South African hip-hop stalwart Ben Sharpa has, through his Cape Town musical home Pioneer Unit, unveiled the album artwork for his new project, the “4th Density Light Show” to be released on the French label, Jarring Effects in May. This will be his second offering, and follows the release of “B. Sharpa” close to four years ago. According the the press release, Sharpa shall ‘collaborate with audio visual electro-dub crew Pure Solid, both in studio and live’.

The live show melds Spo0ky’s striking visual imagery with Dplanet’s visceral production, while Ben Sharpa steers the ship with his incisive delivery and precise crowd-control. The video for the lead single, “Heroes“, is currently in post-production (check for the 4DLS hashtag for some behind-the-scenes pictures). In the interim, Sharpa shall release “The Transition EP“. It will be an eight-track, pay-what-you-like offering featuring the likes of John Robinson (USA), Siete Nueve (Puerto Rico), and Snazz the Dictator (SA).

For more Ben Sharpa news, visit the Pioneer Unit website.

Just caught onto this courtesy of twitter. Malawians Dominant 1 and 3rd Eye speak on their country in a manner that should likely resonate with many an African. The track is actually part of a documentary of the same name by Geert Veuskens and Pieter De Vos, more details can be gleaned from the facebook page.

@D1malawi and 3rd Eye deliver solid verses; even going back and forth through the course of the song. A positive message coupled with clever punch lines and strong verses immediately endeared this video to me, I’ll definitely be looking for more from both artists after this.

More from 3rd Eye & Dominant 1 on Facebook

Last week, one of Africa’s highest profile rappers, Sarkodie dropped his second album Rapperholic on iTunes. The album’s release party/concert was held on Christmans day last year at the Accra Conference Centre to a sold out crowd & much fanfare. This album is his first release after signing to the Akon’s imprint, Konvict Africa. Sarkodie is considered one of Africa’s premier MC’s. With his rapid fire flow & effortless delivery Sarkodie has been impressing fans for years, earning him the moniker of Africa’s Twistah from Konvict label mate Sway

This album, his first  release on a major international label & was expected to be his break out offering & expose him to a whole new demographic of African Hip-Hop fans.  The @25toLyf staff are all massive Sarkodie fans & this album has been on major repeat since its release. (Please see these previous posts (Sarkodie – Rapperholic + When I Grow Up & Sarkodie – Saa Okodie No Ft. Obrafour ).

This album has to be one of the best albums I’ve heard in a while, I’ve gone through the album front to back at least 6 times since I got it & I can’t think of a song I would want to skip.

Sarkodie delivers his fast flow in English, Pidgin English & Twi. Even though there is an obvious language barrier, considering I don’t speak a work of Twi & my Pidgin English understanding is elementary at best, I still find myself getting engrossed in the songs & picking up the general subject matter of each easily. Music is an international language & when Sarkodie is in his element flowing effortlessly from bar to bar on some impeccable beats; you can’t help but nod, & in some cases dance along. On songs like U go Kill feat El, Sarkodie reminds why he holds the title of “Africa’s Azonto King” with an almost hypnotic rhyme delivery on a dancefloor friendly beat. Expect to hear this in an Afrobeatz club near you soon.

Whether he is lamenting the pains & heartbreak of a failed relationship on Where Did I go Wrong or spitting his trademark mix of Twi & English on Give it To Me , which borrows its chorus from Lionel Ritchie’s All Night Long, Sarkodie finds a way to have you feel & understand his lyrics even when you can’t translate every word.

In summary this album is simply amazing. From start to finish Sarkodie grabs your attention & doesn’t relinquish it. Rapperholic is full of collaborations & features which only add to the final product & don’t take anything away from the project. The beat selection, production & arrangement are stellar, sampling both from African & International pop songs. There is a great balance of both English , Pidging English & Twi throughout the album , which allows Sarkodie to appeal to his old fans but also has crossover hits that will attract new English speaking fans to his music  This album is amazing & I have no doubt Sarkordie has an amazing career ahead of him

Now onto the negatives of the album, even though they are hard to find. Sarkodie is signed to Akon’s label yet is impossible to see if Akon had any influence or interest in the project at all. There are no features or even a production credit from the Konvict label head. Even more surprising, there are no collaborations at all from other Konvict music stars Such as Sway ( who has collaborated with Sarkodie before  on Lay Away & Feeling Funky 3 ). If this was supposed to be the album Konvict Africa was hoping would announce its new star & take him & the label to a larger audience you would have a tough time believing it.

The promotion for this project seems erratic at best, at time of writing, the Konvict Africa website still has a promo video from 2010. I believe the site hasn’t been updated since by the looks of it.] There was very little press or blog coverage leading up to the release of this project which is worrying when considering Sarkodie is trying to create & cement an international brand. [ Case in point: Ghana's D-Black got coverage on HipHopDX last for his project & Sarkodie was last mentioned when he was signed to Konvict (2010)]

While I was preparing this post the only real Artist Profile I could find for Sarkodie was a very brief profile written for his Last.Fm profile which was copied & pasted to fan sites & blogs.  Another thing that makes me scratch my head is that the release party/concert for this album was held in December , yet it only became available for download 2 months later.

