Video & Audio: Simulated starpower

Mostly just reading off the top of the South African charts edition

Tyler ICU & DJ Maphorisa ft. most of South Africa: “Manzi Nte”

Floor-filler of the year. The features show the range of vocal styles compatible with the amapiano framework, with Masterpiece YVK’s breathy urgency powering the choruses, and the most pleasant hook being the “dja dja dja” who knows who does in their upper register. Ensure you listen to the full version (above) and not just the soapy nyash video edit.

Felo Le Tee, Scotts Maphuma, ThabzaTee, Djy Bisa, and you bet Maphorisa isn’t going to miss his chance for a credit on a hit: “Yebo Lapho (Gogo)”

Felo’s more electro-flavored style of amapiano has been thoroughly absorbed into the mainstream; this is number one on the South African streaming chart as we speak. There are pleasant sound effects and all manner of synths, but most of all the song just keeps moving, such that even the de rigeur long outro for the benefit of DJs entertains.

Charli XCX: “Guess” (ft. Billie Eilish)/“The Girl, So Confusing Version with Lorde”

Another Brat Complication is that two of Charli’s three best songs this year (i) aren’t on the album, and (ii) rely heavily on duet partners. Maybe that doesn’t mean much for “Guess”—Billie effortlessly dropping some vocal fry like someone else’s panties is still as big a draw as anyone this side of She of the Infinite Album Variants—but having to rely on 2024 Lorde for additional oomph is a dent to one’s Star of the Summer case. Kamala needs a few more cards in her deck, is what I’m saying.

Randy Travis: “Where That Came From”

I got caught off guard by this—how was there a new Randy Travis song after his stroke wrecked his ability to sing? Oh, it’s AI. The simulation of his voice is very accurate down to the slurring of the low notes for emotion (though I wonder how close the guide vocal had to get), and tech haters must concede how fjucking happy Randy looks to be making music, in some sense, again. About as ethical a use of technology as you can get, while presaging much less ethical uses.

Dlala Thukzin, Funky Qla, Zee Nxumalo: “Ama Gear”

The actual three-step part of 3-step is being downplayed, acting more as a hook than a structural element. Thukzin is creeping closer to a house vibe, with semi-drops providing the form and pianos the decoration. I appreciate the focus on one singer—that’s Zee Nxumalo—who gets most of the seven minutes to build a vocal identity, and shows off a nice catch in her voice that lets her syllables trail off.

RIIZE: “Impossible”

Straightforward bubblegum-house banger, sung acceptably. What’s notable here is the dancing: both the main Lisbon Metro video and the soundstage version have some of the best boyband choreography since prime NSYNC. Correspondent Philip Brasor reports they don’t even bother to lipsync live, though, which is a bummer.

Hanumankind & Kalmi: “Big Dawgs”

As far as Houston rap goes, I unfortunately like this surprise global hit by a Keralan-born ex-Goldman Sachs analyst claiming to “skrrt the whip” better than say, anything on this year’s That Mexican OT album. Fundamentally that’s because it’s very silly, even when it’s discussing the fate of the immortal soul, and because it has no guns in it.

Sangre x Sangre & Joe Parra: “Nada Me Va Cambiar”

The latest “well of course that’s a genre” I learned about through the Moore Report is electro corrido. There’s a trombone, there’s the most basic of oonst-house beats from Parra, there are backwards MLB caps; a defiantly banging time is had by both Sangres. A logical next move for Post Malone once this country boom burns out in a few years.

Aki Takase Japanic: “Alinamin Drink”

Alinamin is an energy drink, famously hawked by Arnold Schwarzenegger, that Takase consumes regularly, and she’s averaging three albums a year in her seventies so maybe it works? This starts off with Takase pianoing a la “Linus and Lucy” while her stepson DJ scratches, then Takase and sax player Daniel Erdmann add abstractions like it’s Mondrian drawing Charlie Brown. 

乃紫 (Noa): “Honey Trap”

Maybe punk pop (and rock in general) still works in Japan because Avril still reads as bratty over there, or maybe they just let the snares have the right amount of echo. Lyrics allegedly say “let’s plant traumas in each other”, yet Noa doesn’t sing like that: her vocals are barely aggressive, like a teddy bear lobbed at your face, but that still gets the message across.

Alicai Harley & Toddla T: “Too Girly Girly”

The “but with drum and bass” trend has hit ragga; that is, it’s 1994 again. Sophia George’s 1985 UK top ten complaint that “young man, you’re too girlie girlie” is somewhat undercut by pushing-40 Toddla T dancing around with a “STEEZE” scarf over his head in the video while his ultra-dense breakbeats batter unprotected brains. Harley’s just as hard.

Bassie, M-Touch, Range, Amaza: “Kwelanga 2.0” ft. Tman Xpress & Lee McKrazy

More from the chill-house end of amapiano, with main vocalist Bassie coloring the sunset (“ukushona kwelanga”) vibes of the chorus and Tman Xpress and Lee McKrazy providing value mainly by making the rest of the track more low key relative to their expressionism. The chords briefly move as if to go some, but it’s getting late, let’s just sit here.

Zadi the King: “Bossu”

Côte d’Ivoire continues to do its own thing. Zadi sings some syllables that are nonsense and some that are just French, while producer Emmanuel Beat brings stuttering hardware error speed-triplets that take a break now and then so he can bang something very hard. Also: sword noises are cooler than gun noises. Also also: I really want to know the story behind the Jessie J t-shirt the dancer at 0:57 is wearing.

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