In an ever-evolving industry dominated by mainstream giants, our dedicated monthly column uNder continues to serve as a vital platform for discovering authentic and exciting talents bubbling below the surface. For years, this column has been committed and continues to be dedicated to amplifying these unique voices and untapped potential of niche artists who offer a distinct alternative to the status quo. 

For our August entry, we have a talented cast of inductees that stretch the imagination of what music from the continent and Black diaspora can aspire towards. In Lodu, Reespect, OSL1NN, and N4T, there’s a rich tradition of reimagining genres while putting authentic African expression on display. In dreary times like this when artificial intelligence is increasingly making an incursion into the music creating process, there is a profound need to celebrate these acts who keep proving that artistic expression is still tethered to the human experience. 

Reespect

For Fans Of: Little Simz, Sampa the Great, and Doechii.

Reespect could rap a line of Python code—a nod to her Computer Science background at FUTA—and somehow make it sound like the coldest bar of the year. Her voice is big and resonant; she has the chops to make serious rap and the personality to make it entertaining. She doesn’t need to choose between being the rapper with something to say and the rapper you actually want to hear again.

With the Nigerian rapper, conscious rap is in the DNA: womanhood, desire, and the occasional existential spiral, but she gives those subjects much more room to misbehave. One minute she’s bar-heavy and locked into a pocket; the next she’s singing, flirting or taking a completely ridiculous left turn. Her writing drifts between vulnerability and whatever oddball concept she’s currently fixated on. On 2023’s definitive “Bad,” she beams in with the poise of a lyricist who knows her pen is lethal. Then “Great Silence” completely shifts gears, dropping into a foggy, 3 a.m. R&B-Rap spiral to dissect an impossible relationship. She keeps returning to a composed posture after spending her verses explaining, in vivid detail, every reason she’s actually unravelling. 

That range runs through the album ‘Mood Swing Finale,’ where she moves between different moods and collaborators. “Limelight,” “Twinkle,” “Far Away,” and “Green Light” all pull in different directions, but Reespect’s writing keeps the project tied together. ‘R Is for Romance,’ released in February 2026 sees her lean into the absurdities of modern love, creating a project that is equal parts sexy, funny and deeply candid. Highlights like the poetic “I” has Reespect fully in her lover bag, while “Wicked Sexy” flips a love gone sour into a boppy, tongue-in-cheek tale.

Over the last couple of years, she’s synthesised that same unpredictable vocal dexterity and midnight psychodrama, holding together ambitious world-building with the kind of freewheeling control that appeases hard-nosed Rap heads while captivating the open-minded crowd. She also carries the genre’s rarest cheat code: a relentless curiosity, flooding DSPs with project rollouts, sudden genre turns and distinct visual universes. Call her the queen of Planet Lukukul, call her one of the smartest pens straight out of Nigeria, call her proof that Nigerian Hip-Hop can be expansive, but it’s impossible to ignore the sheer radiance of Reespect.

Lodu

For Fans Of: Asa, Sewa, and Celeste Ojatula.

Early this year in February, a day before Valentine’s Day celebration, Lodu’s first single of the year, “Olowo Orimi,” arrived as a scintillating romantic record and quickly became a viral TikTok sensation. Thanks to its alluring reference to Yoruba dowry culture, a special tradition in which a man pays a woman’s bride price before marrying her, the song found a natural place in weddings and romantic moments. “Olowo Orimi” literally translates to “the one who paid my dowry,” but it is much more than that; it serves as a symbol of male desire and devotion, and its meaning resonated widely with listeners.

But before “Olowo Orimi” gained attention and nudged Lodu into the spotlight, she had slowly begun building a career with the release of her debut single, “Run Off,” in 2024, a song about wanting to elope with a lover. She followed it with “Baby” later that year and “Ifemi” in 2025, further proving that, with only a few records in her catalogue, she was already prepared to make a statement as an emerging Afrosoul artist.

This year, she hasn’t taken her foot off the gas, releasing three singles ahead of her debut EP, which arrived in July. ‘Wine & Honey’ is a seven-track project, and right when her voice comes through on the opener, “Lolufe,” the intention behind the project becomes clear. She is inviting listeners into the Lodu experience, inspired by ideas that came together in the privacy of her flat. The rest of the tracks seamlessly meld into one another, and the project ultimately comes together as a unique experience.

