There’s a popular Igbo adage that states “Onweghi ihe bu ihe ohụrụ n’okpuru anyanwu” – which loosely translates to English as “There is nothing new under the sun”. Whether it’s fashion, entertainment, or art, most modern concepts are simply reworked regurgitations of the past. In the same vein, contemporary music – especially African music – […]
There’s a popular Igbo adage that states “Onweghi ihe bu ihe ohụrụ n’okpuru anyanwu” – which loosely translates to English as “There is nothing new under the sun”. Whether it’s fashion, entertainment, or art, most modern concepts are simply reworked regurgitations of the past. In the same vein, contemporary music – especially African music – evidently has strong ties to past music styles that defined previous eras.
Thus is the entire essence of the Afrocentric band, The Cavemen, who channel the nostalgic highlife sound that raved in our country during the ‘50s and ‘60s. Fusing elements of jazz and soul music with their evident highlife influences, The Cavemen – comprising the sibling duo Kingsley Okorie and Benjamin James – create their version of futuristic highlife; a coalition of slices of the past and their modern perspectives. Although the pair first stepped onto the scene as instrumentalists, they attained a higher level of visibility back in 2019 as they began making music of their own. Their peerless sound – one they’ve defined as ‘Highlife Fusion’ – was born out of a necessity to fill a void undoubtedly missing from the Nigerian mainstream. Listening to the Cavemen, you’re immediately catapulted onto a different plane; it’s suddenly a cool Sunday evening in Nsukka – the storied city in Enugu state, Nigeria – in 1965, and you can feel the dusty red sands beneath your feet and perceive the scent of palm wine trailing laughter from husky voices in the backyard, as the blaring music envelops your ears. It’s a sound that begets warmth, a warmth our grandparents once relished in, a warmth we can now all identify with.
African music, more than anything else, is historically ancient, rich, and diverse, and here in Nigeria, our sounds are vast and varied, upheld by our storied culture. However, in the last few decades, Afrobeat – and more recently its offspring, Afropop – has been singled out as the blanket genre that defines our country’s contemporary sound, resulting in a sideline of other genres. This was, however, not always the case. Delving deeper into the history of our arts, you’d find that before Fela Kuti’s revolutionary work as the pioneer of Afrobeat, before our country’s independence, highlife was a mainstay; seeping into our roots from Ghana. It was West African pop music when the Union Jack was lowered for the last time by the British colonial masters in Lagos, and the Nigerian Green-White-Green flag was hoisted.
While the music held more significance for Ghana in the ‘60s, representing their daily socio-political struggles, in Nigeria, it was feel-good music, carrying mundane themes, made specifically for dance. Although highlife spanned across the breadth of the country, it first gained popularity among the Igbo people following World War II. Performers like Rex Lawson & the Majors Band, Chief Osita Osadebe, Victor Uwaifo, and the legendary Oliver De Coque revolutionized the sound and, for a while, highlife was the dominating genre in our sound culture. Following the civil war in the late ‘60s, Igbo musicians were forced out of Lagos and returned to their homeland and as a result, highlife ceased to be a major part of mainstream Nigerian music; solely thought of as being something purely associated with the Southeasterners. Over time, highlife’s popularity slowly dwindled among the Igbos, and it was reduced to a passive genre. A genre The Cavemen, Igbos themselves, are prepared to resurrect.
Right from their debut single, “Osondu”, the Cavemen’s unique agenda was vivid: they are here to expand on the transcendent blueprint of Highlife music, and play their part in extending the influential sound’s relevance in the most authentic way possible. In the last year, the duo have furthered their cause with subsequent releases of singles like “Bolo Bolo”, “Me You I” and more recently, “Anita”, as well as producing the majority of Lady Donli’s critically acclaimed debut album, ‘Enjoy Your Life’. Their electrifying live performances – with stages as intimate as living rooms and as grandiose as TedX conventions – have lit up many rooms and earned them a reputation as one of the most enjoyable bands around. Slowly, but surely, Kingsley and Benjamin are taking strides to becoming the modern torch bearers for the highlife genre.
