The top 20 songs across all genres
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BCUC – ‘Yinde’
BCUC send, receive and transcend a message through our consciousness with ‘Yinde’. Our journey is a long journey, but their ability to cross-pollinate varying traditional influences gives a contemporary voice to ancestral heritage shortening the journey to our truth. Afro-psychedelic.
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Opposite The Other – ‘Stutter Love’
Opposite The Other has only been together just over a year and ‘Stutter Love’ catapulted the band into new heights, having been a regular listen across commercial and varsity radio. ‘Stutter Love’ suggests an early capacity to create with the fervour of alternative pop icons like Bastille and Coldplay. International.
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Bateleur – ‘Mendota Sky’
Bateleur came back together one last time to give us a gift. The gift at hand was their self-titled debut album. The 11-minute ‘Mendota Sky’ was one of the gifts within the gift oscillating through a multitude of textures and emotion driven but not limited by math-rock, nu jazz and post-rock. Cinematic.
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Da Capo – ‘Speed Of Sound’ featuring Tresor
Tresor had a colossal 2016 and having him add his distinctive vocals to Da Capo’s somewhat tropical house production was a touch of genius. Summer.
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LOBEL – ‘Bury Me’
Who is LOBEL? Has anyone seen him or her in the same room as Aphex Twin or Four Tet? ‘Bury Me’ is an emotive and experimental journey through a sound which is difficult to pin to any specific genre. Eclectic electronica.
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Josh Kempen – ‘The River’
The mark of a great songwriter lies not in their ability to fill space with sound, but rather, their ability to fill sound with space. With his first single released through Warner Music, Josh Kempen keeps it simple while still keeping your interest piqued in the story of this girl. Musically mystique.
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SOL GEMS – ‘Over The Shoulder’
SOL GEMS are a gem of the neo-psychedelic revival. A psych wave has swept throughout the globe and the three-piece are in the belly of the lion, acknowledging where the swell originated and crafting it path into contemporary waters. Psychedelic sungaze.
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The Tazers – ‘Shake It’
‘Shake It’ is no departure from what we’ve come to know The Tazers for, it is an arrival to what we haven’t known they were capable of. The fuzzy track 70’s influenced bender refines all that we love about The Tazers into what is the most exuberant track yet. Electrifying.
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Wandile Mbambeni – ‘Lovers Like You’
Armed with an acoustic guitar, a soothing voice and an ability to write universal stories, Wandile Mbambeni is set to reach new heights with his brand of afrosoul. ‘Lovers Like You’ sees the singer/songwriter fondly reminiscing on a lost love. Soulful.
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Amy Ayanda – ‘Jessica’
Amy Ayanda is a multi-medium who is also a graduate of the Michaelis School of Fine Art. ‘Jessica’ is the first concrete suggestion that her entry into the expressive medium of music will have yields as textured, focused and emotive as her fine art. Marvel.
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Buli – ‘She’s Not Into Horoscopes’ featuring LEEU
LEEU’s involvement on ‘She’s Not Into Horoscopes’ gave us what was the most upbeat track of Buli’s debut LP, Feels. The exotic percussive accents give the track an entirely different feel than the rest of the album. Real Feels.
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Original Swimming Party – ‘Skin Upon Skin’
We contributed to the groups crowdfunding campaign on the back of this very single. OSP is far removed from from the early outputs of Jeremy De Tolly in The Dirty Skirts with ‘Skin Upon Skin’ entrancing listeners into a vertigo propelled by intricate African rhythms. Dreamlike drone.
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DJ Speedsta – ‘Mayo’ featuring Yung Swiss, Tellaman, Shane Eagle and Frank Casino
We’re seeing more and more local DJs team up with rap artists to lend their music a voice and DJ Speedsta’s ‘Mayo’ was undoubtedly the best product of this very formula. The best thing about the track was that it didn’t rely on any big name using only the fuel, hunger and passion of rising rappers to infiltrate the airwaves.
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AKA – ‘The World Is Yours’
In a hip-hop scene saturated with countless interpretations (sometimes duplications) of trap, AKA went the opposite direction down a one-way road. Largely sampling a Boom Clap Bachelors track, ‘The World Is Yours’ see transitioning further into pop territory without losing any edge.
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Kwesta – ‘N’gud’ featuring Cassper Nyovest
‘Mayibabo’ was another great track off Kwesta’s Dakar II, but ‘N’gud’ was the most played track throughout South Africa making it the summer anthem. Musically there is nothing quite like N’gud across all genres (nevermind rap) and DJ Maphorisa kwaito-influenced production was key in the success of the track.
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Rouge – ‘Mbongo Zaka’ featuring Moozlie
Rouge tag teamed with Moozlie to weave dope bars within a Tweezy production asserting a dominance largely unmatched in the boys club. Rouge is doing things independently on her own terms without management or publishing and this war-cry suggests the Mbongo Zaka is bound to arrive sooner rather than later. Queens reign supreme.
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Nasty C – ‘Don’t Do It’ featuring Tellaman
Perhaps the biggest indication of a changing of the guards in the hip-hop scene was the release of Nasty C’s record-breaking debut album, Bad Hair. The entire album is filled with displays of the youngsters lyrical prowess and his production ability. ‘Don’t Do It’ see’s him rapping and producing with R&B vocal assistance from Tellaman.
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Priddy Ugly – ‘Come To My Kasi’ featuring Youngsta
Priddy Ugly and Youngsta came together being two artists who commercial radio mostly ignored due to their style of music no fitting into the established mould of commercial radio. With the laid-back ghostly delivery of Priddy Ugly and the Kaapstad tenacity of Youngsta, the two invite you to their kasi.
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MISSU – ‘Sunday’ feat JONN
MISSU came onto our radar following the December release of the trippy tumblr-esque video for ‘Sunday’ featuring JONN. Sonically and visually, ‘Sunday’ is a restless vaporwave masterpiece drawing us into an unimaginable but all too familiar world. It’s great to hear JONNs nonchalant bars over a beat again.
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OKZharp & Manthe Ribane – ‘B U’
In the digital age where information is easily transmitted and shared, duplication has become an problem where ideas, styles, and thoughts are copied without any authenticity. In this collaboration between producer, OKZharp and performer, Manthe Ribane; the two encourage you to be you. Both have carved unique and authentic lanes in their respective crafts which makes the sparse ‘B U’ all the more compelling.
