2019 in African music

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The following is a list of events and releases that have happened or are expected to happen in 2019 in African music.

Events

9 January - Nigerian singers Simi and Adekunle Gold marry in a private ceremony.^[1]
15 April
- Winners of the AfriMusic Song Contest 2019 are announced:^[2]
  - Best English Lyrics:^[3]^[4]^[5] Siboat (Ghana) – "Always and Forever"
  - Best French Lyrics:^[6]^[7] Joahn Lover (Cameroon) – "Game Over"
  - Best African Language Song:^[8] Nonzwakazi (South Africa) – "Phakama Mbokodo"
- Abdullah Ibrahim is one of four recipients of the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowships celebrated in a concert at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.^[9]^[10]
3 May - Naira Marley is arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Nigeria.^[11]
24 June - Burna Boy wins "Best International Act" at the BET Awards 2019.^[12]
18 September - After rumours of the death of Majek Fashek are dispelled by his manager, who confirms that Fashek has esophageal cancer and has been hospitalized at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, London, UK, philanthropist Femi Otedola pledges to cover all the singer's medical expenses.^[13] Fashek would die the following summer.
19 October - Nigerian singer Teni wins the "Best Pop Single" award at The Headies 2019, for "Case".^[14]
23 November - Joeboy wins the "Best Artiste in African Pop" award at the All Africa Music Awards.^[15]
3 December - Kabza De Small is named by Spotify as the most-streamed South African artist of 2019.^[16]

Albums released in 2019

Release date	Artist	Album	Genre	Label	Ref
January 15	Falz	Moral Instruction	Hip-hop, Afrobeats	Bahd Guys Records	^[17]
January 31	Sauti Sol	Afrikan Sauce	Afro-pop, R&B	Sauti Sol Entertainment	^[18]
April 5	Sarahmée	Irréversible	Rap, Afropop	Ste=4 Musique	^[19]
April 19	Simi	Omo Charlie Champagne, Vol. 1	Afro-fusion, Afro-soul, R&B	X3M Music	^[20]
May 3	Myrath	Shehili	Progressive metal, oriental metal, Arabic music	earMUSIC	^[21]
May 24	Patoranking	Wilmer	Reggae, dancehall	Amari Musiq, Empire	^[22]
July 26	Burna Boy	African Giant	Afro-fusion, Afrobeat, dancehall, pop, hip hop	Spaceship, Bad Habit, Atlantic, Warner Music	^[23]
July 26	Hope Masike	The Exorcism of a Spinster	Afro-pop, Jazz	Riverboat Records/ World Music Network	^[24]
August 5	A.A.A	A.A.A (EP)	Folk, psychedelic rock	Indie	^[25]
August 23	Jidenna	85 to Africa	Afrobeats, hip hop	Epic	^[26]
August 30	Yemi Alade	Woman of Steel	Afrobeats, R&B, highlife	Effyzzie Music Group, Universal	^[27]
September 4	Phyno	Deal with It	Hip-hop, Igbo rap	Penthauze	^[28]
October 1	Invisible System	Dance to the Full Moon	Traditional, blues, electronic, fusion	ARC Music	^[29]
October 11	Aṣa	Lucid	Soul, folk, jazz	Chapter Two Records, Wagram Music	^[30]
November 1	Zlatan	Zanku	Afrobeats	Indie	^[31]
November 8	Ycee	Ycee vs Zaheer	Hip-hop, trap, Afrobeats, Afro-house, R&B, alte	ANBT, Mad Solutions	^[32]
November 22	Davido	A Good Time	Afropop	DMW; RCA; Sony	^[33]
November 29	DJ Maphorisa & Kabza De Small	The Return of Scorpion Kings	amapiano	Sony Music, Piano Hub & New Money Gang	^[34]
November 29	Fireboy DML	Laughter, Tears and Goosebumps	Afro-Life, R&B	YBNL Nation	^[35]
December 6	Starboy	Soundman Vol. 1 (EP)	Afrobeats, reggae, R&B	Starboy Entertainment	^[36]
December 13	Staff Benda Bilili	Effacer Le Tableau	Soukous, R&B, reggae	Wagram	^[29]

