While R&B has traditionally been characterized by its soulful melodies and themes of love and relationships, African artists are giving the genre a unique twist by infusing it with their own cultural and musical influences
Africa, the birthplace of rich culture, has served as an enduring muse for the global music industry. Despite the historical dominance of Afrobeats, Amapiano, Gengetone and others, in the African music landscape, an exciting transformation is unfolding as R&B undergoes a notable resurgence across the continent, with an average year on year growth of 133% on Spotify.
R&B in Africa is a testament to the adaptability and creativity of African musicians. .
Africa’s thirst for quality R&B is undeniable, with South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Zambia, and Uganda, registering top R&B listenership on Spotify. Even in francophone and lusophone markets like Côte d'Ivoire and Angola respectively, the presence of R&B is being felt across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Spotify has partnered with Colors X Studios for a n R&B writing camp in Nairobi. The writing camp, taking place in the first week of October, will bring together artists, songwriters and producers from across Africa and beyond, with Spotify’s flagship R&B playlist Tantalizers acting as the umbrella.
Kenya seems to be leading the charge in this resurgence, according to Spotify data over the last 90 days - the Tantalizers playlist gets most of its streams from the country, and R&B ranks in the top five genres in Kenya. Across SSA, The Weeknd, Chris Brown, SZA, Rihanna and Beyoncé are the artists who the Spotify R&B listeners cannot get enough of. Locally, artists like Kenya’s Xeniah Manasseh, Ghana’s Baaba J, South Africa’s Lloyiso and Nigeria’s Bloody Civillian have the people in their feels.
It is on the back of this sweeping growth that R&B collaborations between international icons and African artists are becoming more commonplace than they were only a decade ago.
Musicians across the continent are seamlessly blending soulful vocals with traditional African rhythms, Afrobeat grooves, and contemporary production techniques.
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