Their sonically opulent history climaxes into ‘ROOTS’, the Cavemen’s newly released debut album which they had been teasing since January, but actually working on over the last couple of years. On a mission to “fill the vacuum for contemporary highlife”, ‘ROOTS’ is, as its name suggests, produced in reverence to their Nigerian heritage and a genre with deep anchors in the history of African music. Sitting at just six minutes short of an hour, the sixteen-tracker is concurrently an expansive journey through the rich sound of highlife and a heartfelt ode to the soundtrack of our country’s traumatic history and political turmoil.
Highlife is, more than anything else, characterised by its very particular sound; jazzy horns melding with layered, arpeggiated guitar riffs and skittering percussions, serving as the perfect backdrop for the spacey croons of the performer. It’s music that evokes spiritual hip gyrations from unassuming bodies as they become one with the rhythm. The first half of the album – as Kingsley reveals in an interview with Accelerate TV – is intended to sound like an afternoon in town, filled with mellifluous melodies, and easy going yet message-bearing lyrics. “Ah, Akaraka oh/Echi d’ime” (Destiny/Tomorrow is pregnant), Kingsley rhythmically intones on “Akaraka” in his vernacular Igbo tongue over the accompanying traditional instrumentals certain to send shots of nostalgia through your body. The pitter-patter percussive progression of pre-released “Bolo Bolo” would cause an eruptive swinging of hips on the dancefloor in a ‘50s nightclub in Enugu; “Ọ gini ka i ga-eme ka nwanyi a ghara i bolo bolo su” (What will you do so that a woman won’t take you for a fool?), Kingsley questions as Benjamin’s sizzling drum rolls swirl with the irresistible guitar melodies. And on the shekere-heavy “Bena”, the breezy rhythms are reminiscent of a Sunday afternoon car ride through town.
Love, in all its variant forms, is a running theme in highlife music; almost every song boasts lyrical attempts to woo a woman. It’s no wonder why every other song on ‘ROOTS’ is named for a woman and places her firmly at the center of its subject. On “Fall”, “Me You I” and “Anita”, the pair explore themes of freshly tapped love, frothing at the mouth with infatuation. “Ije love asogbue m” (The journey of love is sweeting me), Benjamin shrieks on the mellow “Me You I”, painting the all too familiar picture of you early days in love. “Bena” and “Ọbiageri” are dedications to transactional love. “A mana m/Obu na I ma m/Naani inye I na eri/Nako mo” (Don’t know me,if you know me for only what you want from me), they repeatedly echo on the weighty “Ọbiageri” (the name which directly translates as someone who came solely to enjoy), as they render an ode to those who take but never give. And sometimes love goes sour; it gets messy but we somehow can’t let go – the Cavemen perfectly illustrate this downturn on “Ifeoma Odoo” and “Crazy Lover”.
The late Professor Chinua Achebe once said “Ilu bu nnụ okwu” which means “Proverbs are the salt with which words are eaten”. Proverbs are the wisdom of a people, in a nutshell. Complex stories and situations are concentrated in a few words and phrases which capture and retain the essential meaning of the experiences from which they derive. Hence, the compulsory use of Igbo proverbs (“ilu”), parables and idioms, in every traditional setting, has elevated the language to the status of a living art of popular communication. This has translated into Igbo music, particularly highlife. While the lyrics are often sparse and repetitive, they commonly hold vital life lessons, conveyed mostly through witty proverbs.
On ‘ROOTS’, The Cavemen transform into the wise village elders perpetually planted on seats under the mango tree, passing on moral lessons to any child willing to hear; “Osondu” probably narrates one of the most crucial life lessons needed. “Mgbe I na-aga ije gi elekwala anya n’azu, ọsọndu” (When you’re going on your journey, don’t look back, run for your life), they warn, advising listeners to focus on their onward path alone. On “Iro”, Benjamin and Kingsley convey a message on the demerits of ‘iro ajọka’ (quarrel), admonishing listeners to live and let live because “ọ bu onye makwazi ife ọ ga-egbu”(who knows what you will be?) And “Onye Ma Uche” (which directly translates as ‘who knows the mind ?’) relays ear-pulling advice on dealing with others. ‘O ga ka mma, kanyi bi e ndu, na maghi uche. Ma oburu na I ma Uche m, gi were ike I gbo oso. Ma oburu na m ma uche gi, ewere m ike gbo oso’ ( It’d be better for us to live life not knowing the mind. Because if you know my mind, you might run away from me. And if I know your mind, I might run away from you), they counsel, enforcing the popular saying, ‘what you don’t know won’t hurt you’.
