Platoon releases second African lullabies album

Taking a pan-African approach, African Lullabies Part 2 features top musicians from across the continent, including Aṣa, Ayra Starr, Karun, Teni, Simi, WurlD, Olayinka Ehi, Tresor, Manana, Aymos and Ntsika. 

Whereas African Lullabies Part 1 focused on original compositions by South African singers and songwriters, the new release moves beyond the borders of South Africa and creates a diverse offering of children’s music in various African languages.

Most of the recordings are original compositions by the artists, drawing from African folklore and their experiences as parents, while others are interpretations of previously released works arranged and rerecorded as lullabies.

“It’s really cute to have been asked to make a children’s song. This is my first children’s song,” Kenyan musician Karun said about her contribution to the album, ‘Dream Lullaby (Wakarirü)’. “I really enjoy making calm, relaxing music, so this made sense. I never saw children’s music as something that I would do but given the opportunity, it’s something that I would jump on. I have a son and I like kids, it’s a cool challenge."

She added: “I learnt a lot about myself when creating this song. I produced the whole song. I love layering vocals, I was playing around with different effects and I learnt phasing. It was a lot of learning on the technical side of it. I also learnt that there’s a lot more I need to connect with my mother tongue, Kikuyu. My grandmother and I connected over her helping me remember the lullaby at the end of the song. Kikuyu is my first language but I forgot it a long time ago, so I learnt that I’m still connected to it."

Since last year, Platoon has been venturing into the children’s music space after recognising the vital need for a rich and diverse offering that caters to all kids regardless of their mother tongue or the country they live in. The company has partnered with musicians and content creators from around the world to become one of the leading children’s music curators in the world.

“My aunt is my world and she just gave birth three months ago,” Nigerian Afrobeats singer Ayra Starr said. “I made the song just before she gave birth, so it was kind of like making a song for my niece. Growing up, we made up songs ourselves as children; at school we used to make up our own lullabies because we didn’t want to have to sing ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’.” 

“When I started making the song, I wanted to make something that my younger self would be so proud of. It’s important for more African lullabies to be made because African children need more representation. We didn’t see a lot of that growing up, there weren’t a lot of black dolls and I didn’t get to see a lot of that growing up. I think that African lullabies will inspire children in different ways.”

African Lullabies Part 2 tracklist

1. Psalms of Suli – ‘Hello Little One’
2. Teni – ‘One Day’
3. Simi – ‘Iya Ni Wura’
4. Karun – ‘Dream Lullaby’ (‘Wakarirü’)
5. Tresor – ‘La Vie Est Belle’
6. Olayinka Ehi – ‘Sweet One’
7. Aṣa – ‘Little Darling’
8. Ayra Starr – ‘Stars’
9. Aymos – ‘Lullaby Song’
10. Ntsika – ‘Busuku Benzolo’
11. WurlD – ‘Never Alone’
12. Manana – ‘In The Morning’