Hot streams: Five of the biggest songs this July

From rumba to country, afropop to R&B, reggae to soul, here are five BDLife tips for new singles and albums to add to your playlist this July.

Anti-Divorce

Le Grand Mopao (The Big Boss) who turns 68 tomorrow, July 13, proves why he remains one of the most prolific African artistes of all time with another infectious dance number. In typical Koffi style, nothing is left to chance with a catchy video packed with a large troupe of dancers performing routines along the beach and a backdrop of other scenes

“Koffi is basically saying that he has achieved everything there is in life,” explains Roger Muntu, Congolese American broadcaster based in Washington DC. “There is a part of the song when he says ‘Whatever you want, I will give it to you’, which we could interpret as a message to singer and dancer Cindy Le Coeur after he said in a recent TV interview that they are married.”

This is one of the songs from Koffi’s latest project Legendes Platinum Vol 2, a 3-set album released on July 19, 2024. The first single from the album was Mama Ci, a mellow rumba collaboration with former Wenge Musica star Fabregas Le Metis Noir and Jr33. Koffi is also reveling in his role as his country’s Cultural Ambassador, an honour awarded by DRC President Tshisekedi in 2022.

At just 33, Damini “Burna Boy” Ogulu is enjoying phenomenal global success and in the last few weeks has headlined some of the world’s biggest music festivals; Glastonbury in the UK and Summerjam in Germany. But his latest single, released on June 28, reconnects the Afrobeats stars with his community in the city of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, from assisting flood victims to providing wheelchairs to disabled people through his charity organisation.

“The street don’t love you,” he sings in that familiar baritone. “It is full of snakes and spiders, make a wrong move, made it harder for your mother to sleep at night.” As a reflection of the introspective message in the music, the sound is slightly downbeat with traces of amapiano.

A Bar Song (Tipsy)

The success of Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter album has turned attention to the African-American influences in country music and gained visibility for artists of colour in the genre. Shaboozey, 29, (real name Collins Obinna Chibueze – his parents are Nigerian) was featured on two tracks on the Beyonce album and his own single A Bar Song (Tipsy) has topped the Billboard Hot 100. Now on his third album, Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going, the artist whose baritone is similar to another African-American country singer, Darius Rucker, straddles the territory between hip hop, folk and country.

The single has been streamed millions of times around the world, but take time to listen to the entire album for other highlights including Last of My Kind (featuring Paul Cauthen), Steal her From Me, Highway and the beautiful My Fault, a duet with Noah Cyrus.

Your music career starts at a distinct advantage if you are the grandson of the legendary Bob Marley and the son of multi–Grammy Award winning singer/rapper Lauryn Hill.

Twenty two-year-old singer-rapper Joshua Nesta “YG” Marley taps into that lineage with his mother as co-producer by reworking Ambush in The Night from his grandmother’s iconic 1979 album Survival. He premiered the song on US TV programme, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in a medley that featured Lauryn Hill performing her classic 1998 song Ex-Factor as images of heroes of black nationalism like Marcus Garvey, Stokley Carmichael, Fred Hampton, Huey Newton and Harriet Tubman flashed in the background.

YG Marley’s debut single Praise Jah in The Moonlight, featuring a haunting sample of Bob Marley’s Crisis from the Kaya album has been one of the biggest hits of 2024, largely due to its popularity on the video sharing platform, TikTok.

The US singer-songwriter has released an album of 13 songs that are a blend of genres, from dance floor grooves to neo-soul and a touch of pop with amapiano and Afrobeats influences. This collaboration with Nigerian star Omar Lay, with its catchy hook and lively energy, is a good introduction to Crash which is Kehlani’s fourth album.

A few spins of this track will inspire you to explore some of the other highlights like the dance groove of After Hours which samples the infectious riddim of Nina Sky’s 2004 hit Move Ya Body, the collaboration with neo-soul star Jill Scott on Sucia and the country-flavoured ballad Better Not. Kehlani’s career started as a teenager singing lead vocals for pop group PopLyfe who finished fourth in the sixth season of the TV show, America’s Got Talent in 2011.