Thank You to Asake & Tems, from a Music Lover

Is it just me? Does anyone else feel this, almost, spiritual uplifting and unifying of African people, globally? It's quite possible that this thought is completely unoriginal, and that there are impeccably articulated descriptions of this already in existence online. But right now, I felt the need to connect with someone who is feeling...THIS.

Music is usually my catalyst, and everything about this particular song this evening just made me stop and pause. I felt it. Without understanding the language, knowing much about the artist, or even the particular African country of origin. The beauty of it is that by this time next week, I'll have had the opportunity to dive deeper into Asake's music and see what I've been missing.

 

If this is the first Asake track that really caught my ear, then I want to know why. I want to listen to the musical journey thus far. Reconnect with the songs I didn't realize he was featured in.

Like listening to some 2012 Burna Boy...now. The perspective is irreplaceable. The process of understanding an artist is a journey that you enter, and then if you're lucky...you'll fall in love with their sound.

When you have music as your core source of energy, this process is indescribable. That's why sometimes I ask myself...seriously, is it just me?

That being said, upon discovering this Asake with DJ SPINALL, I was convinced that this would be the main artist I'd be listening to this week.

Until I rediscovered a song by Tems from last summer around this time, Higher. I realize I am new on my journey into Afrobeats and Amapiano even, but I am also excited because I know the impact of the music already, and I know that this is just the beginning for the rise in Afrobeats that we're about to witness. Like many other things, and other blog posts...I am documenting this journey for future reference, to revisit these thoughts.

 

Tems' voice and tone is another example of why I believe this moment we're experiencing in Black music is monumental. I can feel it. I can hear it, in the intricacies of her voice. We haven't heard a unique tone like this since...maybe Lauryn? A voice that we don't even have to meet, to know that we love the person behind it. A voice that transparent and honest. It's always transformational...if we look back in musical history. Key artists that moved the culture, and climate, and community power...with a voice, or a song.

Music is the heartbeat of our people. Everywhere.

One more question. Does anyone else feel that Afrobeats, Soca, and Reggae are quietly merging into the same sound...and R&B is embracing the influence as well? Dancehall and trap/hip hop are connecting in other ways, and there will always be outliers, but do you feel the shift? The barriers fading? Do you feel that this move in culture will have a power beyond what we can see right now? That it will connect us in a way we haven't been connected...is that naïve to believe that music alone can do that, because that's what my spirit is telling me.

Is this how the hippies felt in the 60s? Real talk. Honest questions.

Does anyone else remember how refreshing it was to hear Tems [for the first time] during the pandemic? It was a moment where I felt a culture shift, and peak creativity during the quarantine. It felt like process, and permission to still be great.

 

This music has changed me, and sharpened my ear and thirst for a new level of sound. I want to be able to easily differentiate between music from different African countries, as easily as I can detect Vincy soca, or Bajan soca. Jab jab. Chicago House music, or West Coast hip hop. I want to know the nuances between Congolese music, South African music, or Nigerian music, for example. In time.

I really believe the spirit of the people, their pains, and stories, and life itself is in the music their generation creates and appreciates. This direction for Black music is deep. It's deeper than we've ever been, musically, as a community...because this acknowledgement comes with the collective power of African nations, a beautiful and resourceful continent, and a renewed spirit of family. Access. Brilliance. No limits.

Imagine, if you will, the magnificence that will emerge once we are all moving in the same direction, and speaking the same language. Singing the same songs. Power unparalleled, and yes, I believe the music will be a key, key unifier. In fact, I openly anticipate this.

Written by SM Robinson for Kya Publishing's "Reflection & Reason" blog.