African musicians who impressed in 2018 – part 2

West Africa

Aya Nakamura (France/Mali)

French-Malian singer Aya Nakamura makes most of the other African names we have already mentioned look like part-time musicians. In April, she released 'Djadja', a song that made the music charts across Europe, earning the singer No 1s in France, the Netherlands and Romania. The song went platinum in Belgium, diamond in France and gold in Switzerland. 'Djadja', which is off the 13-track album of the same name released in November, also has amassed more than 270 million YouTube views and the song appeared on Apple’s A-list of African music. Another single, ‘Copines’, also off the Djadja album, is currently sitting on 113 million views.

Davido (Nigeria)

Davido’s biggest success this year was coming out tops in the Best International Act category at the BET Awards in LA. The video for ‘Nwa Baby’, released in August and included on Apple’s A-list of African music, has done famously on YouTube with more than 4 million views. Davido also made the Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 list and won the Artist of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Single awards at the 2018 Headies. His single ‘Assurance’, together with Wizkid’s ‘Fever’, were the most searched Nigerian songs on YouTube this year. And his video for 'Fall' recently overtook Yemi Alade's 'Johnny' as Nigeria's most viewed music video on YouTube with close to 100 million plays.

Wizkid (Nigeria)

Wizkid is another top Afropop giant who in 2018 made further strides on his journey to global domination. The ‘One Dance’ singer went home with four awards at the Headies: Best R&B/Pop Album, Best Music Video, Best Collabo and Viewers' Choice. He also made the most appearances on Apple’s A-list of African music. The 28 year old’s songs included on that list are ‘Fever’, ‘Master Groove’ and ‘Kana’ featuring Olamide. ‘Supa’, a song by Ghanaian duo R2Bees featuring Wizkid, was also included by Apple.

Toofan (Togo)

Togolese Afropop duo Toofan this year made waves with their 13-track album Conquistadors. The album features great tracks such as ‘Affairage’ (released in July), which currently has more than 7.5 million views on YouTube. Among other great achievements, the group was crowned Best African Band and Best Francophone Artist at the fifth edition of the African Muzik Magazine Awards (AFRIMMAS) in Dallas, US, in October.

Honourable mentions

Other West African artists who must be mentioned for their significant achievements this year are Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 (Nigeria), Fatoumata Diawara (Mali) and Bombino (Niger), all of whom were nominated in the Best World Music Album category for the 2019 Grammy Awards. Kuti, together with his brother Femi, who released the One People One World album in February, played a pivotal role in continuing their father's Afrobeat legacy. Diawara’s album Fenfo (Something to Say) was named World Album of the Month in May by the Guardian magazine. The 11-track album features ‘Nterini’, whose stunning video has more 1.3 million YouTube views.

Read part 3 of our African Artists Who Impressed in 2018 list.