African Women Were at the Center of Pop Music in 2024—Where Will They Go in 2025?

When it comes to popularizing African sounds and culture, it used to be that you could only look to Kidjo and a handful of other artists. In 2024, Kidjo was in good company. When we think back to the biggest cultural moments of 2024, it’s hard to ignore the many African women who were at the center of them all, from the Grammys to the Met Gala and the Olympics. Just a few highlights: In February, Tyla took home the first Best African Music Performance Grammy for her viral pop hit “Water.” Three months later, she turned heads at the Met Gala when she arrived in a custom Balmain dress that turned her into a sand sculpture. After working with Rihanna, Beyonce and Drake, Tems released her highly anticipated soulful debut album Born in the wild. At the Olympic Games, Aya Nakamuraborn in Mali and raised in France, was the focus of the opening ceremony. Ayra Starr– who sings in English, Yoruba, Nigerian Pidgin and French – dropped her second album before dominating the festival circuit all summer.

Over the past decade, global African music has been dominated by Afrobeats, the catchy rhythmic genre most popularized by Burna Boy, WizKid and Davido. Although some women succeeded, including ‘queen of Afrobeats’ Tiwa Savage, the genre was dominated by men. In recent years, a new crop of female artists has emerged, and with it a mix of sounds – from Starr’s pop sound, to Tems’ sultry RnB-adjacent sounds, to Tyla’s clubby Amapiano. Their rise in pop culture reminded us that there is no one way to sound or be African.