Classical

Robert Fokkens - Duo for violin and cello^[37]
Clare Loveday - What Gives for violin and piano^[38]

Musical films and film music

Atlantics, with score by Fatima Al Qadiri^[39]

Births

October 2 - Diamond Platnumz and his partner Tanasha Donna have their first child, Naseeb Jr.

Deaths

January 5 - Dan Tshanda, 54, South African singer and guitarist of Splash; (heart attack)^[40]
January 7 - John Joubert, 91, South African-born composer^[41]
January 23 – Oliver Mtukudzi, 66, Zimbabwe musician
February 8 - Sali Sidibé [es], 59, Malian composer and singer^[42]
March 13 - Joseph Hanson Kwabena Nketia, 97, Ghanaian ethnomusicologist and composer^[43]
March 30 – Simaro Lutumba, 81, Congolese musician (TPOK Jazz)^[44]
June 2 – Piet Botha, 63, South African rock musician (pancreatic cancer)^[45]
July 16 - Johnny Clegg, 66, South African musician (pancreatic cancer)^[46]
August 5 – Jimi Hope, 62, Togolese musician and painter.^[47]
August 12 – DJ Arafat, 33, Ivorian disc jockey and musician, traffic collision.^[48]
October 4 – Elias Melka, 41, Ethiopian record producer and songwriter^[49]
November 9 – Taiwo Lijadu, 71, Nigerian singer (Lijadu Sisters)^[50]
December 3 – Shaaban Abdel Rahim, 62, Egyptian shaabi singer^[51]