“I want people to feel healing, really. That’s what I want from this album, I want impact and healing,” Kingsley revealed in the trailer for ‘ROOTS’, shared via their social media. On the opposite spectrum of highlife’s ability to send electrifying shocks down your spine and overtake your body’s hip movement, resulting in a cascade of gyrations, lies its healing power; its ability to cleanse the soul. The late Cardinal Rex Jim Lawson was known to weep and shed tears while singing his own songs on stage, notably the haunting “So Ala Temen”, a slow-boiling track filled with gentle rhythms. In the same way, the reflective “Beautiful Rain” and “Homesong” stand out as calmers. It is gentle rain (quite literally) on an early Saturday morning. Traditionally, agriculture was a leading profession among the Igbo people who would rise as early as the crack of dawn and make their way to farms spanning over thousands of acres to get to work. Naturally, they would always pray for the right amount of rainfall to enable their crops to grow and yield a bountiful harvest. Hence, to the Igbo people, rain is often seen as a deity of healing and replenishment. It’s little wonder why Kingsley repeatedly begs the rain to “ye m amamihe” (give me wisdom). “Mmiri ozuzo, sachapu ihe ọjọ m” (Beautiful rain, please wash away my sins), Kingsley begs over the stripped down, hi-hat led instrumentals on “Beautiful Rain”.
Among all things, highlife is communal music. It’s a chore-filled Saturday morning in an extended household. It’s a Thursday evening rendezvous at the beer parlour down the street. It’s the ‘dance dance dance’ segment of your cousin’s newborn’s naming ceremony. Highlife has always been the bedrock sound for common gathering and ‘ROOTS’ is an attempt to channel this spirit, starting right from the album artwork – courtesy of ATIDE Studios – which portrays an image of townspeople in a village square, making merry and dancing to the beat of the drums played. Instilling a sense of community through the mellow grooves, Benjamin croons, “Eze oge ndi obere” (Good times are short), on the album’s third track “Oge”, beckoning listeners to “ka anyi jiri ya me nke ọma” (let us use it for something good).
The Cavemen are carefully treading their own path as a bridge between generations, bringing the sounds from the past into the future. Further listening to ‘ROOTS’, the Cavemen’s goal becomes clearer by the second; they are here to uphold the legacy of highlife but they’re much more than revivalists – they’re dedicated to creating instantly timeless music rooted in their own authenticity. It’s music that transcends language barriers, as is evident during their scintillating live performances; whether or not you understand the language, the music will speak to you. It’s music that transcends generations as those irresistible drum patterns will make anyone from 5 to 50 dance and ‘feel alright’.
The essence of the hour-long journey on ‘ROOTS’ – frankly the Cavemen’s career in its entirety – is best summarized on the album’s two minute opener, “Welcome To the Cave”. ‘Uda si n’ugba’, the sounds from the cave (which they define as ‘the heart of a man’) is the music they are certain will change Nigeria, unite Africa and inherently impact the world. They are set to give the Nigerian music landscape the diversity it’s been yearning for and growing into, while embodying the spirits of their musical ancestors. And while many have crowned ‘ROOTS’ album of the year from these parts (this writer included), it’s apparent critical acclaim isn’t the sole end goal for this revolutionary duo; they are more focused on making music people can live with. “It’s long, but you’ll sit with it because it’s good music”, Benjamin shared with NATIVE upon the album’s release. In their bid to render a contemporaneous update of a near-forgotten era, the pair are also laying the groundwork for the future of highlife – a future we hope will never overlook highlife again.
