This year saw African Hip-Hop make significant strides to becoming more a cultural success and a commercial one, sparking the notion that the time has come to start associating the genre with high art and the height of musical sophistication in the continent.
By Frank Njugi
In 2023, Hip-Hop, as a component of popular music, celebrated 50 years since the genre was brought to life by Jamaican-American DJ Kool Herc on 11th August 1973. The genre was created as a force by oppressed African American communities—serving as a form of cultural expression that, in an independent and autonomous way, responded to the hostilities they faced.
Rolling Stone, in their 2024 piece on the evolving themes in Contemporary Rap 50 years on, described this as, in many ways, radical, if not fully revolutionary.
Over the course of its 50-year existence, Hip-Hop has grown from a cultural movement rooted in African American communities in the Bronx to a global phenomenon, with its messages of self-expression, resilience, and social justice resonating with audiences worldwide.
This includes Africa, where local artistes have infused the genre with regional influences, creating a powerful cross-cultural connection.
Determining the age of African Hip-Hop presents its own challenges. As a genre not indigenous to the continent, its evolution is deeply intertwined with global influences. The unique local adaptations that have emerged over time make its origins and timeline less straightforward to pinpoint.
For this reason, Africans joined in celebrating 50 years of Hip-Hop, acknowledging its origins in the United States and adopting 1973 as the birth year of their own Hip-Hop, aligning with the genre’s inception in the Bronx.
So, in 2024, Hip-Hop turned 51 years old. As the year comes to a close, it is only right to acknowledge the groundbreaking releases from established artistes, alongside the surge of emerging talent, which further solidified the genre’s influence and innovation across the continent.
The most impressive African Hip-Hop release this year came from Nigerian rapper, Gilbert Bani, popularly known as A-Q. An artiste who combines pristine Rap craftsmanship with an actor-playwright’s instinct for theatricality in his videos and a filmmaker’s directorial precision in his overall creative direction, A-Q released a surprise album, Purple Doesn’t Exist, in August. The ten-track album stood as a masterpiece, showcasing his lyrical genius.
Purple Doesn’t Exist excelled in its quality of delivery—a skill A-Q has seemingly mastered. It also highlighted his profound creativity, as he derived the album’s title and theme from the scientific fact that purple is not a colour in the traditional sense, as no beam of pure light appears purple.
This concept cemented the project as a testament to an emcee staking his claim not only as a skilled rapper but also as a formidable force in the continent’s Rap scene.
On the other side of the continent, the southeastern landlocked country of Malawi continued to uphold its reputation as a hotbed of Christian Rap. Since the 2010s, Malawi has established itself as a global hub for the genre, becoming one of the largest consumers of Christian Rap worldwide.
Malawian rappers and artistes continued the tradition of blending faith-based messages with Rap rhythms and lyricism, ensuring that Christian Rap retained its prominence in both religious and mainstream music scenes in the country.
Notably, Rapzilla Christian Hip-Hop Awards-winning artiste, Suffix, released an album titled Tailora. The project firmly upheld the genre as the country’s primary musical focus, even amid the rising wave of new acts exploring Afro-pop styles, such as the fast-rising Onesimus.
The Rap scene in Malawi’s northern neighbour, Tanzania, also enjoyed a remarkable year. Bongo Rap experienced a surge in regional recognition, further solidifying its position as a cultural cornerstone of Bongo Flava.
This success was largely driven by Young Lunya, whose feature in the 2024 Hennessy Cypher by Hennessy Nigeria and the release of his album, Mbuzi, marked a meteoric rise. These achievements firmly established Bongo Rap as a significant part of Africa’s contemporary music scene.
Young Lunya has distinguished himself as a prolific Swahili storyteller, and the storytelling prowess displayed in Mbuzi carries a profoundness that feels almost supernatural, as though his voice channels something beyond the physical realm.
In Rwanda, Bushali achieved with his album, FullMoon, what Young Lunya accomplished with Mbuzi. FullMoon was a Kinyatrap album in which Bushali blended Trap-inflected beats with powerful, conscious lyrics delivered in Rwanda’s native languages, creating a unique fusion of contemporary Hip-Hop’s urban sound and Rwanda’s cultural heritage.
Together, Young Lunya and Bushali ensured that East Africa remained a prominent fixture in the regional conversation about Rap talent.
Perhaps the outlier in East African Rap was the Kenyan scene. After an incredible run in 2022 and 2023, this year saw a noticeable decline as momentum waned. The lack of significant projects released slightly dampened the previous optimism surrounding the country’s Rap landscape.
This year, the chart-topping Wakadinali did not release a project but instead focused on promoting artistes within their collective, Rong Rende, such as Skillo. Skillo’s album, The Rong Don 2, hinted at brilliance with its intriguing concepts and moments of potential in its sonic production but ultimately fell short of fully realising its promise.
Even an album from Octopizzo, one of Kenya’s most revered Rap artistes, titled Kich Ka’ Liech, missed the mark. While the project featured sampled beats as its sole redeeming feature, the simplistic, nursery-level lyrics failed to elevate the overall listening experience.
In contrast, Rap in southern Africa remained as vibrant as ever. Artistes continued to showcase evolution and experimentation, while fresh talent brought new energy, sustaining the dynamic pulse of the region’s Hip-Hop scene.
In Zambia, the most notable act was perhaps Dizmo. His album Umuntu Mutwe embodied his vocal authenticity, with Dizmo using a distinctive lyrical style that is unmistakably his own. His songs capture a raw, unfiltered essence that sets him apart.
In South Africa, two of the country’s top Rap artistes, Emtee and Nasty C, released projects in the last quarter of the year. Emtee’s album DIY 2 marked his return with a fresh sound. DIY 2 was a melodic Rap album that blended catchy hooks with introspective lyrics.
Nasty C teamed up with Lekaa Beats for the collaborative album Confuse The Enemy (Reloaded), a project that some may view as him taking a daring leap, experimenting with sounds that depart from his familiar style. This shift sparked debate among fans and critics alike, with some praising the innovation, while others lamented the departure from the signature sound that made him a standout artiste.
These releases, along with the South’s collective output in terms of Hip-Hop music, mirrored the broader industry’s vibrancy, reinforcing that African Rap in 2024 is firmly integrated into Africa’s music industry.
From A-Q, who eloquently captured the forbearance of experience, to Bushali and Young Lunya, who proudly embodied the essence of their countries by channeling their unique cultural roots, and Dizmo, marked by his distinct and authentic delivery style, African Hip-Hop in 2024 found life in the hands of tremendously talented artistes.
This ensured that 2024 was the year African Hip-Hop made significant strides towards becoming not only a cultural success but also a commercial one, sparking the notion that the time has come to associate the genre with high art and the height of musical sophistication on the continent.
Frank Njugi is a Kenyan Writer, Culture journalist and Critic who has written on the East African and African culture scene for platforms such as Debunk Media, Republic Journal, Sinema Focus, Culture Africa, Drummr Africa, The Elephant, Wakilisha Africa, The Moveee, Africa in Dialogue, Afrocritik and others. He tweets as @franknjugi.