References

^ Olivia Kabir. "Simi and Adekunle Gold's wedding: how it was". legit.ng. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
^ "AfriMusic Song Contest". AfriMusic Song Contest Official Website. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
^ "Winner of AfriMusic Song Contest Best English Lyrics Award". facebook.com. ESCKAZ.com / ESCCovers.com / Euroforum / Eurovision South Africa. 10 April 2019.
^ "As in 2018, there will be several special awards presented to the participants of the AfriMusic Song Contest". facebook.com. ESCKAZ.com / ESCCovers.com / Euroforum / Eurovision South Africa. 9 April 2019.
^ "A thank you message from Siboat". facebook.com. AfriMusic Song Contest Official Page. 10 April 2019.
^ "We have received the following message from the singer from Cameroon, Joahn Lover". facebook.com. Eurovision-fr.net. 11 April 2019.
^ "A thank you message from Joahn Lover". facebook.com. AfriMusic Song Contest Official Page. 12 April 2019.
^ "A thank you message from Nonzwakazi". facebook.com. AfriMusic Song Contest Official Page. 11 April 2019.
^ "National Endowment for the Arts Announces Newest Recipients of Nation’s Highest Honor in Jazz" Archived 2020-05-23 at the Wayback Machine, National Endowment for the Arts, News, 11 July 2018.
^ Chinen, Nate, "Meet The NEA's 2019 Jazz Masters: Dorough, Ibrahim, Schneider And Crouch", NPR Music, 11 July 2018.
^ Alake, Motolani (3 May 2019). "Naira Marley and Zlatan look to benefit from controversy with 'Am I A Yahoo Boy?'". Pulse NG. Archived from the original on 12 January 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
^ "Burna Boy wins Best International Act at 2019 BET awards". Oak Tv. 24 June 2019. Archived from the original on 24 June 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
^ Augoye, Jayne (18 September 2019). "Femi Otedola foots Majek Fashek's hospital bills – Premium Times Nigeria". Retrieved 26 September 2019.
^ "Full list of winners at Headies 2019". The Nation Newspapers. 21 October 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
^ Gbenga Bada (24 November 2019). "Headies 2019: Here are all the winners at the 13th edition of music award". Pulse Nigeria.
^ "Kabza De Small is 2019's Most Streamed South African Artist on Spotify by SA Audiences". OkayAfrica.
^ Orji Sunday (17 January 2019). "Falz: The Nigerian rapper rebelling through music". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
^ "Listen to Sauti Sol's New Album 'Afrikan Sauce'". OkayAfrica. January 31, 2019. Archived from the original on 25 December 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
^ Olivier Boisvert-Magnen (8 September 2020). "Sarahmée: Welcome to her Life". Words and Music. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
^ Kam Tambini (April 19, 2019). "Listen to Simi's New Album 'Omo Charlie Champagne Vol.1'". OkayAfrica. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
^ "Myrath – Announce New Album "SHEHILI" Out 3rd May 2019". planetmosh.com. February 17, 2019. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
^ Motolani Alake (May 27, 2019). "ALBUM REVIEW: 'Wilmer' is an evolving Patoranking let down by obvious weaknesses". Pulse Nigeria. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
^ Motolani Alake (July 26, 2019). "Burna Boy releases his album, 'African Giant'". Pulse Nigeria. Archived from the original on August 22, 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
^ Majange, Kimberley (26 July 2019). "Masike to launch third album". H-Metro. Archived from the original on 2019-12-25. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
^ Notiki Bello (August 8, 2019). "Brymo Teams up with Skata Vibration on new "A.A.A" EP". Filter Free Nigeria. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
^ "85 to Africa [Explicit] by Jidenna". Amazon Music. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
^ Damola Durosomo (August 30, 2019). "Yemi Alade's Journey to Becoming a 'Woman of Steel'". OkayAfrica. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
^ Motolani Alake (September 9, 2019). "'Deal With It' is a good listen betrayed by length and Phyno's repetition [Album Review]". Pulse Nigeria. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
^ ^a ^b "New African Music". African Music Guide. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
^ Motolani Alake (October 16, 2019). "Asa's 'Lucid' is familiar, yet worth the wait [Pulse Review]". Pulse Nigeria. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
^ Motolani Alake (November 4, 2019). "Zlatan's debut album, 'ZANKU' suffers from lack of vision and terrible A&R [Album Review]". Pulse Nigeria. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
^ Debola Abimbolu (November 8, 2019). "ESSENTIALS: YCEE IS MORE ASSERTIVE THAN EVER ON 'YCEE VS ZAHEER'". Native. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
^ Tomiwa (October 25, 2019). "ALBUM: Davido – "A Good Time" (Pre-Order)". TooXclusive. Archived from the original on 16 November 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
^ "The Return of the Scorpion Kings by Kabza De Small x DJ Maphorisa". Apple Music.
^ Motolani Alake (December 1, 2019). "'Laughter, Tears and Goosebumps' is a commendable debut by Fireboy". Pulse Nigeria. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
^ "Nigeria: Wizkid Delights With 'Soundman Vol. 1']". All Africa. December 14, 2019. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
^ "Rob Fokkens Duo Work Premiere at Penarth Chamber Music Festival". C E Club. 1 June 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
^ "Clare Loveday - Compositions". Clare Loveday. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
^ "Fatima Al Qadiri scores Cannes Grand Prix-winning film Atlantics". RA News. 9 October 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
^ Music legend Dan Tshanda certified dead at Sandton hospital
^ John Joubert (1927-2019)
^ Mali: l’artiste chanteuse, Sali Sidibé, décédée!^{[permanent dead link]} (in French)
^ "Ghanaian composer Prof. Kwabena Nketia is dead". www.ghanaweb.com. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
^ Legendary Congolese musician dies in Paris
^ Local Rockstar Piet Botha dies
^ "Johnny Clegg, South African musician and activist, dies aged 66". BBC. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
^ Décès de l'artiste togolais Jimi Hope (in French)
^ DJ Arafat: Top Ivory Coast singer dies in road accident
^ "Elias Melka: Great Music loses of 2012". Awtar Music. Awtar Music. Sep 10, 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
^ "Taiwo Lijadu dies at 71". The Nation. Archived from the original on 10 November 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
^ "Shaaban Abdel Rahim Passes Away at 62". Sada El balad. 3 December 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-12-03. Retrieved 4 December 2019.

