Spotify has partnered with COLORSXSTUDIOS for a multi-day R&B writing camp in Nairobi, Kenya.
The writing camp, taking place in the first week of October, will bring together artists, songwriters and producers from across Africa and beyond, with Spotify’s flagship R&B playlist Tantalizers acting as the umbrella.
R&B in Africa is a testament to the adaptability and creativity of African musicians. While R&B has traditionally been characterized by its soulful melodies and themes of love and relationships, African artists are giving the genre a unique twist by infusing it with their own cultural and musical influences.
Africa, the birthplace of rich culture, has served as an enduring muse for the global music industry. Despite the historical dominance of Afrobeats, Amapiano, Gengetone and others, in the African music landscape, an exciting transformation is unfolding as R&B undergoes a notable resurgence across the continent, with an average year-on-year growth of 133% on Spotify.
Africa’s thirst for quality R&B is undeniable, with Kenya leading the charge in this resurgence, according to Spotify data over the last 90 days – the Tantalizers playlist gets most of its streams from the country, and R&B ranks in the top five genres in Kenya.
Across SSA, The Weeknd, Chris Brown, SZA, Rihanna and Beyoncé are the artists who the Spotify R&B listeners cannot get enough of. Locally, artists like Kenya’s Xenia Manasseh, Ghana’s Baaba J, South Africa’s Lloyiso and Nigeria’s Bloody Civilian have the people in their feels.
