African Heat

African Heat is Spotify’s flagship Afrobeat playlist, amplifying the culturally rich sounds and talent coming from the continent. African artists have become an undeniable force within contemporary music and popular culture.

As descendants of the motherland, we started this journey by interrogating what the essence of ‘African Heat’ represented to us. We came to understand it as a multidimensional movement, having its effect on all five senses; sight, smell, touch, sound and of course taste - you wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of African Heat when it comes to spice.

Taking this into consideration, we refined our focus and began exploring how Africans stay cool in the midst of all the heat. Perseverance became a defining characteristic. A necessity for overcoming palaver and the elements of heated situations.

It made sense. The youth of Africa are at the heart of this evolved identity. Despite the obstacles, they're driven towards their goals by a desire to not just survive but thrive.

Across Africa and the wider diaspora, our demographic is always on the move. We therefore built our conceptual territory on the feeling of heat and motion, exploring the hustle culture of young people.

Our translation: Transit

An immersive journey through the transitions of sounds across the continent.

A-Heat became the name of the Q&A series we produced in Lagos, Nigeria. A play on the classic A to Z maps, synonymous with travel. It became our guide to the African Heat playlist with the hottest African artists. We worked with Afrobeat artists Joe Boy and Fave to uncover their perspectives through our alphabetical framework that we utilised to ask tailored questions.

The title ‘A-Heat’ played on the first letter of the two words of the playlist name (A & H) which we used as an alphabet word guide. Our Designers collaborated with Nigerian visual artist, Peniel, customising a danfo bus, which was the mode of transport and location for filming our aforementioned talent. This approach further highlighted the connection between music, art and movement both within the continent and in our wider creative.