Introduction
As the genre of afrobeats grows in the united states and recently having one of their biggest stars “Burna Boy” shut down the hollywood bowl in Los Angeles , we decided to talk to one of the rising platforms that we have seen consistently partnered with a lot of the Artist and festivals going on in the afrobeats seen. The Wahala Room agency / Platform was created by Samuel Ogunkoya around 2014 , and has grown to be a platform that represents multiple afrobeats artists and and brands.
As we go more into conversation we ask them about artist whom may not be in the mainstream yet for afrobeats but are on the rise
# 1 Ruger
Ruger – Bounce (Official Video)
We got really interested in him after words from people in the music industry were talking about his talent even before he was introduced into the industry. Go on any of your music streaming platforms and search up “Ruger” you are going to see his most recent project called PANDEMIC. Bangers after bangers is what you hear on his project. We can tell that he definitely has more to give years from now because of how different the songs’ vibes were in the project yet the project was still very solid. RUGER is definitely an artist to go and check out.
Amaare
Amaarae – LIKE IT (Official Music Video)
She is different, her style and delivery. Looks like a lot of effort gets put into making her music videos very visually pleasing. The song that got our attention is the song she has titled “Like it”. Forgot how we came across it, but man.. Right off the back just like a lot of the artists on our list, her voice is sonically pleasing and easy to digest. Her style is different, and right of the back you will get that feel in the visuals.
We had gotten an opportunity to attend one of her recent shows in Los Angeles in which she completely shut down. She opened for afrobeats raising lady artist “Tems” . After the show we walked away feeling like wow, her stage perences match the ambience vibes you get when taking in her music.
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Bella Shmurda
Bella Shmurda – Vision2020 [Official Video] ft. Olamide
He is like the new voice of the streets… No actually his voice sounds like he is from the streets. He gives a real feeling, like yo, this guy means what he is singing about, This guy is making music about things he is actually going through. First time me and my team heard about him was through a producer in los angeles, We were in the studio and heard the song he had with one of afrobeats older vet artists named “Olamide” called vision2020. Right off the back I asked “yo who is this’ , the things he was saying in the song on his voice delivery was different from a lot of the afrobeats songs that were currently being It might be harder for bella shmurda’s music to cross over fully into the american charts since he speaks a lot in the native language but that’s one of the main reasons we love him, he shouldn’t change, his core audience will develop a big loving towards him, and as he develops we look forward to seeing how his music and audience grows.
Samkul
Samkul (Feat.Demi Grace) – Come Through (Official Music Video)
Different vibes at different times. We recently came across Samkul when he released a very fire single called “Come Through” ft Demi Grace, and decided to take a look more into his work. One of the biggest things that stuck out was that when listening to his body of work you never know which styles you would be getting. It seems like he is in the process of still finding his sound but tracks like “Slow Down” , “Soweto” , and many others hit hard. Out of the list of 5 artists, Samkul seems to be the only one currently independent.
Buju
Buju – Outside (Official Video)
The last but not least in the list is buju, and no we are not talking about the Jamaican legend buju bantan. Buju’s voice and his tone, he is a star. He delivers hooks to music that has a spiritual feel, something that old heads and the younger generation could grab onto. If you want to check out two tracks from him we would recommend you check out “Out Side” & also check out “mood” featuring afrobeats superstar Wizkid.
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Here are the top 5 rising Afrobeats stars that we’ve been listening to this summer. We tried to present around that hasn’t crossed the 1 million followers mark and are still on very of showing potential to get bigger while still bringing something new into afrobeats, Wahala Room is all about giving you a little taste of what’s going on in our neck of the woods and these artists have definitely caught our attention. So check out their music, support them by purchasing it or sharing it with your friends and let us know who you think deserves a spot on this list! We will like these 5 artists who will have an impact with afrobeats in the coming years.
