Afrobeats Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Burna Boy has announced that he’ll be heading out on a tour of North America this summer – get tickets here.Hitting the road in support of his forthcoming album ‘Love, Damini’, the Nigerian Afrobeats star has added a string of US and Canadian dates to his previously announced tour, which includes dates in Europe and the UK.Kicking off on July 17, Burna Boy’s North American tour leg will kick off in Bridgetown, Barbados. It will continue through the summer with stops in Chicago, Houston and more before the finale in Atlanta, GA on July 31.The tour announcement follows Burna Boy’s appearance at last weekend’s Billboard Music Awards, where he performed new single ‘Last Last’ and ‘Kilometre’, both taken from the forthcoming ‘Love Damini’,due for release on July 1.Tickets for Burna Boy’s North American tour go on sale Friday (May 20) at 12pm local time – get them here.

Burna Boy has shared new song, “Last Last.” The song samples Toni Braxton's 2000 single "He Wasn't Man Enough" and will appear on Burna Boy's forthcoming album Love, Damini. The album will be released on the Nigerian artist's 31st birthday with press materials confirming the precise time of 7p.m.

Davido has shared a new track titled "Stand Strong," the first single from his fourth studio album, due out later this year, title and release date TBA. It's an upbeat, inspirational jam about persevering in the face of adversity — a soundtrack for pushing past your quotidian troubles.

In addition to being the first Nigerian artist ever to headline Madison Square Garden, Burna Boy managed to sell out the April 28 concert. Perhaps that's not such a surprise after he won the Best Global Music Album award for 2021's Twice As Tall (2022 saw three nominations), but if you're one of the disappointed fans who didn't secure a ticket, Burna Boy will livestream the entire concert on YouTube.

Nigerian Afrobeats star Davido is heading to North America for a handful of tour dates. The “We Rise By Lifting Others” tour will stop in Brooklyn, Toronto, Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles this June.

Congotronics International will release their long-awaited debut LP Where's the One on April 29. Today, after sharing the album's first three offerings — "Banza Banza," "Beyond the 7th Bend," and the title cut — over the course of the past two months, they're premiering the album's fourth and fifth singles, "Mulume/Change" and “Bombo & Stifflets” with The FADER. Listen to the new songs, and read our interview with six of the international super group's 19 musicians and the project's curator Marc Hollander below.

Black Sherif, the 20-year-old Ghanaian artist that broke out last year with the first and second instalments in his "Sermon" freestyle series, has dropped a new single. "Kwaku The Traveller" finds Sherif in full grind mode but able to acknowledge the bumps in the road he encounters on his way to making the money in his sights.

Four albums and a full decade into his recording career, Wizkid produced a bona fide opus with 2020's Made In Lagos. The record landed on The FADER's 50 best albums list that year, and this past August, he released a deluxe edition featuring four new tracks.

Nigerian artist Rema has shared details of his upcoming debut album and shared a song taken from it. Rave & Roses is out on March 25 and includes "Calm Down," which can be streamed below.

Last September, Ghanaian-American singer/songwriter Amaarae shared a remix of her enchanting single "SAD GIRLZ LUV MONEY" that brought in Kali Uchis for a new verse. Today, she's sharing a futuristic Remi Laudat-directed video for the remix that features a cyberspace cameo from Moliy and men being tossed into a pool from a skyscraper.

Nigerian Afropop star WizKid has shared a video for "Mood," a collaboration with Buju from the deluxe edition of Made in Lagos. The video was directed by Kuukua Eshun, who also directed the Made in Lagos short film which provided visuals for three tracks from the album's deluxe ("Anoti," "Mood," and "Steady").

Rising Nigerian Afropop singer Ayra Starr has shared a video for "Beggie Beggie," a standout from 19 & Dangerous that features "Love Nwantiti" singer CKay. The Nollywood-inspired video was directed by Director K (Burna Boy, WizKid) and takes place at a house party.

Tomorrow, FKA twigs will share her first-ever mixtape CAPRISONGS. The tracklist contains some of the biggest collaborations of her career: names like The Weeknd, Daniel Caesar, and Jorja Smith dot the 17-track effort.

WizKid and Tems brought their summer smash "Essence" to late night on Tuesday. The Nigerian afropop artists stopped by The Tonight Show to perform their Grammy-nominated track.