N20 million up for
Following a successful first campaign, Studio Monkey Shoulder returns to Nigeria for the second year in a row. A brainchild of the Scottish Whisky brand Monkey Shoulder and online radio station Worldwide FM, Studio Monkey Shoulder is a grassroots music initiative created to fund trailblazers who are pushing sonic boundaries while also fostering real-world connections across different regions. Last year, Jazzhole received the Nigerian grant to digitally remaster rare archival recordings that preserve and celebrate Nigeria’s rich musical heritage.
This year, the competition, in continued partnership with legendary DJ and Worldwide FM founder Gilles Peterson, once again invites the country’s most innovative and ambitious grassroots music communities – everything from from independent record stores to DIY music venues, online radio stations and collectives – to apply for a £10,000 grant (₦20 million) to bring their hugely imaginative music projects to life.
“I am thrilled to see Studio Monkey Shoulder grow in its second year in partnership with Worldwide FM. It’s been a privilege to work with the communities we supported in 2024, seeing their projects thrive and come to life,” Peterson stated in a press release. “I am excited to uncover more amazing community-driven projects in Nigeria and witness the talent that comes with it as the project evolves in year two.”
The winner of this year’s grant will join an international creative network that’s designed to elevate community voices and bring their stories to a global stage. Applications for Nigeria’s Studio Monkey Shoulder Fund open on April 28th and close on June 1st.
For full details and to apply, visit this website
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Shallipopi embodies Street-Pop but when he says, “Worldwide Plutomanians,” it truly is a worldwide...
One of the most interesting ways that I’ve heard Shallipopi’s music described is that it does nothing for the mind and everything for the body. Recently, I had a conversation with a friend that altered this ethos: music can’t do anything for the body if it does nothing for the mind, the mind has to find those bars and melodies pleasing before backsides move. As “Ahead Ahead” plays in the background of my two-man apartment, one midnight in March, it’s fitting to explore this in more detail, to understand how Shallipopi, self-appointed Pluto Presido, has risen to such heights and what part his Benin roots play in his unrelenting rise to Pop supremacy.
Shallipopi’s Rise to Fame
Shallipopi’s story begins in Benin. To be fair, all stories start in Benin if you believe in the Bini oral pedagogy that the 825-year-old kingdom is the source of the world. The phrase, “Oba ya, oto s ‘evbo ‘ebo,” alludes to the Oba owning all the lands from Benin to the rest of the world. 25-year-old Shallipopi—born Crown Uzama—started making music in 2016, after younger brother, Zerrydl, did in 2015, as mentioned in an October 2024 Echo Room interview.
The rapper, who comes from a line of kingmakers—the Uzamas are one of the highest-ranking chiefs who anoint Obas–didn’t experience success until March 2023 with “Elon Musk” which catapulted him from South-South unknown to TikTok star, and then, breakaway mainstream success. He followed up with club banger, “Shapiru,” in April. An EFCC arrest in May for ‘alleged internet fraud’ somewhat stalled his momentum while increasing his infamy, setting the stage for a remix of “Elon Musk” in June and–in typical Hip-hop chronicle fashion—“Ex-Convict” the following month.
Since June 2023, Shallipopi has performed at the O2 Arena and Stade de France, sold out two concerts in London in 2024 on his Plutomania tour, sold out a homecoming concert at the Victor Uwaifo Creative Hub in Benin City. Both of his LPs, ‘Presido La Pluto’ (2023) and ‘Shakespopi,’ (2024) debuted at No. 1 on the TurnTable Charts. The latter was the first project since Davido’s ‘Timeless’ to produce a first-week No.1 record, “ASAP.” His song with fellow 2023 breakout star, Odumodublvck, “CAST,” has over 55 million Spotify streams and earned him four nominations and a win at the 2025 Headies Awards. With co-signs from the big four, a new deal with Sony Music UK after a messy split from Dvpper Digital, and immense street cred, Shallipopi operates at the upper echelons of the industry.
