{"id":42496,"date":"2025-07-31T14:58:22","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T14:58:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/31\/the-afropop-girls-making-this-summer-sexy\/"},"modified":"2025-07-31T14:58:22","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T14:58:22","slug":"the-afropop-girls-making-this-summer-sexy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/31\/the-afropop-girls-making-this-summer-sexy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Afropop Girls Making This Summer Sexy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tOn Friday, July 26, the day of the week new music drops regularly, three of the hottest pop stars out of Africa doled out the steamiest trifecta of releases this year. Nigerian singer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/arya-star-interview-1211965\/\">Ayra Starr<\/a>\u2019s latest song is literally about being hot. South African star <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/tyla-wwp-mixtape-1235393626\/\">Tyla<\/a> came with a four-pack EP called <em>WWP<\/em>, short for <em>We Wanna Party<\/em>. And Ghanaian-American shapeshifter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/amaarae-black-star-new-album-interview-1235352581\/\">Amaarae<\/a> broke barriers with her new single \u201cGirlie-Pop!\u201d and its steamy, queer-coded music video. It was a day that crystallized a pattern that had been forming all year: the women of Afropop are bringing sexy back.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Ayra Starr - Hot Body (Lyric video)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eLZLuVtJo7Q?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tMuch of their movement, like others across media right now, are Y2K coded. Skirts and tops have gotten microscopic, bottoms are being slung below the waist again, and lots of producers seem to be doing their best impressions of early Pharrell. But that time also came with some trends in how women\u2019s sexuality was marketed and received that we now find disturbing, to say the least. We can see that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/framing-britney-spears-director-criticism-1208084\/\">Britney Spears<\/a>, the queen of Y2K, was someone whose personhood and sexuality was often devoured and exploited as she explored both as a young girl (her iconic and controversial 1999 <em>Rolling Stone<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/britney-spears-teen-queen-rolling-stones-1999-cover-story-254871\/\">cover<\/a> is an emblem of how complicated it is to make a teenager a sex symbol). We now know Janet Jackson was unfairly shamed and punished after Justin Timberlake exposed her pasty-covered breast during their 2004 Super Bowl performance. Today, while some of the cultural relics of that time have rolled back around, many young women may have more agency about why, when, and how they want to participate.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tIt feels like that agency is what we\u2019re witnessing in Afropop. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/ayra-starr\/\" id=\"auto-tag_ayra-starr\" data-tag=\"ayra-starr\">Ayra Starr<\/a> \u2014 who emerged in 2021 as a cunning 19 year old surrounded by cartoon butterflies and broken hearts in 2021 \u2014 has grown more edgy in her dress and performance as she\u2019s gotten older. In May, she inched towards summer with the fiery \u201cGimme Dat,\u201d video featuring Wizkid, and last week, she finally released her much-anticipated new single \u201cHot Body.\u201d \u201cBody be dancing\/Slow wine\/Summer body\/So fine,\u201d she sings on the strip tease of a song. As she breadcrumbed the track on social media over the past few weeks, she could be seen hitting a seductive, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/OfficialBlog_UR\/status\/1944379643147993327\/video\/1\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">TikTok ready dance<\/a> to it with her girlfriends, and it truly looks like she\u2019s having a blast. Just a few days ago, on July 27, she giddily celebrated performing the song with Coldplay, who she\u2019s touring with as an opening act this summer. Before she took the stage, Chris Martin, who eagerly accompanied her on acoustic guitar, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.premiumtimesng.com\/entertainment\/music\/810602-ayra-starr-dazzles-miami-crowd-as-she-performs-hot-body-with-coldplay.html\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">told<\/a> the crowd, \u201cOk, everybody, listen. We will do something special because this is Ayra Starr from Nigeria. She is going to be the world\u2019s biggest pop star soon and she has a new song called \u2018Hot Body\u2019 which I think is amazing. So please indulge us and join us for a big dance party.\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ editors-pick-module lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-tiktok wp-block-embed-tiktok\"\/>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tDancing, of course, has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/tyla\/\" id=\"auto-tag_tyla\" data-tag=\"tyla\">Tyla<\/a>\u2019s thing since she captivated the mainstream with \u201cWater\u201d in 2023. (Cute Y2K fashion has become a bit of a calling card for her, as it has for Starr. They\u2019ve been friendly collaborators, both 23 years old.) The rollout and name of Tyla\u2019s new EP <em>WWP<\/em> takes cues from the popular nightlife chant \u201c[Insert name of DJ or performer leading the crowd here], we wanna party!