As we cross the mid-year mark, there’s no denying that some of the year’s best music has come from the vibrant, ever-mutating underground scene. The surge of new talent across the continent, which gathered serious momentum last year, carried over into 2026, injecting fresh impetus into African music and pushing even the mainstream to evolve.

This month’s Under picks are among some of the several exciting names pushing the boundaries of what music from the continent can and should sound like. Take, for example, A.D, the talented producer and recording artist who experiments with several classic Nigerian records, updating them for a new generation who might be unfamiliar. 

There’s also Oriiginelle, the Eswatini MC crafting deeply personal, politically charged Rap rooted in queer Black identity; EKENE, whose poignant vocals and songwriting are quietly redefining contemporary R&B; and British-Ghanaian rapper D.H., whose melody-driven take on Rap music continues to expand in exciting new directions. Together, they embody the curiosity, originality and ambition that this column looks to constantly spotlight.  

Oriiginelle

For Fans Of: Noname, tg.blk, and Enny

Makhosazana Thwala came up in Mbabane with little doubt about the artist she was meant to be. Performing under the name Oriiginelle, her moniker is a statement of intent. Those three ‘i’s chart distinct chapters of personal evolution, whilst the feminine suffix frames womanhood as a rigid source of power. Right from the jump, her sonic output has been tangled up in her politics, forged by the realities of taking up space in the world as a queer African woman from Eswatini and driven by an unrelenting need to speak the unspoken. Eswatini rarely gets its fair share of the spotlight in conversations about Afropop. Too often, the nation is swallowed up by neighbouring South Africa’s shadow thanks to shared geography and cultural spillover, despite consistently producing singular talents. Uncle Waffles has shot to global superstardom, whilst artists such as Manana continue to broaden the country’s footprint. Now Oriiginelle sits tightly within that wave. 

African music is currently enjoying its most visible era yet. Hip-Hop, in particular, has seen a string of blockbuster releases that dissect and debate regional styles, but that mainstream shine hasn’t necessarily broadened the stories being told. Black queer artists are still criminally underrepresented at the top table, where hypermasculine flexes and braggadocious chops still dominate the culture’s public image. Oriiginelle’s music reverses that order. It is quite literally a breath of fresh air. She gently but assuredly moves between siSwati and English over warm Soul loops, letting loose strikingly honest verses against buttery grooves. Breakout single “A Thou’nyana” first put her on the map, claiming the top spot on Eswatini’s radio charts for four consecutive weeks. She capitalised on that momentum with 2021’s Phazed, before dropping the stellar ‘MetamorphoFeels’ EP in 2023. Trading bars with elite lyricists — ZuluMecca on “Change” and Jay Jody on “Nguwe” — proved she could hold her own alongside the region’s sharpest pens, whilst ‘Expensive Hunger’ sealed her reputation as an essential listen.

This year, Oriiginelle reached a whole new peak. She set the tone with “Always Returning,” a lush Neo-Soul joint alongside producer STU and Firdy, before releasing her landmark June 2026 LP, ‘Loving This Black Woman.’ Clocking in at 14 tracks, the record leverages her elastic flow and expressive vocal range to set off her most vulnerable work yet, stitching together candid reflections on radical self-love as a queer Black artist in modern African Rap. There are very few MCs uniting elite penmanship with the urgent, foundational truths that Hip-Hop was built on quite like Oriiginelle does. We all need to pay rapt attention to her. – M.A

A-D 

For Fans Of: Cruel Santino, Luwa.Mp4, and Len

One of the defining traits of the exciting, underground talents who have come to the fore in the last couple of months – injecting some much-needed inventiveness into the sometimes creatively stagnant local musical scene – is their willingness to experiment and, particularly, draw inspiration from the music that precedes them. While more prominent names like Monochrome, Luwa.Mp4 and Kayode have recently built reputations by reimagining Nigerian classics, producer and singer A-D – a.k.a Awful Daniel – is also actively contributing to this new wave of experimentation, breathing new life into beloved records from past generations.