The Benin Influence
The Bini—and Edo people as a whole—are music-loving. From Africa’s first gold plaque awardee, Sir Victor Uwaifo, to Alhaji Waziri Oshomah, Majek Fashek and his mystical rain-making rhythms, and an adolescent Benita Okojie at the turn of the century, contemporary Edo musicians have always found their way to national prominence, their influence being a continuation of a long-held tradition. Ethnic groups in Edo State like the Esan and Owan have a strong hold on oral music forms till today. But only a few of these groups can lay claim to sons and daughters who infuse their traditional, ceremonial music like Crown Uzama does, wielding it as all he is, all he will unapologetically be.
In December 2023, he told More Branches about how a tough childhood shaped his music. “My background was a rough one so my sound is different, and it shows in the music,” he said. “Only those who grew up in Benin City under harsh conditions will understand my sound.” And that cultural distance also shaped some of the early reception to his other releases. For example, unless you lived in Benin, or a sister city like Warri, you’re not likely to know what the term ‘Oscroh’ or ‘OS’ means. Any insight would be the product of someone in the know—like a classmate of mine, who spilled how secondary school boys in his home Benin City ‘order OS’ (patronise sex workers) after ‘cashing out’ (getting proceeds from Internet fraud or cryptocurrency deals.) This, perhaps, explains the initial poor reception to October 2023’s “Oscroh (Pepperline).” The use of Benin-specific lingo didn’t translate as smoothly as ‘Inside that your Evian,’ from “Elon Musk” seven months earlier.
Turn to 2025 and Shallipopi has one of the biggest songs in the country (“Laho.”) The chorus is sung entirely in Bini: “Ghẹ gunmwẹn dẹ ọ, lahọ/Ni paste aza, lahọ/ Don’t let me fail, please/Can I send my account number, please?” The catchy song employs traditional call-and-response rooted in Benin culture and yet it is loved far beyond our shores. Shallipopi’s dexterous use of Bini language has shown up throughout his time as a mainstream star. Many Shallipopi fans know the “Obapluto” sample, they even know about the legal dispute that ensued post-release. But elsewhere in Shallipopi’s discography, another sample leads back to Igodomigodo—the ancestral name for Edo. The intro on his second LP, ‘Shakespopi,’ “ASAP” samples Alhaji Waziri Oshomah’s 1979 single, “Ikwekiame Nedumhe.” Similarly, “Iyo,” the eighth track on his first LP, ‘Presido la Pluto,’ samples the 1978 Drivers Union Dance Band Uselu Motor Park and Osaro Nomayo single, “Ovbiyemwen,” and much like the sample on “Obapluto,” it constitutes the spine of the record.
When there’s no sample, there are shoutouts, like on “More Than Me” where he hearkens home with “Straight out of Benin for sure” and the fittingly titled “BENIN BOYS”—“Remy, Ekehuan Road/ Shalli, Sapele”—where he props up his neighbourhood on the Benin-Sapele-Warri Road, and Rema’s on Ekehuan Road in Benin. There’s evidence that Shallipopi’s music is of the people in a way that lots of Nigerian Pop is not. In clips from Mai Atafo’s Spring/Summer ‘24 Show, “Obapluto” blares right after Pa Monday Edo’s “Nogbaisi,” as models in reimagined versions of traditional Bini outfits strut the runway.
Understanding Afro-Pluto
But what is Afro-Pluto? As he referred to his sound in an October 2023 Factory78 interview: “Not straight-up hip-hop, not straight-up Afrobeats, not straight-up Afro-pop,” he explained. “Even my music is not more of singing, it’s more of talking. So there’s no one that does that except me.” In a time where every artist and their A&R wants to craft their own unique ‘sound,’ that statement isn’t so outlandish. His Benin contemporary, Rema, named his subgenre ‘Afro-Rave,’ and only fully leaned into it on October 2023’s ‘RAVAGE’ EP.
Shallipopi’s music is a fusion of Hip-Hop, Street-Pop, and Afropop. However, Afro-Pluto’s core is Hip-Hop. Shallipopi’s songs—especially on his first two projects—follow a simple pre-chorus-verse-chorus pattern with minimal internal rhymes, di-syllabic schemes, and rhythmic motifs. What he lacks in a vast vocabulary, he makes up for with same-word end rhymes and haphazard lyrics. For example, on “Speedometer” off ‘Planet Pluto,’ he raps, “Who fall go rise up again, on a speedometer/You wan know how men take dey mount/Men are men on meter/It was nice to meet ya.” It’s a simple A-B end rhyme with ‘meter’ repeated multiple times until the homophone lands on ‘meet ya.’