Nigerian-born, London based artist Obongjayar has been steadily increasing his profile over the last year or so, sharing the EPs Which Way is Forward? and the Sarz collaboration Sweetness as well as appearing on songs with Little Simz and Take A Daytrip. He's currently preparing his debut album, and today we get "Message in a Hammer," the first single from the project.

Burna Boy and Polo G are two artists who, in spite of everything, have seen their careers grow exponentially over the course of the pandemic. Burna nabbed the 2021 Best Global Music Grammy for 2020's Twice As Tall (one of our favorite albums of the year) while Polo G secured his first No.

Rising singer Tems has shared her latest project If Orange Was A Place. The 5-song EP includes the previously-released single "Crazy Tings", an addictive Afro-fusion banger produced by GuiltyBeatz.

Ghanaian-American singer-songwriter Amaarae has shared a new version of her 2020 single “SAD GIRLZ LUV MONEY," this time alongside Kali Uchis. The perfect blend of Afro-pop with a new, bilingual twist, the track serves as Amaraae's first solo release since her debut album THE ANGEL YOU DON’T KNOW dropped back in 2020.

Rising Nigerian star Tems has shared her latest single, "Crazy Tings." Set to appear on her upcoming EP, the Guilty Beatz-produced track is a shot of breezy Afro-fusion, finding the singer crooning about a failed potential love in her signature rasp.

Burna Boy shared the video for his latest single "Question" on Tuesday, also featuring Nigerian producer Don Jazzy. Serving as the follow-up to "Kilometre," which dropped back in April, the mellow track combines guitars, synths, and bouncing percussion with Burna's smooth delivery.

You might have seen a viral tweet doing the rounds this week suggesting that Justin Bieber has a future making afrobeats music. Today that idea moved one step closer to reality with Bieber joining Wizkid and Tems on the remix of their hit “Essence.” Check out the new version of the track below.

Rising Nigerian pop star Omah Lay shared the cinematic visuals for his latest single "Understand" on Friday. The single marks his first release of 2021.

Burna Boy and Wizkid will headline a brand new afrobeats and dancehall music festival, Lost In Riddim, later this year. Taking place October 2-3 in Sacramento, CA, the festival will also feature Tems, Rotimi, Mr Eazi, Tiwa Savage, Shenseea, Koffee, and more.

Last year, Nigerian pop mainstay Skales shared an EP called Healing Process, seven tracks that balanced the flexing-focused tracks ("Badman Love," "Loko") with passionate displays of vulnerability ("Done To Me," "On Your Side"). His new single "This Your Body," a collaboration with Davido, falls in the middle: an ode to the prospect of a hookup, "This Your Body" glows with the excitement some impending, long-awaited romantic companionship.

Burna Boy has spent 2020 promoting his Grammy-winning 2020 album Twice As Tall as well as featuring on new tracks from WizKid and Headie One, but today he's returning with his first solo single of the year, "Kilometre." Given his successes over the past 12 months, it's not too surprising that Burna is in a celebratory mood on his new track, another rich fusion of dancehall, reggae, and Afrobeats that's best experienced blasted at the loudest volume in the largest penthouse suite.

Lagos-based Boj begins his "Emotions" video by paraphrasing Jay Z and stating that, he too, has 99 problems. However, Boj's issues are all romance-related and he's largely to blame for the sticky situation he's found himself in.

There's a lot of talent on "Dimension," the new song from JAE5. There's the East London producer himself, whose Afrobeats-inspired hip-hop sonics help catapult London's J Hus to stardom (and onto the cover of The FADER).

Rema has dropped new song “Bounce.” The song is Rema's first release of 2021 and was produced by Don Jazzy, the head of Mavin Records. Rema signed to Mavin in 2019.

Still riding high off the release of his newest record A Better Time which dropped back in November, Davido has unveiled a video for the LP's newest single, "The Best." The impressive, Dammy Twitch-directed clip has him and guest vocalist Mayorkun paying homage to The Karate Kid, with Davido as Mr. Miyagi.

Nigerian star WizKid shared the video for his latest single, the Burna Boy-assisted "Ginger," on Friday. The track serves as the third single from WizKid's Made In Lagos, following "Smile" and "No Stress." The bouncy track plays out like an ode to women, with WizKid and Burna Boy trading their smooth delivery across its verses and hook.