Take, for example, his latest release, “Toxic,” a bouncy, emotionally charged tune built around a sample of Psquare’s “Forever,” a hit single from their 2011 album ‘Invasion.’ While the Okoye brothers profess their undying love to their muse on the original, A-D explores the push-and-pull dynamic of a toxic relationship that’s hard to walk away from on his new single. It’s a clever reinterpretation that preserves the nostalgic appeal of the sample while reframing it through a more modern, emotionally complicated lens. Beyond “Toxic,” his expanding catalogue features several other clever reinterpretations. A recent track titled “(for violet)” draws from another one of Psquare’s classic songs, “Ifunnaya,” “Super Story,” a cut from a 2-pack of the same name, flips the iconic television series theme song into its orbit while the Yung Orad-assisted “Modupe” incorporates a sample of Dr SID and K-Switch’s “Over The Moon.”

As a producer, A-D boasts an extensive track record, having produced for the likes of Len, Fresh L, and Congolese-American rapper Unghetto, among others. Yet, with a solo discography featuring only a pair of EPs — 2024’s ‘New Vibrations’ and its follow-up ‘PARTY PACK’  — alongside a few singles, he clearly has much more to offer as a recording artist. His evident appetite for sampling and experimentation bodes well for what’s to come, and if his recent singles are anything to go by, his most compelling reinterpretations are still ahead of him. – B. A

EKENE

For Fans Of: Braye, Khalid, and Passenger

EKENE’s voice is unmistakably unique. One of his most striking qualities that suggests his year-old career is built to endure and outlive the moment is the palpable dedication to his craft, evident from the instant you press play on any of his records. He sings with the confidence of an artist who is exploring all the layers of self he’s ever known while understanding how deeply people long to feel seen. So he surrenders his emotions for others to find solace in them. At least, that is the lasting impression left by his debut project, ‘Little Us.’

Before arriving at this project, which has received acclaim for its heartrending emotionality, the 24-year-old artist spent years sharing his music on Instagram, gradually building a loyal fanbase that constantly urged him to make his songs available on streaming platforms. Then in November 2025, he officially released “Plead Guilty” on Spotify.

Six months later, he followed it with “Red Benz,” before releasing “Lullaby” and “Relations” with R&B artist Braye. Together, the songs became part of the larger world he was constructing for ‘Little Us.’ Using the EP as a diary of sorts, he explored the searing pain of grieving someone who is still alive on “Lullaby,” imagined an idyllic romance with a  hypothetical love interest on “Red Benz,” stretching  as many other emotions as possible on a total of seven tracks for an emotive twenty-one minute runtime. EKENE’s career may just be starting, but the quality of his work already confirms he is  one of the emerging voices poised to expand the possibilities of what R&B and Soul can sound like through impeccable songwriting and singing skills. – M.E

D.H

For Fans Of: Yeat, Don Toliver, and Zaylevelten

A major highlight from the early months of 2026 was the breakthrough of a new crop of exciting talent. Although many of these artists had already begun building momentum months before, the start of 2026 proved to be a watershed moment, propelling several of them into the limelight. NO11, for instance, became a national sensation with the viral success of “HOW FAR,” while Igwe AKA found an enthusiastic local audience through his distinctive fusion of Western Trap and his native Igbo influences. British-Ghanaian rapper and singer D.H. was another artist to benefit from this early-year surge, garnering attention for his Trap-influenced banger “KOTOKA.” 

Clocking in at just over two minutes, the Jaytron-produced single offers a crash course on everything that makes D.H such a compelling artist. He’s a nimble lyricist capable of switching flows at will and has a knack for crafting sticky melodies. The single inevitably earned him comparisons to Zaylevelten, who also possesses elastic flows and a similar ability to glide on beats. But while the Lagos-based rapper is more focused on bars, clever one-liners and infectious hooks, D.H’s melodic instinct is more of a driving force behind a lot of his music. 

Before the release of “KOTOKA,” his 2025 project ‘GR8NESS’ already hinted at his strengths and the breadth of his artistry. Tracks like the cinematic opener “GR8,” “Wait,” “Blanco’s Interlude,” and “She Wants / 4 A Year” excel thanks to his melody-driven songwriting and dizzying flows. If ‘GR8NESS’ established the rapper’s foundations, his latest project, ‘HANI WO YA,’ demonstrates just how far those ideas can be stretched. He ventures beyond the Trap foundations of his earlier work, embracing a broader sonic palette influenced by everything from South Africa’s Amapiano to Bouyon. The project’s lead single “NO DELAY,” the Ayjay bobo-assisted “WHAT YOU NEED,” and “STUNNER” rank as some of the best music in his growing discography. Together, they showcase an artist growing increasingly confident in marrying infectious melodies with adventurous production, all while retaining the technical dexterity that first made him such an exciting prospect. – B.A