On “Evil Receive”—his most cherished musical creation per a February 2024 Floor Mag profile—he rhymes ‘vibe’ with ‘vibe.’ The unpredictability of his lines often falls outside conventional street wisdom. “Network no dey no mean say wi-fi disconnect” on “ASAP” is discernible—things aren’t always as they seem. But “men are men on meter” doesn’t quite translate. There’s also shock value: Legacy South-South rap acts like Erigga and Yung6ix are known to incorporate vulgarity, and Shallipopi follows in their footsteps. It’s a trait that has drawn him as many fans as foes with a hit like “CAST” and its lyrics placing that divisiveness in context.
Per his lyricism, Shallipopi embodies Street-Pop. Money, sex, fraud, family struggles, resilience, and social injustices like police brutality are subjects that he constantly returns to. He’s a man of the people: the fun-loving, night-crawling people. Shallipopi is unlike Balloranking or Seyi Vibez, Street-Pop acts who balance party staples with spotlighting the ordeals in inner-city streets, and even his brother, ZerryDL, whose storytelling prowess rivals most. In the aforementioned Floor Mag profile, he drives the point home: “Social change and my music, I don’t think they’re close to each other,” he admits. “My music is for fun and to get your mind off troubles.” It takes seeing the Pluto Dance on dimly lit dance floors to process this fully. For all its ties to home, Afro-Pluto evades the dual merriment-enlightenment function that traditional Edo music upholds.
Afro-pluto embodies Afropop through praise-singing, verbiage, and drawing from pre-existing music. Shallipopi praise-sings on “Ex Convict” like Wizkid did on 2014’s “In My Bed” and Olamide did on 2019’s “Oil & Gas.” In the two years since he burst onto the scene, he’s arguably become the biggest influencer of pop culture lexicon. ‘Men mount’ is an everyday slang to signify movement. ‘Evian’ made it into Zikoko’s Official Afrobeats Glossary. Everyone has been ‘Active’ since “Elon Musk.” Similarly, ‘OS’ has crossed the threshold that proves its thorough pervasion; misuse, or rather, abuse.
Shallipopi’s producers—especially BusyPluto, who produced all but one track on his first two projects—draw regularly from older Nigerian music. BusyPluto’s zest for older Nigerian music is evident on a song like “Eazy” which interpolates 1996’s “Diana” by Galala legend, Daddy Showkey, a musician of South-South origin. Despite interspersing elements of Afropop and Street-pop, Shallipopi’s music is Hip-hop. When he speaks about fucking his enemies with no condoms on “Never Ever,” he’s echoing Ice Cube on “No Vaseline.” His verses on ostentatious living and the nature of fame are a mainstay of the genre. There’s insufficient innovation to term ‘Afro-Pluto’ a genre. There is no novelty in production—and influential as it is, per increasing adoption, it fails to be sufficiently distinct.
The Plutomania Effect
Speaking of influence, Shallipopi’s musical impact has been felt the most at home. His younger brothers, 2025 Headies Rookie of the Year winner, Zerrydl, and new kid on the block, Famous Pluto, are ambassadors of Shalli’s homegrown rap brand. Zerry (Divine Uzama) is the most technically gifted of the three, a storytelling maestro with a flair for uncanny pockets. His one million plus Spotify listeners tell of his growing reach. The youngest, Famous Pluto (Osahon Uzama) debuted with “Na Scra” on March 7th this year, bearing similar flows and street wit as his brothers (“One round plus one round equals two bone straight.”) Their cadences are identical. Both younger brothers rap over BusyPluto’s instrumentals and are signed to Shallipopi’s Plutomania Records. Their subject matter is the same: women and the pursuit of financial freedom.