Sarkodie is an incredible artist , one with the potential to really put African Hip-Hop on the international scene & follow in the vein of K’naan but that cannot happen if the label he is signed to isn’t doing all it can to expand his brand. Konvict music is no small independent label, Lady Gaga is signed to it, T- Pain was once on it as well. It has the resources to adequately market & promote a project, so why it failed to do so here is beyond me.

In conclusion this is a great album that could’ve been greater. If this project had a few high profile collaborations, an international radio friendly lead single & video, adequate marketing & promotion, Sarkodie could’ve been on his way to reaching unseen heights. But instead we have a good album & a great artist that won’t get the exposure they deserve & us African Hip-Hop fans are left wondering “what if”, instead of celebrating an artist’s talent.

There is a lesson to be learned here for all African artists. Marketing & self-promotion are just as important as talent & in some in cases even more important. It doesn’t matter how good you are if nobody has heard of you or cannot easily find your music.

Download Sarkodie – Rapperholic here

Follow @sarkordie on twitter

Harare based rapper, producer & part time crooner, Simba Tagz just dropped his new track Can’t Leave. The song speaks about the feelings we go through when a relationship is on shaky ground but you just bring yourself to end it. He enlists the sweet voice of fellow Zimbabwean Davina Green on the hook.

Preview the track below or hit the link for the download

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

Download Simba Tagz – Can’t Leave Ft Davina Green here

Follow @SimbaTagz & @DavinaGreen on twitter

Somalia’s & arguably Africa’s biggest Hip-Hop export, Keinan Abdi Warsame AKA  K’naan , just dropped the the first official video off his More Beautiful Than Silence EP. The track feautres rap legend Nas & the video’s gritty images match the track’s lyrics

No I don’t know pilots/N**ga I know pirates !

Download K’naan – More Beautiful Than Silence on iTunes here

Zimbabwean MC, poet, animator & video producer Enqore  recently dropped The Resume , a song featuring fellow Zimbabwean artists BegottenSun , Aura ( who is also Mrs. Enqore ) & Karizma.

This is a solid joint with its fair share of punchlines, Enqore & BegottenSun throw in a few jabs lamenting the current state of music

The music is just beats, snares, no flare / Just beats with no soul there / This is why, I’m raps sole heir

Preview the track below & also look out for Enqore’s upcoming projects . He is currently working on his second EP , The Way Of The Sage ,  a CG horror movie called Gomo , an online vlog & radio show on NafunaTV, an academy for young artist’s & an Artist Management company. With all these projects in the pipeline , I just want to know when he finds time to sleep.

Click here to visit Enqore’s blog

Follow @theqore , @Itskarizma , @begottensun on Twitter

Ghanaian rapper @Sarkodie recently released his long-awaited “Rapperholic” album, and it’s now available on itunes. To help motivate you to go get it, check out the single “When I Grow Up” and the trailer for his upcoming video with Efya.

When I Grow Up ft. Ikechukwu:

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

I’m In Love With You Trailer:

Zimbabwean emcee @fortyfourfores continues his release of tracks from his “Going Back Is Not The Same As Staying” project. I must say that it’s been a sublime ride so far and things aren’t cooling off yet.

Cherry Coloured finds Fore over a more surreal kind of sound, with a haunting refrain while reflecting on a love with a lot of memories that just happen to be connected with the colour of cherries. A “New York City love story” in his own words (Fore is based in the United States, FYI) this track definitely draws you in. Catch it below.

Keep up with Fore on his Tumblr for more.

Mingus, the Cape Town-based emcee who has been involved in prolific projects such as the seven-man hip-hop outfit, Writers Block, has been hard at work crafting a follow-up to his “Beneath the underdog” LP (named after his namesake Charles Mingus’ autobiography). From the two songs he has leaked thus far, the sound is leaning heavily towards a decidedly jazzier sound, which makes sense considering that for the better part of last year, he performed with an all-jazz outfit.

He decided to let us in on one of the songs, entitled “The Elixir“, and it sounds suave (oh yes, we did catch the reference to his hood Gugulethu as he spits “double seven five oh, embrace my origin/ deeply-rooted, true to the music, I’ve gotta honour it“). A full review is in order once the project is done, but you can read this article in order to get acquainted.

An earlier leak of the song “Same as I never was” (feat. DJ Whitenite):

Jay Rox , a member of the Zambia’s Hip-Hop collective Zone Fam recently dropped Monga Nkongole , a track produced by himself & Cream Dolla .  The beat itself is a certified banger & the Dope G & Chef 187 features impress.

If you a fan of Zone Fam this is definitely worth a listen . Look out for the Jay Rox‘ album dropping soon.

Preview the track below or hit the link to download

Follow @JayRox05 , @Dope_G & @chef187 on twitter

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

Jay Rox ft Dope G & Chef 187 – Monga Nkongole

Download: Jay Rox ft Dope G & Chef 187 – Monga Nkongole (Produced by Cream Dollar & Jay Rox ) HERE