AfroBeat Playlist

Afrobeats is leaning hard into Amapiano right now. Producers are blending the two sounds, and Davido's "Gimme Dat Ting" with NO11 is an Amapiano-leaning cut with luxury and nightlife themes in its video. Mr Eazi's "Comfort" rides a bouncy rhythm with bubbly bass synths, which fits his Banku Music label's mix of Afrobeats, dancehall, hip-hop and R&B. The hooks that travel fastest on TikTok and Instagram Reels are street-pop chants and pidgin lines, and the biggest crossover tracks are edging into rap. Davido and FOLA's "2am in toronto" has become a late-night staple across the mixes that circulate this month.

This month the WorldWidePop playlist added nine videos. Three are new to the list: Mr Eazi's "Comfort", KIPILI's "RASTAFIRE" and KIPILI's "KUMA". The other six are throwbacks that have been on YouTube for years, including Olamide's "Wo!!", Olamide's "Science Student", L.A.X's "GWARA GWARA" and L.A.X's "OPEN AND CLOSE". The playlist was also expanded in a single merge with another playlist. The older tracks sitting beside the new ones show how much of this sound is built on a catalogue that people still return to.

Listeners are writing in from Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya, which matches the spread of the scene itself. Apple Music's October Africa Now mix reaches across Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda and Ghana, so watch whether the Amapiano-Afrobeats crossover keeps pulling those markets closer together.