Still, the impact of Shallipopi’s sound has not only been felt at home. Due to his outsized influence and success, there are a number of acts whose works fall directly in the lineage of his syrupy, drawn-out sound; acts like Tega Boi DC and Reeha, both Plutomania Records signees and crusaders of the Benin sound. There’s Smur Lee, one of only four Nigerian female artistes with over 15 million streams on a song in 2024. The track, “JUJU,” features Odumodublvck and Shallipopi and has over 37 million Spotify streams. Her style is almost a mirror image of Shallipopi’s, with multiple Elon Musk references and fraud lingo littering her latest singles.
Beyond direct musical influence, Shallipopi’s artistry has impacted his peers who seek his raps over deep cuts (Victony’s “Ludo”), Afropop bangers with far-reaching cultural implications (Rema’s “BENIN BOYS”), and cross-border, market-focused singles (King Promise’s “Continental”). The virality of “LAHO” on the global stage – which has thousands singing along at destination nightclubs, NBA and European football superstars making TikToks, and top-5 placements on global charts like the UK’s Official Afrobeats Charts – forecasts newer zeniths for the 25-year-old phenom. It’s as welcome an outcome as any, just two years into his career in an industry peppered with stories of fadeouts after similar label splits. It also means going forward, Shallipopi is unlikely to veer off his sonic template. But his is a winning formula, so there are no worries. When he enthusiastically says, “Worldwide Plutomanians,” it truly is a worldwide phenomenon.
For the next phase of her career, Skyla Tylaa is actively working on creating music while entertaining with...
As a child growing up in South-east London, Skyla Tylaa had a natural affinity for the arts. Whether it was music or stage performances, she found herself exploring these interests intently from a young age. That devotion manifested in multiple ways – her attending the BRIT School and Sylvia Young Theatre School where she performed in a West End production of Annie or her fiddling with several musical instruments while she figured out her creative identity. Through it all, music was a constant, the backdrop to her home life where she grew up between Jamaican and English influences. She remembers being exposed to Drum & Bass, Funky House, and Garage. “I think that’s had a big influence in my DJ career,” Skyla Tylaa admits.
Progressing into adulthood, those musical influences persisted even if she didn’t always engage with them professionally. Things changed when she started DJ-ing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Possessed by a visceral desire to experience the euphoria of interacting with people through music, she burrowed deeper into DJ-ing. “I couldn’t be in my room and just have people commenting,” she recalls. “I need to see people’s energy, and feel everything in the moment.”
Since then, she’s enjoyed a meteoric rise that has taken the world by storm. Mentored by DJ Tunez, she performed multiple times on the American leg of Wizkid’s ‘Made In Lagos’ tour and came out of the experience raring to go. “Opening for Wizkid on his tour was a transformative experience,” she says. “It taught me a lot about resilience and adaptability in my craft. I was still pretty much a start-up DJ when I went on tour and it made me really realise how important it is to connect with the audience. Touring from city to city with different crowds, it helped me to learn how to read the room and keep the vibe going.”
Almost as importantly for Skyla Tylaa, Rihanna was present at one of those tour stops and was impressed by her set, stopping by after the show to congratulate her. “After that I felt like I could conquer the world,” she says. Since then, she’s been selected by Rihanna to DJ at a Fenty X Puma Creeper launch event in London in 2024, marking a full-circle moment between the women.
Like Rihanna, Skyla Tylaa is inspired by music from the breadth of the Black diaspora, playing sets that take as much influence from the fervid restlessness of Hip-hop as they do the wavy melodies of House music, and the dancefloor summons of Afrobeats “I love partying! I genuinely love it,” she explains. “When preparing my sets, I’m always thinking of people having a good time. Whatever I can do to connect with them, I’m down to do it!”
In the last few years, few genres have shown the propensity for inspiring a great time with the regularity that Amapiano does. From Johannesburg to Windhoek, to Lagos, London, and New York, the log drums and mutating basslines of the genre have proven integral to a new Pop framework that is as amorphous as it is exhilarating. Since first hearing the genre while on a visit to Ghana years ago, Skyla Tylaa has been hooked. “It was the log drum, the sound, just the vibes that came with it,” she says. “I was like ‘wait – what is this?’ When you hear Amapiano, it’s one of those sounds that no matter what, you’re gonna dance.”
