BLACK ARTISTS TO LISTEN TO
BY BRENESSA ROACH | FEBRUARY 17, 2024
In honour of Black History Month, we want to celebrate 6 Black artists that you need to listen to.
For a little history, Black History Month happens every February and it’s a celebration of Black achievements. It is a time to recognize the role that Black people play in the history of the U.S, Canada and the rest of the world. It’s also a month where you can educate yourself about Black culture and give visibility to the people, organizations and businesses that are creating change where systemic racism still exists. It’s also important to remember to continue to educate yourself and support BIPOC communities every month, not just in February. If you would like to learn more about Black History Month and the history of it, please read this article.
The artists we will share today are some artists that have been on our radar for a while. They all have different sounds and genres and we hope you love them as much as we do!
Ernest Nwokedi Felix, also known by his artist name Senth is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and producer with around 22K monthly listeners on Spotify. His first single “Tu Tu Tu” was released on May 20th, 2021 and was in collaboration with Cricket. Followed by that, he did another collaboration with Nizzy and Zefanio for the single “Fall” which came out in May 2022.
Senth’s official debut was on November 17th, 2022 with his debut single “Dagger” which has gained over 600K streams on Spotify alone. “Dagger” was a pre-release track for his debut EP Senth Of Her which came out on December 13th, 2022. This EP was featured in playlists such as; Afrobeats Hits, Africa Rising and Afrobeats Workout.
On November 2nd, 2023, Senth released the single “On My Mind” which was a pre-release track for his second EP Wayyy Saucy which came out on November 22nd, 2023. Our favourite song from this EP is “Lucy” which has around 56K streams on Spotify. This EP is his latest release, but we hope he releases more music in 2024.
Listen to “Lucy” by Senth on Spotify:
Check out Senth on Instagram: @senthmusic
Osé (pronounced as o-say) is a Nigerian born R&B/Soul singer from Toronto, Canada with around 26.4K monthly listeners on Spotify. She debuted on January 9th, 2020 with the single “Games” followed by “Overfeel” in March 2020. She ended 2020 with the release of her single “Do No More” which is one of her most popular songs with over 133K streams on Spotify.
Her first single of 2021 was “Hurt Bae” on March 26th. Her next release was on September 30th, 2022 with the double singles In The Meantime… which included “Perfect Timing” and “Same Place” with King Draft and Swank. “Perfect Timing” is her most popular song with almost 150K streams on Spotify. In 2023, she just released remixes of “Perfect Timing”.
So far for 2024, Osé has released one single titled “JJC” on January 26th. This was the single that introduced us to her as it was featured in Spotify’s curated playlist for Canadian R&B artists “Mood Ring”.
Listen to “JJC” by Osé on Spotify:
Check out Osé on Instagram: @theofficialose
Tsotsi is an R&B artist from Chicago, United States with around 1.5K monthly listeners on Spotify. He debuted on June 22nd, 2016 with the single “Hokage Tower” which is his most popular song with almost 50K streams on Spotify. His next single “Skiwalker” was released in June 2018. Tsotsi released a few singles throughout 2019-2021. In 2022 is when he started to release more singles starting off with “chase you down” on April 17th, 2022. In July 2022 he released “hooked” and “mona lisa”. Both of these singles were pre-release tracks for his the gallery which came out August 19th, 2022.
On January 6th, 2023, he released the single “the sky is falling” followed by “Stay” with yuronono on January 17th. On February 3rd, he released “marionette”. Both “the sky is falling” and “marionette” were pre-release tracks for his debut album LOVE + GROOVE which came out on April 28th, 2023. Following the release of his album, he dropped “gold” in September and “that thing” in October. His latest release is from November 2023 for the single “moon” which is the song we like the most from his discography.
Listen to “moon” by Tsotsi on Spotify:
Check out Tsotsi on Instagram: @tsostillalive
Jordan Occasionally, also known as JD is an independent Black, non-binary Dance Pop/R&B artist from Memphis, United States with around 7.7K monthly listeners on Spotify. They debuted on July 21st, 2019 with the single “Don’t Shoot”. Their debut single was a pre-release track for their debut EP 1998 which came out on November 1st, 2019.
On July 31st, 2020, JD released “Don’t Stop” which was in collaboration with inoahcreation. This was a pre-release track for their debut album Indigo which came out on February 3rd, 2021. This album includes their most popular single “Issaparty” which has over 538K streams on Spotify alone.
Their second most popular song with 461K streams is “Lie Lie Lie” which came out on February 22nd, 2022 and is another collaboration with inoahcreation.
On July 21st, 2023, Jordan Occasionally collaborated with Mak Ro on the single “Just We”.
Their most recent single “say less” is from January 11th, 2024.
Listen to “say less” by Jordan Occasionally on Spotify:
Check out Jordan Occasionally on Instagram: @jordanoccasionally
Jhariah is a multi-genre singer, songwriter and musician based in Brooklyn, New York with around 506K monthly listeners on Spotify. He debuted on August 19th, 2017 with the single “Catch Me If You Can”. Followed by his debut, he released “The Marching Dolls” in March 2018 and “City of Ashes” in August. All three of these singles were pre-release tracks for his debut album The Great Tale of How I Ruined It All which came out on August 10th, 2018.
On March 27th, 2020, he released the EP To Mend The Sun and ending the year with the release of “Needed a Change of Pace” on November 27th.
On March 5th, 2021, he released the single “DEBT COLLECTOR” which is one of his most popular songs with over 8.2 million streams on Spotify alone. On April 23rd, 2021, he released “Flight of the Crows” which is his most popular song with almost 14 million streams on Spotify. Both these singles were included on his second album A BEGINNERS’ GUIDE TO FAKING YOUR DEATH.
In 2023, Jhariah released “RISK, RISK, RISK!” on August 31st. He ended 2023 off with the release of “EAT YOUR FRIENDS” in October 2023 which was in collaboration with Pinkshift.
So far for 2024, Jhariah released “PIN-EYE” and “COLLARBONE” on January 26th, 2024.
Listen to “Flight of the Crows” by Jhariah on Spotify:
Check out Jhariah on Instagram: @Jhariahclare
Naa Darkua Chinonye Wristberg, also known by her stage name Darkua is an AfroSoul/Beats singer and songwriter from Ghana/Nigeria. She currently has around 8K monthly listeners on Spotify. She debuted on March 23rd, 2021 with the single “Amalelor”. Following her debut, she released “Go Low” in October 2021.
On March 25th, 2022, she released “You”. Her most popular song “Echo” released in June 2023. This song currently has over 167K streams on Spotify. All of these singles she released were included on her debut EP U’ve Been Here B4 which came out on June 16th, 2023.
Her latest single “Say My Name” is from January 10th, 2024.
Listen to “Say My Name” by Darkua on Spotify:
Check out Darkua on Instagram: @darkua_live
Check out our “BLACK ARTISTS TO LISTEN TO” Spotify Playlist:
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