Playlist: African musicians performing at SXSW 2023

Founded in 1987, SXSW is best known for its conferences and festivals that celebrate the convergence of tech, film, music, education and culture.

Every year, new, developing and established artists enhance their careers by reaching new audiences at the SXSW Music Festival. The showcases are curated by SXSW in collaboration with record labels, booking agencies, management and PR firms, export offices, publishers, media outlets, lifestyle brands, festivals, and more.

Below is a selection of African and diaspora musical artists who will showcase at one of the world’s biggest music trade shows this March.

N'famady Kouyaté (Guinea/UK) – 16 March

N’famady Kouyaté is a multi-instrumentalist from Conakry, Guinea, who relocated to Cardiff, Wales, in 2019. He has wowed audiences with his modern interpretations of traditional West African Mandingo songs. N’famady’s primary instrument is the balafon – the traditional wooden xylophone sacred to West African culture and his family heritage of the griot/djeli. In Guinea he founded ‘Les Héritiers du Mandingue’, a tradi-modern group that toured extensively in West Africa.

Beatenberg (South Africa) – 15 March

The Cape Town-based trio comprising Matthew Field (vocals and guitar), Robin Brink (drums) and Ross Dorkin (bass) deliver a unique sound that effortlessly owns mainstream South African pop. Their 2014 album The Hanging Gardens of Beatenberg became a showcase for the possibilities of pop music exploring sounds from around the world. There’s every reason to believe that Beatenberg will be South Africa’s first global pop success, and that they will do this on the back of a sound that is rooted in their home country’s indigenous styles, unfailingly moving forward to the future.

Blxckie (South Africa) – 16 March

Building a street cred, Blxckie is a breakout musician who is leading the pack of new-wave African artists. The 23-year-old Durban-born multi-talented artist has broken the internet with hit after hit, placing him at the forefront of South African hip hop and trap soul.

Balimaya Project (West Africa/UK) – 17 March

Led by composer/arranger and leading UK-based djembe player Yahael Camara Onono Balimaya Project intently synthesises and bridges London’s bustling jazz circuit with traditional repertoire and folklore of the Mandé people of West Africa, and in turn connects the music’s contemporary and ancestral forebearers.

Afrotronix (Chad/Canada) – 17 March

The Chadian electro-blues act was founded in 2014 by Montreal-based producer and guitarist Caleb Rimtobaye, and by 2016 it was headlining Afropunk Paris. It trades in tunes tinged with Chadian saï, Senegalese mbalax, Haitian kompa, West African Mandingo roots and electric Touareg blues, loaded with deep house, dubstep and techno grooves. 

Yung D3mz (Ghana) – Date TBC

The Gen Z artist who grew up in Tema, Ghana, has always been drawn to a mix of African and Western pop influences, which he infuses into his music as a singer and rapper. Yung D3mz is also a talented songwriter and award-winning producer.

Majozi (South Africa) – 15 March

Majozi burst onto the scene in 2013 with his catchy debut EP Marvelous Light, before signing to Universal Music South Africa in 2014. When his first full-length album Fire debuted on the iTunes Top 3, the music industry really started to take notice. He currently serves as one of only three ambassadors for Fender in South Africa.

Jon Muq (Uganda/US) – Date TBC

Ugandan-born songwriter Jon Muq makes soulful, expressive pop music rooted in his vibrant guitar and piano playing, and his stirring voice. Now residing in Austin, Muq is recording his debut album for Dan Auerbach’s label, Easy Eye Sound.

SIPHO. (Zimbabwe/UK) – 16 March

Having been raised as a Seventh-day Adventist, devotion intermingles with scepticism around the religious industrial complex as SIPHO. reconciles his own relationship with God throughout his early tracks. Running alongside that is an exploration of another kind of duality – black male identity.

Dr Pushkin (Ghana/US) – 15 March

Through an independent grind fuelled by his love for hip hop, African beats and conscious lyricism, Dr Pushkin tackles social issues with his music – all while managing to entertain and uplift the listener. He also promotes the positive uses of AI technologies in African societies and co-invented Khaya, the world’s first Ghanaian language AI translation app.

Ojerime (Nigeria/UK) – 15 March

Rich in sultry melodies that echo the sparkling style of ‘90s R&B, Ojerime seamlessly juxtaposes airy production with heavy lyricism, creating a collection of songs that boast a modern attitude and nostalgic spirit.

Charmaine (Zimbabwe/Canada) – 17 March

The Zimbabwe-born Toronto rapper announced herself to the world with her debut EP Hood Avant Garde in April 2021 and has been on the rise ever since with more than 13 million streams and counting.

Yaw Appiah (Ghana/US) – Date TBC

Yaw Appiah is a record producer and DJ based in Los Angeles, California. Known for his diverse sounds of Afro-house and tech-house, his music fills spaces with infectious vibrations and energies. A native of Tema, Ghana, his mission is to expose untapped African sounds to the world.

Baba Kuboye (Nigeria/US) – Date TBC

Babatunmida Kuboye is an Afrobeats artist based in the US. He is the son of jazz legends Fran and Tunde Kuboye, and grandnephew of the late Afrobeat king, Fela Kuti. Music has never had more of a purpose for Baba – who establishes a connection with his audience by providing carefully crafted, thoughtful and conscious lyrics. 

Bellah (Nigeria/UK) – 16 March

Bellah has officially been pinned as a “one to watch” by the likes of British Vogue, BBC Radio 1Xtra and Capital Xtra, among other platforms, with publications such as The Fader, Complex and GRM Daily also showing support. The artist has graced worldwide stages performing at 2021’s MOBO Awards and debuting the single ‘Evil Eye’ on the renowned COLORS platform, the video of which has hit a million-plus views. 

Camilla George (Nigeria/UK) – 16 March

Camilla George is a visionary saxophonist, composer, bandleader and innovator. Her music is a hypnotising blend of Afrofuturism, hip hop and jazz, with a politically minded subtext that has a powerful connection to her Nigerian identity, lineage and heritage, reflecting African history, culture and slavery.

Manny Walters (South Africa) – 16 March

Manny Walters is a South African singer-songwriter with influences rooted deeply in rhythm and blues, alternative rock, hip hop and soul. The artist may describe his sound as “electric R&B/alternative soul”, but whatever designation you choose to apply, one thing is clear – Manny Walters is imbued with an intuitive and instinctive musicality that is rare in its authenticity and gravitas.

Kalu and the Electric Joint (Nigeria/US) – 18 March

Kalu and the Electric Joint blend the powers of psychedelic soul music with the driving beat of rock and roll and the ancient rhythms of Africa. Born in Nigeria, Kalu relocated to Austin, Texas, where he put together a stellar ensemble of players who graciously fuel and follow his deep well of eclectic influences. 

Obongjayar (Nigeria/UK) – 17 March

A true triple threat, Nigerian-born, London-based musician Obongjayar pens stirring and spiritual lyrics with a distinctive voice that flits between rap, song and spoken word. Melding Afrobeats, soul, rock and hip hop influences, he has created a bold genre-defiant musicality.

Shaé Universe (Nigeria/UK) – 15 March

Since bursting onto the scene in 2017, Shaé Universe has made waves in the UK, West Africa and beyond. She makes music that engages, enchants and inspires – an artist who can both sing and rap, and who has been co-signed by the likes of Lalah Hathaway, Jorja Smith and Little Simz. She has remained entirely independent, navigating the industry on her own terms.