Vusi Nova

Born 1984, Vusi Nova is known for his earnest love songs and an effortless falsetto that, at its crest, breaks into a pleasant roar. After releasing two studio albums heavily influenced by R&B and neo-soul—2013's Walk into Light and 2014's Did It For Love—Vusi Nova returned to Afro-pop, a genre he flirted with in his lesser-known debut album, Ndimfumene. Inspired by a breakup and sung almost exclusively in his first language IsiXhosa, his 2016 album Naninina inducted him into the Afro-pop vanguard of South Africa, which consists mainly of musicians from his hometown of Eastern Cape. He ditched the Western wear for Xhosa attire on the album's artwork and has since become one of South Africa's Afro-pop scene cornerstones.