[1] Olivia Kabir. "Simi and Adekunle Gold's wedding: how it was". legit.ng. Retrieved 16 January 2021.

[Site-2] "AfriMusic Song Contest". AfriMusic Song Contest Official Website. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2019.

[3] "Winner of AfriMusic Song Contest Best English Lyrics Award". facebook.com. ESCKAZ.com / ESCCovers.com / Euroforum / Eurovision South Africa. 10 April 2019.

[4] "As in 2018, there will be several special awards presented to the participants of the AfriMusic Song Contest". facebook.com. ESCKAZ.com / ESCCovers.com / Euroforum / Eurovision South Africa. 9 April 2019.

[5] "A thank you message from Siboat". facebook.com. AfriMusic Song Contest Official Page. 10 April 2019.

[6] "We have received the following message from the singer from Cameroon, Joahn Lover". facebook.com. Eurovision-fr.net. 11 April 2019.

[7] "A thank you message from Joahn Lover". facebook.com. AfriMusic Song Contest Official Page. 12 April 2019.

[8] "A thank you message from Nonzwakazi". facebook.com. AfriMusic Song Contest Official Page. 11 April 2019.

[9] "National Endowment for the Arts Announces Newest Recipients of Nation’s Highest Honor in Jazz" Archived 2020-05-23 at the Wayback Machine, National Endowment for the Arts, News, 11 July 2018.

[10] Chinen, Nate, "Meet The NEA's 2019 Jazz Masters: Dorough, Ibrahim, Schneider And Crouch", NPR Music, 11 July 2018.

[11] Alake, Motolani (3 May 2019). "Naira Marley and Zlatan look to benefit from controversy with 'Am I A Yahoo Boy?'". Pulse NG. Archived from the original on 12 January 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2020.

[12] "Burna Boy wins Best International Act at 2019 BET awards". Oak Tv. 24 June 2019. Archived from the original on 24 June 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2019.

[13] Augoye, Jayne (18 September 2019). "Femi Otedola foots Majek Fashek's hospital bills – Premium Times Nigeria". Retrieved 26 September 2019.

[14] "Full list of winners at Headies 2019". The Nation Newspapers. 21 October 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.

[15] Gbenga Bada (24 November 2019). "Headies 2019: Here are all the winners at the 13th edition of music award". Pulse Nigeria.

[16] "Kabza De Small is 2019's Most Streamed South African Artist on Spotify by SA Audiences". OkayAfrica.

[17] Orji Sunday (17 January 2019). "Falz: The Nigerian rapper rebelling through music". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 23 January 2019.

[18] "Listen to Sauti Sol's New Album 'Afrikan Sauce'". OkayAfrica. January 31, 2019. Archived from the original on 25 December 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.

[19] Olivier Boisvert-Magnen (8 September 2020). "Sarahmée: Welcome to her Life". Words and Music. Retrieved 20 January 2022.

[20] Kam Tambini (April 19, 2019). "Listen to Simi's New Album 'Omo Charlie Champagne Vol.1'". OkayAfrica. Retrieved 19 April 2019.

[21] "Myrath – Announce New Album "SHEHILI" Out 3rd May 2019". planetmosh.com. February 17, 2019. Retrieved February 18, 2019.

[22] Motolani Alake (May 27, 2019). "ALBUM REVIEW: 'Wilmer' is an evolving Patoranking let down by obvious weaknesses". Pulse Nigeria. Retrieved 9 March 2020.

