The pan-Africanist ideal never died—it morphed into hybridised sonic fragments that connect Joburg to Nairobi via Lagos and Accra. In 2025, one of the foremost testaments to the continent’s far-reaching musical ingenuity was the work of one Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu, née Burna Boy. The African Giant released No Sign of Weakness, an album whose title serves as both a plan for continued dominance and an assertion of fearlessness in his creative practice. “I was trying to make something that I haven’t made before,” Burna told Ebro Darden during a conversation surrounding the album’s release. “In a sense that I’m trying to do the opposite of everything I’ve ever done—in a good way. I just feel like right now I’m big enough to do it.” Elsewhere in ’25, Africa Now featured the brilliance of stars the continent over, from Nigeria’s Rema, Ayra Starr and Davido to South African superstars Tyla and DJ Maphorisa, Ghana’s Stonebwoy and Black Sherif, and then also rising East African artists like Joshua Baraka and Phina. Africa Now is updated regularly, so if you hear something you like, add it to your library.