The Afrobeats conversation this week starts with two albums. Fireboy DML's 'Zuko' and Blaqbonez's 'Nomadinho', from his '4th Prime' project, led the review discussion on the latest Afrobeats Weekly round-up, as both artists push their sounds in more personal directions.
The breakout single of the week is Solana's 'O rí mi', produced by Killertunes. Played first for an intimate audience in Johannesburg, the record taps the bright, shimmering sonics of the 1980s wave that powered Solana's breakout 'Okunkun', and OkayAfrica's critics singled out its melody and vocal run in their best-new-African-music list — where Darque's 'Ke Mang', featuring South Africa's Zee Nxumalo, also earned a place.
New Music Friday added more fuel: a 'Slick' remix bringing in Don Toliver and Summer Walker, and Pheelz's 'Cash Rules Everything Around Us', kept the week's release pipeline full alongside the album drops.
On the charts side of the ledger, South Africa's streaming lists remain dominated by amapiano and local sounds — a reminder that the week's trending songs story is now written as much in Johannesburg as in Lagos.
