Shoutout to Women’s History month. Whenever I’m feeling particularly oppressed, I’m always relieved to know that there is a single month carved out in the whole year for me to continue to feel oppressed. But hey, at least we’re talking about it right?

Speaking of male domination, in the land of afrobeats, afropop, afrohouse, afrowave, afroswing, afro whatever-noun-you-please, outside of the megastars, women continue to be greatly overlooked. This is a conversation that is long overdue across the music industry as a whole, but it’s especially disappointing for up and coming female artists who struggle to get a platform, let alone respect for their craft. I’m no saint, my personal playlists of African artists have typically been dominated by men, but we all have a responsibility to dig a little deeper and support all the amazing women out here grinding.

So in that vein, here are a few of my favorite tracks from some up and coming, afro-diasporic badasses (across all countries and genres!) I encourage you to check out the full playlist here.

1.“Catching A Wav” amaarae

 

2.“Sounds of Sonar” Kampire [dj mix]

 

3.“Inner Voice” Sampa The Great

 

4.“Crabs and Crows” Kajama

 

5.“Capacidades” Nidia