[23] Motolani Alake (July 26, 2019). "Burna Boy releases his album, 'African Giant'". Pulse Nigeria. Archived from the original on August 22, 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2019.

[24] Majange, Kimberley (26 July 2019). "Masike to launch third album". H-Metro. Archived from the original on 2019-12-25. Retrieved 2019-11-22.

[25] Notiki Bello (August 8, 2019). "Brymo Teams up with Skata Vibration on new "A.A.A" EP". Filter Free Nigeria. Retrieved 25 January 2020.

[26] "85 to Africa [Explicit] by Jidenna". Amazon Music. Retrieved December 16, 2019.

[27] Damola Durosomo (August 30, 2019). "Yemi Alade's Journey to Becoming a 'Woman of Steel'". OkayAfrica. Retrieved 9 March 2020.

[28] Motolani Alake (September 9, 2019). "'Deal With It' is a good listen betrayed by length and Phyno's repetition [Album Review]". Pulse Nigeria. Retrieved 9 March 2020.

[NAM-29] "New African Music". African Music Guide. Retrieved 13 February 2020.

[30] Motolani Alake (October 16, 2019). "Asa's 'Lucid' is familiar, yet worth the wait [Pulse Review]". Pulse Nigeria. Retrieved 9 March 2020.

[31] Motolani Alake (November 4, 2019). "Zlatan's debut album, 'ZANKU' suffers from lack of vision and terrible A&R [Album Review]". Pulse Nigeria. Retrieved 9 March 2020.

[32] Debola Abimbolu (November 8, 2019). "ESSENTIALS: YCEE IS MORE ASSERTIVE THAN EVER ON 'YCEE VS ZAHEER'". Native. Retrieved 9 March 2020.

[33] Tomiwa (October 25, 2019). "ALBUM: Davido – "A Good Time" (Pre-Order)". TooXclusive. Archived from the original on 16 November 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.

[34] "The Return of the Scorpion Kings by Kabza De Small x DJ Maphorisa". Apple Music.

[35] Motolani Alake (December 1, 2019). "'Laughter, Tears and Goosebumps' is a commendable debut by Fireboy". Pulse Nigeria. Retrieved 9 February 2020.

[36] "Nigeria: Wizkid Delights With 'Soundman Vol. 1']". All Africa. December 14, 2019. Retrieved February 3, 2020.

[37] "Rob Fokkens Duo Work Premiere at Penarth Chamber Music Festival". C E Club. 1 June 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2021.

[38] "Clare Loveday - Compositions". Clare Loveday. Retrieved 13 February 2020.

[39] "Fatima Al Qadiri scores Cannes Grand Prix-winning film Atlantics". RA News. 9 October 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2020.

[40] Music legend Dan Tshanda certified dead at Sandton hospital

[41] John Joubert (1927-2019)

[42] Mali: l’artiste chanteuse, Sali Sidibé, décédée!^{[permanent dead link]} (in French)

[43] "Ghanaian composer Prof. Kwabena Nketia is dead". www.ghanaweb.com. Retrieved 2019-03-13.

[44] Legendary Congolese musician dies in Paris

[45] Local Rockstar Piet Botha dies

[46] "Johnny Clegg, South African musician and activist, dies aged 66". BBC. Retrieved 14 February 2020.

[47] Décès de l'artiste togolais Jimi Hope (in French)

[48] DJ Arafat: Top Ivory Coast singer dies in road accident

[49] "Elias Melka: Great Music loses of 2012". Awtar Music. Awtar Music. Sep 10, 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2020.

[50] "Taiwo Lijadu dies at 71". The Nation. Archived from the original on 10 November 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2019.

[51] "Shaaban Abdel Rahim Passes Away at 62". Sada El balad. 3 December 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-12-03. Retrieved 4 December 2019.

[1]

Events

Albums released in 2019

Classical

Musical films and film music

Births

Deaths

See also

References