Asides Ghana, the other country Nigerians consider a threat to their space is South Africa. Remember the AFCON ’23 semi-final game between both countries? Where banters flew in the air like dandelion leaves. Both countries claim superiority over the other.
But in the musical world, it is a different reality. More often than not, artists of both countries have gotten together to make great songs, and the long history of musical collaboration between them exemplifies a strong relationship between each nation’s local musical heritage – Afrobeat, house, Amapiano, and many others.
In this article, we’ve compiled five of the biggest Nigerian and South African musical collaborations for you to listen to.
5. DAVIDO “COOLEST KID IN AFRICA” FT. NASTY C
Trap-Davido excels as the “Coolest Kid In Africa” craftily adapting pidgin and Yoruba to Kidominant’s swinging beat, which chugs with a big base and rattling snares. The scarily fluent Nasty C is a perfect fit for the song in skill and flair, delivering a winning verse.
4. EMTEE FT WIZKID & AKA – ‘Roll Up’ Re-Up
For the remix of his hit single ‘Roll Up’, South African rapper Emtee tapped Hip Hop heavyweight AKA and Nigerian megastar Wizkid for a single that brought him Nigerian mainstream success. Wizkid laid one of his best verses as a guest artist while AKA brought his superstar cadence to the song that’s one of the most popular collaborations between both countries.
3. MASTER KG, NOMCEBO ZIKODE FT BURNA BOY – JERUSALEMA
Burna Boy injected a dose of ‘street’ into an already amazing song.
And even though most of the lyrics are sung in Zulu, that doesn’t stop it from being a global success. As at 2020, the track is the second-most Shazamed song in the world and the music video has over 185 million views on YouTube and counting.
2. DAVIDO FT FOCALISTIC — “CHAMPION SOUND”
In 2021, Davido’s “Champion Sound” was borne out of the trust he had developed with Focalistic. It was due to the fact that he desired to replicate the success of “Ke Star remix” at the time. “Champion Sound,” was an exuberant release that laid the mark of another monumental SA-NG collab.
1. AKA “ALL EYES ON ME” FT. BURNA BOY, DA LES & JR
“All Eyes On Me” is as good a club-rap song as any. Built on a bass-synth melody reminiscent of DJ Mustard‘s hits of that era, the track sees Burna Boy, AKA, DA Les and JR delivering an all-time party anthem. The song was certified platinum by the Recording Industry of South Africa and won Best African Collaboration at the All Africa Music Awards.
