I know what you’re thinking, “a pre-game playlist in the middle of the week??”. Yes. If anything it should just show you how ready I am for the weekend (is it just me or does the first week of the month drag??). This playlist, as you can probably guess, is dedicated to unadulterated bliss and enjoyment. A celebration of making it to the end of the week. A toast to you. A toast to me. A toast to us. We made it! It’s the ‘pre-game’ playlist because it’s what you play when you’re getting ready for enjoyment. With a panoramic still outside, enjoyment doesn’t look like it used to for some of us. But the show must go on and we must look for those pockets of enjoyment (safely of course) wherever we can. However you choose to weekend, whether you’re a rockies mama or staying in with the girls, we’ve put together 5 tracks to get you in the mood to get all dressed up (even if you’ve got nowhere to go).
Can’t Let You Go Remix – Stefflon Don, Tiwa Savage
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You know what we love more than one baddie on an Afrobeat track? Two baddies on an Afrobeat track. We’re kicking it off with the ultimate team up from Stefflon Don and the African Bad girl herself, Tiwa Savage. Can’t Let You Go Remix has the syrupy vocals we love from both ladies and a pulsing base-heavy production you can only listen to with the volume all the way up.
Look at Her – Nqobile
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Let’s turn it up a little bit. Look at Her is the song version of that one friend that will always hype you up, even if you’re just face-timing with your bonnet on. You know when you go dancing, and you do your special move and some girls you’ve never met before start losing their minds like you invented shaking ass? This is the song version of that, and it will give you all the confidence you need to throw that bold outfit and feel yourself all night.
Die A Little Bit – Tinashe, Ms. Banks
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Tinashe’s discography usually leans more towards dance-y pop music and alternative RnB, but she embraced a more minimal, club sound with Die A Little Bit. Featuring an almost laid-back, quietly confident rap verse from Ms. Banks, Die A Little Bit will have you hopping along to the infectious beat, even if you’re just having a party of one this weekend
Waitin – Kelela
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Usually, with an artist like Kelela, I would ease people in with a more traditional club banger like LMK, but part of my job here is to put you on, so let me put you on: Waitin is an experience. It’s experimental RnB meets electro-pop, the perfect mix of Kelela’a strong vocal range and her ability to elevate any genre. I’d say put it on and keep it on repeat, because it just gets better with every listen
Ijoya – Weird MC
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We have come to the throwback portion of our list, but first things first: when it comes to throwback Nigerian jams, if you go down the list it is overwhelmingly male. There’s plenty of Style Plus and Ruggedman and all dem, but not a lot of women broke into the mainstream with the kind of music that plays in the background of a club scene in an old Nollywood movie (you know the scene I’m talking about). It can’t be understated how much Weird MC shook up the scene with Ijoya, so much so that a lot of people didn’t even know she was a woman, not to mention a queer woman. So, when you throw this song on, you’re really celebrating a rich history of African Women who were breaking barriers. We love to see it!
