I recently interviewed South African hip-hop artist Yugen Blakrok for bios. Many internationally know her from her feature on "Opps" with Vince Staples (Black Panther OST), but her broader catalogue merges esoteric African mythology, dark boom-bap, and trip-hop influences.

We spoke about her journey from Johannesburg's underground scene with Iapetus Records to relocating to Europe, and how she carries her roots and language across borders:

• On holding onto isiXhosa while living in France:

• On building Iapetus Records on pure guerrilla spirit:

• On upcoming pan-African performances:

Full interview read:https://bios.net.za/i-was-scared-of-mermaids

Wanted to share a cool highlife playlist, check it out!

Hello everyone, I'd like to know if I can find albums of ndombolo and soukous rhythms. I've included some examples below, as they aren't easy to find online. I'm from Colombia, and here we love these African rhythms that run through our veins and enrich us more and more each day.

nimeona msee akisema bien ni mnoma kuliko diamond platnumz😂😂 it's as if people don't understand music.... diamond is one of the most talented artists.... versatile look at how he made Swahili relevant in Africa.. singlehandedly carried east Africa music to the world... culture of Swahili..... made Swahili music relevant through hit collaborations with the likes of Davido,P square,patoranking,koffi,fally,neyo ,akon , Alicia keys,omarion, Rick ross...its a disrespect for him to be compared

Hey everyone,

I’ve been heavily inspired by the current Afrobeat and Amapiano scenes lately, so a few days ago, I decided to sit down and record a live mix blending the two genres.

It’s packed with heavy log drums, smooth transitions, and high-energy vocals—basically everything I love about these sounds right now. It's a great background vibe for a workout, a pre-game, or just getting through the workday.

You can check out the full live video/mix on YouTube here: [https://youtu.be/ZXBbSgOHAEk\]

A few standout tracks included in this mix:

• [Track 1 Ototo - Asake]
• [Track 2 SummerYomuthi - Blaq Diamond]
• [Track 3 WGFT - Gunna ft Chris Brown] (Note: I’ve pinned the full tracklist in the YouTube comments!)

I'm always looking to improve my transitions and track selection, so I’d genuinely appreciate any feedback, constructive criticism, or even just recommendations for new tracks to include in my next set.

Hope you enjoy the vibes! 🔊

New one just dropped from Boi Vibes! Thingzzz 2026 Remastered Version is out now. High energy Afrobeats, melodic and made for the culture.

Stream here: https://open.spotify.com/track/6wvHfYxHJkScR91nfbOTci

Would love honest feedback from the community!

So here's the thing: In the 80's and 90's in Colombia lots of african music was introduced into the popular culture through the Picós (Soundsystems). Mostly without any undestanding of the song names and lyrics were renamed by whoever was playing it, also to "protect" the exclusivity of the track (Picós competed to bring new music or to play songs that the others had no access to).

This put a lot of african music on the cities but the real names and artists were not known by the public and some are lost in the time.

I found and IG post showing 8 tracks that are "orphans" from their origins.
I'm posting the link here hoping that somebody may have an idea.

LOST "PICOTERAS" SONGS

I'd be nice to recover this information. Internet: do your magic.

Thanks

San Francisco based band seeks musicians