African artists who impressed in 2020 – part 2

East Africa

Diamond Platnumz (Tanzania)

The sky is the limit for Diamond Platnumz's music career. This year, he clocked three million subscribers on YouTube and also registered over 900 million YouTube views ahead of Nigeria's Wizkid, Burna Boy and Davido, who each have over 790 000 and 540 million views, respectively. The ‘Eneka’ singer also appeared on the list of 100 Most Influential Young Africans for 2020 and also made it to the 2020 Grammy Awards consideration list. He was also crowned winner in the Best Male East Africa category at the AFRIMMAS.

Zuchu (Tanzania)

Tanzanian singer Zuchu adds to the list of East African artists who did well in 2020. She has positioned herself as one of the top female musicians in the country’s vibrant music scene. In July, Zuchu signed a recording deal with Wasafi Classic Baby, a recording stable owned by Diamond Platnumz. She also received several awards and also appeared on 2020 Grammy Awards consideration list and came tops in the Best Newcomer category at the AFRIMMAs. Zuchu has also collaborated with such top artists as Diamond Platnumz, Mbosso and Khadija Kopa, a revered female Taarab musician.

Sauti Sol (Kenya)

Kenyan pop group Sauti Sol in February signed an exclusive recording agreement with Universal Music Africa followed by the release of their Midnight Train album, which features South African acts Soweto Gospel Choir, Sho Madjozi and Black Motion. The group did a livestreamed album tour dubbed The Midnight Train Virtual Experience which received above 95 000 viewers across social media channels. In August, the boy band premiered a new reality TV series called Sol Family on Maisha Magic Plus (DStv channel 163).

Harmonize (Tanzania)

Harmonize was on number of Billboard Magazine's Top 15 Sub-Saharan African Artists, which also features Fally Ipupa, Diamond Platinumz, Davido, Fally Ipupa, Wizkid Innos'B, Mr Eazi, Flavour, Eddy Kenzo and Yemi Alade. In May, he became a brand ambassador of Mastermind Tobacco Limited in Tanzania. His debut album Afro East has impressive guest appearences from such artists as Burna Boy, Yemi Alade, Skales, Khaligraph Jones and Mr Eazi, among others. 'Jeshi' is among the top songs featured on the album. According to Boomplay, Harmonize had over 10 million streams in 2020. In addition to his suces, he was nominated in the Best Male East Africa category at thge AFRIMMA, but he lost to Diamond Platinumz.

Bobi Wine (Uganda)

Ugandan musician turned politician Bobi Wine became the first East African musician to receive a nomination to contest for presidency. His fame, catapulted by his involvement in politics, has earned him popularity not only in Uganda but across the African region and in the diaspora. Bobi Wine’s name also appeared on the list 100 Most Influential Young Africans for 2020.

Central Africa

Fally Ipupa (DRC)

Twenty-twenty has been a successful year for Congolese singer Fally Ipupa. In February, the rhumba singer had his debut performance at AccorHotels Arena, a famous concert hall in Paris which brings together more than 20 000 people. He made various contributions to help those affected by the coronavirus. In June, just after lockdown, he released his first single of the year ‘Allô Téléphone’, which was very popular on YouTube with over 10 million views. Apart from releasing music, Fally Ipupa won two awards in the Best Male Central Africa and Best Francophone categories at the 2020 AFRIMMAs. Most importantly, he was number four on Billboard magazine’s list of African artists whose videos were most viewed on YouTube between May 2019 and May 2020.

Gaz Mawete (DRC)

Gaz Mawete was Fally Ipupa's guest at the AccorHotels Arena concert in Paris this year. This was Gaz’s first performance at the memorable concert. He also featured Fally Ipupa on his hit song ‘C’est raté’, which earned him a Video of the Year award at the AFRIMMAs. He was nominated for the Best African Act Award at the MTV EMA and lost to South Africa’s Master KG.

Innoss’B (DRC)

Following the 2019 release of his single ‘Yope Remix’ featuring Diamond Platnumz, Congolese artist Innoss'B was nominated in the Best International Act BET Awards category at this year’s BET Awards but lost to Burna Boy. Innoss’B was ranked sixth on Billboard magazine's list of African artists whose videos were most viewed on YouTube between May 2019 and May 2020. In July, he released another single titled ‘Olandi’, which did well on YouTube followed by a collaboration with Belgian-Congolese rapper Damso on another hit track called ‘Best’.

Ninho (DRC)

After the success of his album Destiné in 2019, France-based and Congolese singer Ninho confirmed his success on the French rap music scene. Since 2018, the rapper has become one of the most streamed French rap artists on various streaming platforms. His mixtape M.I.L.S 3.0, released in March, was certified double diamond disc for having sold more than 240 000 copies. His track ‘Lettre à une femme’ off the M.I.L.S 3.0 mixtape was certified platinum single after having been 30 million times. In October, Ninho performed for the first time in his country of origin, DRC.

Salatiel (Cameroon)

Cameroonian singer Salatiel made an impression when he collaborated with Beyonce on a song titled ‘Water’ off her The Lion King: The Gift album. The video for the song was released in August. He was the first French-speaking artist to collaborate with the queen of RnB. This year he released ‘Touche Pas (Anita 2)’, which is doing well on YouTube.

North Africa

Amr Diab (Egypt)

Egyptian singer and actor Amr Diab appeared on the Forbes Middle East Top 100 Arab Celebrity list of the most famous singers, actors and TV personalities. Diab, who has received the most international music awards for albums sales in the Middle East, re-launched his acting career by featuring in an upcoming Netflix Arabic series for Middle East and North Africa.

Raja Meziane (Algeria)

Besides her anti-government songs aimed at tackling social injustice, alleged corruption and inequality have seen her forced into exile from Algeria, Algerian singer Reja Meziane was this year honoured with an award by in Essence Magazine’s list of The Best In Entertainment, Culture and Business in the Best In Activism Fighters for Social, Political and Cultural Change for her political music video ‘Allo le Système!’ The video was viewed 35 million-plus times on YouTube in 2019. It became one of the protest songs of the movement that forced the Algerian president to resign in April 2019.

Soolking (Algeria)

Algerian artist Soolking had his Vintage album featured in the 2020 edition of Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique magazine’s Top Albums of 2020. The album took the third spot with the first and second position occupied by Congolese rapper Nhinho and Canadian singer The Weeknd, respectively. His single off the Vintage album was number one on Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique top singles of 2020. Soolking and Ninho became the most streamed artists by African users on Deezer. The list was revealed on 22 May in celebration of the upcoming Africa Day on 25 May, and features the top 20 most streamed artists in Africa. In June, Billboard published the most watched musicians in 11 African countries with Soolking, Otile Brwon, Hamo Bika and Diamond Platnumz on the list.

Tamer Hosny (Egypt)

Tamer Hosny is one of the top streamed artists in Egypt. His 'Nafs El Nehaya' music video accumulated more than 12 million videos after two weeks of release. Some of his popular songs include 'Fe Gamal Keda', 'Karahteny Fel Hob', 'Awelny Kalam', 'Be Alf Salama', 'Mabatalnash Ehsas' and 'Ekhteraa' being his most viewed song on YouTube with over 30 million views.