For The Record

A Brazilian producer and a Kenyan singer came together to create a song last year that sOared ujp music charts globally, and in collaborating With a an India-born director for the video, it is NOW a milestone for African sound.

-  Chanel Retief

A decade ago, who knew Africa would boast a full-fledged creative economy? 

The continent is front and center on the global stage today especially when it comes to its music, which has seen rapid strides with collaborations between homegrown artists, producers, and directors and creative talent from across the world.

Into this mix, we are now seeing one of the biggest crosscultural collaborations in the Electronic Dance Music (EDM) genre yet, described by critics as “a song that will give you an undeniable earworm” (catchy piece of music that sticks).

Brazilian music producer Matheus Zerbini Massa, popularly known as Zerb, released the single Mwaki in October last year. The song, featuring Kenyan singer Sofiya Nzau, has been soaring up charts globally such as Shazam TOP 200 GLOBAL Popular Songs and Spotify Global Viral 50.

Its success has come as no surprise for the team’s creators. “To be honest, [I am not surprised at how big the song has become], not really,” Massa says to FORBES AFRICA. “It’s very unique. Every person I have [passed on] the song to has said it’s one of their favorites on the EP. Usually, when we are not doing music that is in English, we think it’s harder to break barriers. And this song [has been] the opposite. Because it has connected with people from all over the world.”

Mwaki, which predominantly features Nzau’s vocals, is in Kenya’s Kikuyu language. Nzau knew the song would go viral but was not sure about the extent of it.