As the timer counts down and the curtains draw on the year 2022, it is only fair to do a rundown of our favorite projects this year. This year reminds me of 2020, when there was a mass-project release owing to the pandemic. This year is giving “2020 2.0” or should we say this is “2020 too” without the lockdown and better quality in projects released.
One can tell the obvious growth of the African music soundscape as well as recognition. It’s been a great year for African music in general, especially Afrobeats, not leaving out Amapiano as well.
We would be listing our top 5 projects of the year, writers, and editor’s picks.
Jeremiah’s Top 5 Projects
This year, I consumed music like I have never in the last couple of years. These are my top 5 projects of the year. I’ll be limiting my picks to albums though because a lot of EPs also did it for me.
Palmwine Music 3– ShowdemCamp is, and will remain my GOATs. Palmwine music 3 is a top tier project and as the last of the trilogy, it was perfectly executed. My favorite songs on it are Mine Alone ft Oxlade at first listen, and OldFlame ft Nesta and Ladipoe. I was also opportune to be a part of the Palmwine festival 5 team and that’s enough W for me this year.
The Brother’s Keeper- If there’s an album that captured my mood and helped me process a lot of emotional roller coasters this year, it’s Chike’s Brother’s Keeper. It has the song for love, losses, anxiety and even reassurance. My favorite song on this album is Pour me a Drink.
Lies About The War- Jacob Banks sits close to SDC on my GOAT table. His project Lies about the War is an emotional one. I usually wake up to some songs on this album playing in my head on a loop. It speaks about love, grief, and lessons about life. Jacob Banks just finds a way to tell these stories and keep you in touch with your emotions. My favorite song on this album is Aim for My Head.
Subaru Boys by Santi– Even though this project was met with quite a solid opposition for reasons I don’t understand, it tops my charts because I listened to it a lot. Subaru Boys is lengthy yet I find myself listening without skips. My favorite songs are Mermaid Aqua, Dirty eyes evil manners and Final champion obviously.
Boy Alone- Omah Lay outdid himself on this project. I didn’t catch the vibe until I listened to this project while travelling to Osogbo. I was in another world. How he expresses himself, talks about his struggles and yet still maintains a lively output on his tracks needs to be studied. My favorite on this project is Safe Haven. I feel like he hid a bit of himself in this song, talking about his place of solace and peace.
5 slots can’t contain my top projects of the year but of notable mentions are Majeeed’s Bitter-sweet EP and Ria Sean’s Love Station EP, Young preacher by Blaqbonez, and Teslim by Vector.
Editor’s Picks
Boy Alone– Everything Omah Lay does is just perfect to me. I love the fact that the project was deep and profound, yet he still made it groovy. My favorite track is Soso. I can’t get enough of it.
Rave & Roses by Rema is my undisputed number-one project. The album has everything. It is diversified and the features were also on point. Wine ft Yseult is my favorite song on the album. Rema’s range >>>
Young Preacher- Blaqbonez. I love rap and Afrobeats and Blaq found a way to fuse his rap and singing on the album. The samples on the album is my best part of the album. Loyalty is my favorite on it.
Asa’s album V takes me to the beach mentally where I have no worries. IDG, my favorite song doesn’t necessarily take me there but I just love it. She was also able to come out of her shell and explored her range. The way she was able to comfortably fuse her sound with those of all the features on this album.
Names of God by Nathaniel Bassey is my number one, scratch Rave and Roses. This album is my most listened and he is my most listened to artist. I think a lot of gospel artists don’t focus on the delivery of their sounds properly beyond the spiritual part, but he does. Adonai is my favorite song on the album. It’s just perfect
Rishama’s Top 5 Projects
Asake’s Mr. Money With The Vibe has to be one of my top picks. Asake’s debut came with such a bang that took me by surprise. I had never really pictured myself being a huge fan of music that had prominent elements of Fuji and Afro Classic, but the way Asake delivered this album and owned the sound was amazing.
Chike’s Brother’s Keeper took me on a journey right from the start of the album till the very last track. As much as I was used to lover boy Chike, I got so many other versions of him on this album that I loved. There were raw songs on pain, grief, loss, and of course, love. One of my absolute favorites is “Nothing More, Nothing Less”. If you’ve been struggling to deal with grief, this song will soothe your soul in a way that only Chike knows how to.
Falz’s BAHD is another project that stood out for me this year. With every year that passes, Falz just adds more and more things to his area of expertise. BAHD solidified him even more as a talented rapper. I mean… “Gentleman” was such a good song. From the witty lyrics to the hilarious visuals that I absolutely loved… And before I forget, “Woman” with The Cavemen? Amazing song.
Fireboy DML’s Playboy was a good body of art as well. While it might not have been his best work, I think it still stood head over shoulders above a lot of other projects that came out this year. This album gave us a playful version of Fireboy that we don’t always get to see. “Bandana” was such a hit, I don’t need to tell you that. But my other two favorites were “Adore” featuring Euro and “Diana” featuring Chris Brown.
Wizkid’s More Love Less Ego also made it to my list. Yes, yes I know many people might not agree with this but I thought it was a good album. It was certainly not his best, but I liked it nonetheless. The producers on this album- Juls, Euro, Kofo and so many others, did what they were supposed to do, and more. I think I liked a lot of the background instrumentals and sound production more than anything else. As for my favorite? I’ll say “Frames (Who’s Gonna Know)”. But that’s subject to change.