘Pheelz Good’ body of work, and more. The frenzy that
surrounded each of these albums was a clear indication that they were
among the most anticipated musical releases of the year.

The albums that we at DC Leakers selected for this month’s top five are only a handful of them.

 

SPINALL – Top Boy

SPINALL
announced the debut of his brand-new, star-studded album named “TOP BOY”
with the release of the single “Bunda” earlier this month, which
features YBNL kingpin Olamide and rising singer-songwriter Kemuel.

There
are 15 tracks on the TOP BOY LP in total. Along with a few
international celebrities, it includes some of the best singers in the
current African music scene. Some of the performers on the album include
DJ Snake, 6lack, BNXN (also known as Buju), Nasty C, Asake, Fireboy DML, Olamide, Minz, and Niniola.

A direct sequel to SPINALL’s critically acclaimed 2020 album, Grace, is TOP BOY.

 

 

Lyta – Stranger

Lyta is committed to starting the year off right by continuously releasing songs. He just released his first 2023 project, “Stronger,” and later collaborated with Balloranking and Kashcoming on Rhedi’s Magic Moment tune, “Tempted.” The singer-songwriter has just released the 4-track EP “Stranger.”

Lyta’s first body of work since dropping Rafat in March 2022 is the Stranger EP. On the new album, he works with Ugly Teemee on the third tune, “Abena,” and Seyi Vibez, the hottest rave artist right now, on the fourth track, “Koni Baje.”

 

 

Celestine Donkor – Final Say (Live)

Award-winning Gospel musician, Celestine Donkor premieres her latest live album titled ‘Final Say’.

She
puts in much effort on this album which was recorded live. ‘Final Say’
is a 7-track masterpiece features all the characteristics of live
recordings.

Celestine Donkor dedicates this body of work to God
and Christianity in order to spread the message of God and encourage
both believers and unbelievers who require God’s salvation.

 

 

AKA – Mass Country

Released just two weeks after his death, AKA’s
fifth solo studio album, MASS COUNTRY, is equal parts a love letter to
the country and the sounds he grew up with, and a cathartic journey
through grief, healing and self-rediscovery. An idea that was sparked
shortly after the heartbreaking loss of his fiancée, Anele “Nellie”
Tembe, who passed away in April 2021, MASS COUNTRY is an offering of
love in its many forms: There’s love of country, from an artist often
lauded for his pioneering efforts to commercialise South African
hip-hop; romantic love, from a man navigating deep loss and finding ways
to heal and rebuild; and brotherly love, as an artist who was
instrumental in edifying the generations of musicians he inspired, many
of whom make appearances on the album.

MASS
COUNTRY also cements AKA’s legacy as a producer who used an almost
encyclopedic knowledge of South Africa’s most beloved hits to
reinterpret them through captivating samples and interpolations. It’s a
technique he famously employed on megahits like 2014’s “All Eyes in Me”,
where he laid verses from Burna Boy,
Da Les and Jr. over a sample of Brenda Fassie’s 1991 hit “Ngiyakusaba”
(which interpolates elements from Jomanda’s “Got a Love for You”).

AKA
recruited producers Christer, Fdeezus, Oriah, 031Choppa, KDDO, SayFar,
Nlcno, Tshepo “Teddy” Moloi and Loud Haileer, alongside co-executive
producers Nhlanhla “Nivo” Ndimande, Tshiamo Letshwene and Zādok. “Eighty
percent of the album was made deep in KwaZulu-Natal,” he said. “We
wanted to get into the soil, into the farms. We wanted to soak up the
farm energy. We wouldn’t have been able to get that essence of South
Africa and Africa if we don’t have real guitars, real music and real
keys. Lots of guitar, lots of, like, South African vibes and African
vibes.

 

Pheelz – Pheelz Good

The much
awaited EP “Pheelz Good” by Nigerian record producer and
singer-songwriter Pheelz has been availed. The new extended play has
eight songs and features cameos from Davido and BNXN (also known as Buju) on the songs Electricity and Finesse, which have already been released.