SILVASTONE celebrates the ‘Sounds of UK Afrobeats’ on BBC Radio 1Xtra
London-based Afrobeats artist/producer SILVASTONE has just flexed his other less-spoken skill as DJ and hosted a banging guest mix on BBC Radio 1Xtra. In his 20 minutes ‘Midday Mix’ for presenter Nick Bright’s recent Saturday mid-morning show SILVASTONE opted to exclusively celebrate the sounds of UK Afrobeats.
His tracklist included all new music from some of the leading UK Afrobeats artists.
During the on-air chat prior to the mix the multi-talented Afrobeats star told Nick it was important that he supported the UK artists representing Africa and that he was keen to specifically celebrate their music throughout this opportunity.
He further highlighted that UK African acts bring something very unique to the Afrobeats genre worldwide and went further to rightfully claim that the UK scene as a whole is a integral part of the reason why the genre itself has become such a massive global success.
SILVASTONE went on further to tell Nick that African artists in the UK are perhaps more likely to experiment with different sounds as a whole due to the fact that they are a widely exposed to other genres and are influenced by multiple African communities and other international cultures directly around them and within easy reach (i.e. online, media, travel, etc).
His mix was certainly testimony to this and showcased a wide variety of different UK Afro productions. Throughout we hear exhibits of just how cosmopolitan Afrobeats from these shores is. As expected there’s touches of Dancehall, Hiphop, R&B and of course Afro-pop and Afro House.
However, digging further its evident how British Pop, Grime, UKG, Dance and even traditional English folk music can all be a source of influence proving just how much of a sweet melting-pot UK Afrobeats truly can be.
The nonstop music mix broadcast across the UK and worldwide features back-to-back bangers from a wide range of talent representing the various different styles of the genre.
It includes recent hits from the likes of Maleek Berry and Juls plus brand new exclusive first plays from Nizzy. We also hear a scorching hot world premiere from Komo entitled “Ama” that we are already very excited about.
TrayC Selasie’s infectious jam “Somebody” gets a very well deserved inclusion whilst Vicky Sola surprises us with her brilliant take on a traditional festive song.
Recent breakthrough act Jobaa – swiftly followed by GoldKay, get the party started perfectly. A stand-out jam amongst the dance floor fillers is “Better Life” – the brand new anthem from Kwamz (of ‘Kwamz and Flava’ fame) that addresses some of the plights we have been seeing around the world – and in this particular reference, West Africa and the BLM movement.
The powerful protest song also features an all-star cast of fellow celebrated UK Afrobeats luminaries including Moelogo, GhettoBoy, SK and Sona.
Listen to the SILVASTONE midday-mix and check out its full track listing below;
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p090lkyq
- Jobaa – Bad Boy
- GoldKay – Magnum
- Nizzy – Bombay
- TrayC Selasi – Somebody
- Kwamz ft GhettoBoy, Sona, SK and Moelogo – Better Life
- Komo x Johnny – Ama
- Juls ft Busiwa, Jaz Karis – Soweto Blues
- Maleek Berry – Konnect
- Vicky Sola – Merry Christmas
- SILVASTONE – Falling For You
- SILVASTONE x Masterstepz – Feeling Your Melody
More from SILVASTONE:
@silvastone (Instagram)
Lastly, stay up to date with all you need to know about African music at SOA, right here.
SILVASTONE celebrates the ‘Sounds of UK Afrobeats’ on BBC Radio 1Xtra
