2018 was a great year for African artists with major hits being released across the continent. From East to West, North to South, the continent’s rich sound dominated the airwaves throughout the year.
It’s time to reflect back and see African music videos that were not only hits in Africa but across the entire globe in 2018. The songs selected attained a massive number of views and remained on top of the charts across Africa for several weeks and months.
At Africa.com, we’ve selected the top 10 African Music Videos of 2018. The songs are arranged in no particular order.
SOCO- Starboy Featuring Wizkid, Terri, Spotless & Ceeza Milli
Starboy Entertainment Worldwide brings together a group of talented artists for this smashy hit which is considered Africa’s party anthem. Released in March 2018, this track with incredible beats and sound has a massive 32 million+ YouTube views as at the close of the 2018. It’s a song you would want to play again and again.
Assurance – Davido
Award winning artist Davido is a household name on the African continent. Continuing in his tradition of releasing hits, Davido dropped Assurance in May that currently boasts over 31 million views on YouTube. There’s no doubt, this song captured the entire African pop culture scene and stayed at the top of the charts for several months.
Kwangwaru – Harmonize Featuring Diamond Platnumz
You cannot deny Kwangwaru is a trendsetter in East Africa. Wasafi Record’s Harmonize teamed up with his award winning label boss Diamond Platnumz to deliver an excellent East African Swahili tune that thrilled the entire continent. Released in April 2018, Kwangwaru boasts over 34 million YouTube views. Everyone listening to this track loves it instantly.
Short N Sweet – Sauti Soul
Nairobi-based Kenyan afro-pop boy band Sauti Soul had a good 2018. Short N Sweet is a captivating and creative track whose popularity increased drastically shortly after it was released in May. This love song also brings on board top Kenyan artist Nyashinski and boasts of over 11 million YouTube views. Short N Sweet superb vocals and electrifying dance moves cannot be wished away.
African Beauty – Diamond Platnumz Featuring Omarion
Diamond Platinumz is among the few African artists who’ve successfully worked with international artists to drop hit tracks. African beauty is a wonderful collaboration with U.S top RnB artist, Omarion. It is interesting how Omarion easily recites Swahili verses. Released in March 2018, African Beauty now tops 28 million YouTube views.
Chaguo La Moyo – Otile Brown & Sanaipei Tande
If there’s a beautiful Swahili song that rocked in 2018, it’s Chaguo La Moyo by the Kenyan duo of Otile Brown and Sanaipei Tande. Otile is a popular contemporary artist while Sanaipei popularly known as Sana, is a singer, radio personality, actress, song writer and karaoke host. This charming love song has attained over 10.5 million since being released in April 2018. It is expected Chaguo La Moyo will still remain a hit in 2019.
Bum Bum – Yemi Alade
Popular Nigerian Afropop singer and songwriter, Yemi Alade once again hit the African airwaves with her remarkable dancehall hit, Bum Bum. Known for other hits such as Johnny and Single and Searching, Yemi has never disappointed. With over 18 million YouTube views since launching the song in March 2018, Bum Bum is a party anthem.
Lova Lova – Tiwa Savage Featuring Duncan Mighty
African songstress Tiwa Savage teamed up with Duncan Mighty, a singer and music producer to drop Lova Lova. The track by the Nigerian artists that incorporates versatility and creative dramatization managed to bag over 9.3 million YouTube having been released in August 2018. The musical style is impressive and there’s no doubt Tiwa Savage intends to remain a force to reckon with.
Ecole – Fally Ipupa
Award winning Congolese singer, dancer and producer Fally Ipupa needs no introduction. Having started his career as a member of Koffi Olomide’s Quartier Latin International, Fally has grown into an African Rhumba brand with a number of hits to his name. After registering a lot of success with Eloko Eyo in 2017, Fally Ipupa returned in 2018 with Ecole, a high adrenaline track with electrifying dance moves with more than 8.8 million YouTube views since release in July.
YE – Burna Boy
Nigerian award winning artist, Afrofusion singer and songwriter Burna Boy known for his famous hit “Like to Party” once again demonstrated his musical prowess with YE, a hit track from the album “Outside”. Synonymous with his style of dropping hit songs, Africa once again was served YE which has bagged over 7.2 million YouTube views having been released in August 2018. This is definitely a track to watch out for as Burna’s star continues to rise not only in Africa but across the globe.
Bonus Track
Banomoya – Prince Kaybee Featuring Busiswa and TNS
South Africa hasn’t been left behind in producing top continental hits of 2018. Banomoya is an amazing hit song that brought together South African musician and DJ, Prince Kaybee, singer, songwriter and poet, Busiswa as well as TNS. The powerful collaboration is a continuation of Prince Kaybee’s successful musical journey having released previous hits such as Yonkinto, Wajellwa and Friend Zone. Having been released just 2 months ago in October 2018, Banomoya has shockingly received over 5.6 million YouTube views. This track perfectly livens up any party atmosphere and is a song to watch out for in 2019.
African artists did an incredible job in 2018 releasing a nice variety of music cutting across various genres. This list is just a skeleton as there are many other awesome tracks not on this list that rocked the airwaves in 2018.
Indeed, Africa has continuously over the recent times proved to be an emerging global music powerhouse. It is expected the game will only become better in 2019 as artists roll up their sleeves to entertain the entire continent and globe.
Is there a 2018 music video you feel deserved to be on this list? Please let us know in the comments below.
By Nelly Gachanja