Africa Now brings together the sounds of the continent, from hip-hop, highlife, Afrobeats and alté to house, Afrobongo and kuduro. Having dominated much of 2023 with her ultra-viral hit “Water”, South African pop sensation Tyla etched her name into the history books in 2024 with the release of her self-titled debut album. With its blend of pop, R&B, Afrobeats and amapiano (a blend she playfully refers to as “pop-piano”), TYLA served as a full introduction to the star—and to the fusion of sounds and culture that’s become characteristic of Africa’s next-gen superstars. “Since I started experimenting with amapiano, I just feel like it’s really helped me get to this point where I created something that is fresh and new, but still familiar and comes from home,” Tyla tells Apple Music. “It’s a sound of Africa, and it’s something that I couldn’t be more proud about.” Building on the massive commercial success of “Water” in 2023, Tyla began this year by winning the inaugural Grammy Award for Best African Music Performance—a signifier of both the stratospheric rise of amapiano and the unstoppable global appeal of music from the African continent. And with the Gunna and Skillibeng collab “Jump”, Tyla asserted herself even further with an anthemic shout-out to South Africa. “I really just wanted to tell people who I am, and I had to show my confidence through the song,” Tyla explains. “‘They’ve never had a pretty girl from Joburg/They see me now and that’s what they prefer’—that line is too iconic.” The track’s African vibes are mirrored in this roundup of the biggest songs of the year from across the continent—from amapiano favourites like TitoM and Yuppe’s “Tshwala Bam” and Felo Le Tee’s “Yebo Lapho (Gogo)” to Afrobeats hits like Asake’s “MMS”, Ayra Starr’s “Bad Vibes” and Tems’ irresistible “Love Me JeJe”, alongside hypnotic bops from Kizz Daniel, Seyi Vibez, Shallipopi and more.