Lodu has also remained physically active throughout the year. Aside from her growing online community, she has shown that she is a compelling performer through several appearances at IRL events, while also making numerous wedding moments more special with live renditions of her songs. Lodu is indeed curating a career on her own terms. That authenticity may be what keeps her around for a long time, as she continues to add her own flavour to Afrosoul’s evolving soundscape.

OSL1NN

For Fans Of: Blxckie, Destroy Lonely, and Zaylevelten.

There’s a certain freedom that comes with being an underground artist. Without the pressure to fit neatly into genre strictures, artists can experiment, take risks and slowly figure out what their sound actually is. In South Africa, OSL1NN is one of the young artists making the most of that freedom. Across his releases, OSL1NN has developed a sound that sits somewhere between Trap, Rap and the more unpredictable corners of the internet’s current music landscape. His music is atmospheric but never too polished, often leaning on hazy production, repetitive melodies and a delivery that feels deliberately detached. It’s the kind of music that makes more sense the deeper you get into his catalogue.

His earlier projects, ‘Tweak Pack’ in 2023 and ‘ENDLESS’ in 2024, introduced the foundations of that sound, but ‘JAIVA’ feels like a clearer picture of where he’s heading. Released in 2025, the four-track EP moves quickly, but each song adds something to OSL1NN’s growing world. On the title track, he links up with Jacky, while “TOP 7” ringsin MAYAH for one of the project’s more poignant moments.There’s something especially interesting about the way OSL1NN approaches collaboration. Rather than letting a feature completely change the direction of a song, his guests feel like extensions of the world he’s already building. That quality carries into “Jaiva 2,” released in 2026 with MfanaTouchLine and Jacky Carpede, where he revisits the sound without simply recreating what came before.

Right now, OSL1NN is still finding his footing, and that’s part of the appeal. His music doesn’t feel like it’s trying to prove that he has everything figured out. Instead, it captures an artist experimenting in real time, pulling from the sounds around him while slowly creating something that feels distinctly his. He’s coming up in an underground scene where trying something different can matter just as much as getting everything perfectly polished. With each release, he’s becoming more comfortable moving between sounds and finding his own pocket. If he keeps pushing in this direction, OSL1NN could become one of the names shaping the next chapter of South Africa’s Alternative Rap scene.

N4T

For Fans Of: Jim Legxacy, Lancey Foux & onoola-sama.

There’s a restless energy that runs through N4T’s music. Emerging as one of the most exciting names in the Black British music scene, the South London rapper-producer of Ghanaian and Jamaican descent draws on a diverse range of influences, bringing together Afropop, UK garage, and bass-heavy club rhythms with contemporary Hip-Hop sensibilities. The result is a bouncy and fluid sound that reflects the rich, multicultural fabric of London’s vibrant underground music scene.

N4T officially began releasing music in 2022, initially experimenting with Grime and UK drill. His debut project, ‘D Day,’ introduced an assertive rap style shaped by heavy religious themes, spoken-word poetry and introspective storytelling, establishing the foundations of his artistic identity. While the project’s production and delivery often lean towards a muted, restrained sound, N4T’s palette has continued to expand, gradually developing into a more intricate fusion of styles. In a recent interview with Dazed, he revealed that Slawn’s Bobo Cafe, the now-defunct creative hub, played a significant role in helping him build the confidence to pursue music seriously and find his own artistic identity.

That confidence became increasingly apparent on 2024’s ‘ADHDTV,’ a 16-track project that found N4T taking on greater creative risks. Tracks like “SHENGYENG,” “GOGO,” and “TINGATINGATALES” exemplify his willingness to bring disparate influences together, creating eclectic backdrops for his sharp, introspective writing. Rather than settling into a defined formula, ‘ADHDTV’ marked a clear step forward, revealing an artist increasingly comfortable with experimentation. His latest album, ‘GHANAMUSTGO,’ pushes that progression further. It roars and gyrates like an agitated sibling to ‘ADHDTV,’  expanding N4T’s sound even more while turning his attention more deeply towards his West African roots. The title draws from the phrase associated with the 1983 mass expulsion of Ghanaians and other West African nationals from Nigeria, but N4T reclaims and reinterprets it on his own terms. Rather than looking backwards, he transforms the phrase into a declaration of ambition as he digs deeper into his cultural roots.