\u201d That makes perfect sense for a girl who\u2019s always been about partying so hard you\u2019re soaked, whether with sweat or the contents of your water bottle. Tyla\u2019s <em>WWP<\/em> features \u201cBliss,\u201d a track whose music video spawned an excellent meme about being sexy and sad at once. It takes the quick cut between a scene of the singer fighting tears and another of her grinding against a silver sculpture in desert sand. \u201cIdk if we\u2019re supposed to shake ass or cry\u201d one YouTube commenter wrote to the tune of 15,000 likes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Tyla - BLISS (Official Music Video)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tmX6kmVkRCg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThe full <em>WWP<\/em> EP includes two songs that debuted Friday, 7\/26, one being \u201cDynamite,\u201d an energizing collaboration with Wizkid (it\u2019s the pair\u2019s first and feels reminiscent of Ayra Starr hopping on Star Boy\u2019s \u201c2 Sugar\u201d earlier in her rise). The song that really cements the sexy, though, is \u201cMr. Media.\u201d While the track lambasts the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/tyla-ethnicity-the-breakfast-club-interview-1235039923\/\">voyeuristic sensationalism<\/a> she\u2019s faced in the public eye she uses the second verse to remind herself why she shouldn\u2019t care: \u201cBad bitch, I ain\u2019t always got time to talk\/Too bad, yeah, I know I\u2019m difficult\/You\u2019d be too if you had my visuals\/You\u2019d be too if you had material.\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ recirculation-modules lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/amaarae\/\" id=\"auto-tag_amaarae\" data-tag=\"amaarae\">Amaarae<\/a> seems to be channeling a similar devil-may-care confidence as she gears up to release <em>Black Star,<\/em> her third studio album set to drop August 8. On Friday, she shared the second single, \u201cGirlie-Pop!\u201d following the erotic \u201cS.M.O.\u201d (for \u201cSlut Me Out\u201d). \u201cGirlie-Pop!\u201d ushers in this new era of Amaarae\u2019s powerfully, honing a familiar balance of softness, urgency and cleverly sensual songwriting with a righteously queer arc. Using music as an extended allegory, she coos, \u201cI want you to take me from the top\/Kiss me \u2019til I tell you, \u2018Make it soft\u2019\/One of us gotta bring this to a stop\/Flip positions, switching genres \u2019til you make it pop.\u201d In the moody video, Amaarae nearly sings into the mouth of another woman, the camera lingering in their lips. In other moments, their heads swirl around each other\u2019s face and neck. When that\u2019s not happening, the woman is DJing, potentially another bit of innuendo.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Amaarae - Girlie-Pop! (Official Music Video)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cfC6MIUSXwg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tAmaarae\u2019s imagery and music has sometimes teetered towards being homoerotic (in the \u201cS.M.O.\u201d video, for example, one might say she\u2019s literally waxing a beautiful woman\u2019s ass) but \u201cGirlie-Pop!\u201d marks a bold embrace of queerness for a Ghanaian artist of her magnitude. For years, Ghanaian lawmakers have notoriously been pushing virulent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/ghana-pushes-anti-lgbtq-bill-as-defense-of-family-values\/a-72540728\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">anti-LGBTQ legislation<\/a> and now they have a president reportedly committed to passing them. Amaarae <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@realamaarae\/video\/7531054244233858360\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">declaring<\/a> that the video was shot in Ghana \u201cwith loveeeeee\u201d is a radical act. \u201cMy real mission is for us to not think about sexuality, or to subvert it so much to the point where it subconsciously takes people away from that,\u201d she told Galore about her last album, <em>Fountain Baby,<\/em> in 2023. \u201cI wanted to make the music so sexy and captivating that you kind of wouldn\u2019t think about what pronouns I was using, no matter if you are straight, gay, pansexual, whatever. That was my way of trying to slowly break that boundary that things have to be in boxes and confined and defined.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tSo much of this Summer of Sexy has actually been brewing since 2024. Moliy\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/video\/podcasts\/100000010276675\/moliy-shake-it-song-of-the-week.html\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Shake It to the Max (Fly)<\/a>\u201d is currently one of the biggest songs in the world, and the Ghanaian singer first teased it back in October with a short snippet on TikTok. Today there have been 4.5 million videos made with a remix featuring dancehall stars Skillibeng and Shenseea on the app. In fact, there\u2019s been five remixes total, including versions with Sean Paul and Major Lazer. Though Moliy is African, \u201cShake It to the Max\u201d has always been a dancehall song, produced by Silent Addy and Disco Neal of the DJ duo Bashment Sound. On July 29,<em> Billboard <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/chart-beat\/shake-it-to-the-max-number-1-rhythmic-airplay-chart-1236032573\/\" target=\"_blank\">announced<\/a> that the song had hit Number One on their Rhythmic Airplay chart, meaning it\u2019s a certified smash on American radio. It\u2019s also been sitting at Number One on the U.S. Afrobeats Song chart for 12\u00a0 consecutive weeks, too. \u201cShake It to the Max\u201d has reached these heights as a viral anthem for baddies to let loose and whine their waists. Make sure you get out there and heed her call over the month.