Diving into the genre, she’s picked up valuable lessons from important figures like Maphorisa, Uncle Vinny and Major League DJz while putting her youthful spin on the sound. It’s all coming together for the DJ who’s working with her sister, music heavyweight Jada Pollock, to figure it all out one step at a time. “When I found my passion for DJing, Jada was right there, urging me to dive into the ‘Made in Lagos’ tour,” she says. “I wasn’t sure I was ready, but she believed in me and knew I could handle it. My love for music has been with me since school; it just took some time for me to realize that this was the direction I wanted to pursue. Once I found my calling, her support became endless–she attended my early gigs and pushed me to perform at major festivals like Afro Nation.”
She’s since performed at leading festivals such as Wireless, Piano People and Australia’s Promiseland as well as selling out headline shows across London, London, and Ghana. For the next phase of her career, she’s actively working on creating music. This month, she released her debut single, “Bombshell,” a searing Amapiano banger that has all the hallmarks of a potential summer hit. “Bombshell” features Tanzanian Bongo Flava act, Diamond Platnumz, as well as South African acts, Tyler ICU, Khalil Harrison, and DJ Exit. It’s a blockbuster showing that sits well in the tradition of the genre. “The idea was initially played to me by Tyler ICU in March 2024,” Skyla Tylaa says. “He and I had a session while he was in London, and this was one of the ideas we worked on. Khalil was already on it, at the time, and I loved what I heard!”
After seeding it into her live sets last summer and starting live teasers with a dance challenge, Diamond Platnumz reached out about potentially working on the song and it was arranged. “I started teasing the new version of the song in my sets and then a whole new viral dance challenge came about online in December,” she says. “From that point, I knew the track had all the elements (features included) to be a big release in 2025 !” For DJ Exit, a chance to be part of a transformative song like “Bombshell” was an opportunity he didn’t want to pass up. “What drew me to this single was the chance to be part of something boundary-breaking,” he explains. “Gqom and Amapiano are both powerful in their own right, but fusing the raw, percussive energy of Gqom with the soulful, hypnotic swing of Amapiano creates a sound the world hasn’t fully experienced yet. This isn’t just another collaboration–it’s a cultural statement.”
The Xhosa word, ‘basazomangala,’ meaning ‘to be shocked,’ is uttered several times on “Bombshell,” and it reflects the message that Harrison was trying to pass on the track. ““Bombshell” is really about letting people know that there’s still so much more to come from me,” he says. “It’s a celebration of the present moment, but also a reminder that this is just the beginning. We’re all dancing to what’s happening now, but there’s an energy in the air that says the best is yet to come.”
In light of Amapiano’s rise to global prominence and the international acclaim it enjoys, Harrison is right about more things being on the horizon, and Skyla Tylaa agrees with him: “When I was introduced to Amapiano, I fell in love instantly and that time it was just on the verge of global appeal. It’s global now and still growing and that makes me appreciate it even more! I love it, and the world loves it! The feeling is mutual ! We can all enjoy it together!”
For Tyler ICU, having DJs from the diaspora like Skyla Tylaa engage with Amapiano and its culture is a win for the genre. “This shows the power of the genre–it’s not just a sound, it’s a movement,” he says. “When someone like Skyla, who appreciates the culture and brings her own flavour, plays Amapiano in places like London, New York or Toronto, she’s not just playing music, she’s building bridges. That’s how we grow–by letting the world feel it in their own way, but staying true to where it started. It’s important that the roots are respected, but the branches can reach far.”
Just a couple of weeks since its release, “Bombshell” has crossed over 650,000 thousand views on YouTube and continues to be a sensation on TikTok. Like everything Skyla Tylaa has done up till now in her career, it’s shaping up perfectly and has shown that she has a knack for the right collaborations. She intends to keep making music. “This year, my focus is all about music,” she says. “I recently signed with Robots and Humans (Sony) in the UK and Epic in the US, which has given me a different level of drive to really want to create good music. I’m also looking forward to exploring the Afro-house genre and collaborating with other talented artists.”
