Joe Kay Focuses on Nigerian Music in This Episode of Soulection Radio
"The whole point of this show is to present this sound because I really really believe in it," says Joe Kay.
On episode 403 of his popular Beats1 show, Soulection Radio, LA music plug, DJ and host Joe Kayshowed love to Nigeria's flourishing music scene. The 2-hour episode, which came out over the Coachella weekend, features tunes from Nigerian artists both based on the continent and the diaspora—the likes of Santi, Maleek Berry, AYLØ, Tay Iwar, Wizkid, Tiwa Savage, Davido and a whole lot more.
The show's playlist isn't exclusively Nigerian, however, as it also features Ghana's Juls and South Africa's DJ Speedsta in the form of the song "Mayo."
Opening the show, Joe Kay expressed how much Nigerian music is moving him at the moment. He said:
"Shout out to all my African people worldwide. Today's show is all about Afrobeats, alté, Afro fusion. I haven't felt this passionate about a genre, about a sound in a long time. I've been really researching and digging. Also has some great ambassadors worldwide putting me onto some sounds, shout outs to Tanji, shout outs to Andreas, shout out Amanda, Tay Iwar, Sango, Amarachi, for all the artists who have been contributing to this playlist. It takes a village, man, but I'm learning and the whole point of this show is to present this sound because I really really believe in it. I think it's next up, it's in the present, so diverse, so soulful. It's just a certain energy."
Afrobeats is impressively dominating many parts of the world, especially the UK and the US—markets that influence the rest of the world. Kiddominant didn't lie to us. When we interviewed the Nigerian artist, producer and DJ last year, asked about the future of the genre, he said, "In a lot of American clubs, it's normal to play afrobeats now, especially Davido and Wizkid, they're playing a lot of their music. I feel like it's only a start. Ciara just featured Tekno, all those things, in like the next three years, afrobeats will be almost as mainstream as hip-hop."
Soulection is one of the most respected and progressive music curators in the whole world, and they have introduced alternative music enthusiasts across the globe to artists years before they blow up. Soulection has toured South African in the past, and it wouldn't surprise us if they hit Nigeria in the near future.
Listen to the Soulection episode focusing on Nigerian musician below, or on Apple Music.