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>Loosies:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>Rema\u2019s \u201cKelebu\u201d and Theodora\u2019s \u201c<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=d2tnwgcBfoA&amp;list=RDd2tnwgcBfoA&amp;start_radio=1\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Kongolese Sous BBL<\/strong><\/a><strong>\u201d<\/strong>: So, in honor of the Summer of Sexy, I\u2019m writing about these two at once, as Francophone singer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thefader.com\/2025\/01\/29\/who-is-theodora-french-singer-kongolese-sous-bbl\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Theodora<\/a>\u2019s burgeoning hit is, in a way, an energetic ancestor to \u201cKelebu,\u201d Rema\u2019s excellent new party-starter. \u201cKelebu\u201d seems <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/thenativemag\/p\/DMsjFpqt9vB\/?img_index=1\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">inspired<\/a> by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/features\/dominica-bouyon-wck-band-asa-bantan-shelly-black-music-1236008694\/\" target=\"_blank\">Bouyon<\/a>, a high-octane dance music from Dominica, as well as Makossa from Cameroon and Coup\u00e9-d\u00e9cal\u00e9 from C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire (Theodora was <a href=\"https:\/\/numero.com\/en\/culture-en\/interview-with-theodora-the-hitmaker-who-once-dreamed-of-a-political-career\/\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">born<\/a> in Switzerland to Congolese parents and has lived all over the world). These are all threads Theodora has been pulling from the past few years, with the excellent \u201cKongolese Sous BBL\u201d becoming her biggest hit with well over 47 million streams on Spotify. Rema\u2019s closest collaborator, the producer London, also worked with Theodora on her song \u201cMassoko Na Mabele\u201d from this past May.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>Darkoo, \u201c<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_pbdRmBPeKE&amp;list=RD_pbdRmBPeKE&amp;start_radio=1\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Right Now<\/strong><\/a><strong>\u201d featuring Rvssian and Davido<\/strong>: Intuitively, Nigerian hitmaker Darkoo titled her June EP <em>$exy Girl $ummer<\/em>. \u201cA lot of the top people in the game who are making music aren\u2019t making music for girls,\u201d she told Apple Music. \u201cThey are making music that women like, but it\u2019s not about them, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m doing. I want them to feel like the sexiest women in the world.\u201d This song definitely does it as the openly queer Darkoo and enthusiastic Davido promise to give some fortunate ladies. The song samples Gyptian\u2019s Jamaican hit \u201cWhine Slow,\u201d which Rvssian himself produced.\u00a0<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ recirculation-modules trending-in-article lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>Daddy Lumba, \u201c<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=VG08KdwkfDo&amp;list=RDVG08KdwkfDo&amp;start_radio=1\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Se Sumye Kasa A<\/strong><\/a><strong>\u201d<\/strong>: This last Loosie is a tribute to Ghanaian legend Daddy Lumba, who died at age 60 on July 26. While he\u2019s known as a highlife maven, his music had diverse influences, from gospel to hip-hop, like you can hear on 2002\u2019s \u201cSe Sumye Kasa A.\u201d \u201cDaddy Lumba really is a risk taker of his time,\u201d Amaarae said in 2023, part of an interview she <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/amaarae\/status\/1949258774101037304\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">re-shared<\/a> in memoriam of Lumba. She had praised his affinity for \u201cBad bitches,\u201d adding, \u201cAt a time where male highlife artists were taking very romantic approaches to the way they were writing their music, Daddy Lumba said \u2018Look, I love the hoes and the hoes love me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<em>\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/made-in-africa\/\"><em>Made in Africa<\/em><\/a><em>\u00a0is a monthly column by\u00a0<\/em>Rolling Stone<em>\u00a0staff writer Mankaprr Conteh that celebrates and interrogates the lives, concerns, and innovations of African musicians from their vantage point.<\/em>\u00a0Don\u2019t forget to check out the songs we covered this month and more in the<em>\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/search\/Uncle%20Waffles%20feat.%20Royal%20MusiQ%2C%20Uncool%20MC%2C%20Xduppy%2C%20%26%20CowBoii%2C%20%E2%80%9CZenzele%E2%80%9D\">Made In Africa\u00a0<\/a><\/em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/search\/Uncle%20Waffles%20feat.%20Royal%20MusiQ%2C%20Uncool%20MC%2C%20Xduppy%2C%20%26%20CowBoii%2C%20%E2%80%9CZenzele%E2%80%9D\">playlist.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/made-in-africa-tyla-ayra-star-tyla-amaarae-1235397233\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Friday, July 26, the day of the week new music drops regularly, three of the hottest pop stars out of Africa doled out&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":42497,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop","article","has-excerpt","has-avatar","has-author","has-date","has-comment-count","has-category-meta","has-read-more","thumbnail-"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}