Apple Music has announced that eccentric Nigerian-born Afropop singer-songwriter YKB (real name Yusuf Oluwo) is the latest recipient of their Africa Rising campaign.
“As an African boy who makes music my goal is to communicate life through my lens,” he tells Apple Music. “I hope that people can relate and learn from it, so I’m super grateful to Apple Music for making me an Africa Rising Artist. Also, I’m grateful to my fans, the ‘activ.ones’, whose actions towards my music have helped me get here. My plan is to continue to tell my stories and continue to make ‘yusful’ music.”
An acronym for Yusuf Kan Bai, which is Yoruba for “one Yusuf like that”, YKB grew up in Ketu, Lagos and fostered a love of music and crafting melodies from a young age. Fusing Afrobeats, R&B, trap and hip-hop, YKB has steadily built the most solid of fan bases as an independent artist, culminating in the release of his 7-track debut album Before I Blow (2021).
Flexing his melodic range, YKB’s single “San Siro” (2022), tells the story of a love that’s big enough to fill up Milan’s beloved soccer stadium, simultaneously capturing the essence of what it’s like to fall madly in love. His latest single “bo card (things i need)” (2023), available to stream on Apple Music in Spatial Audio now, is another stimulatingly smooth offering from the singer that finds him professing the magnitude of love he has for his lady, underpinned by saxophone-flecked melody.
The latest music from YKB along with that of Africa’s hottest new artists, is also available now on the Apple Music Africa Rising Playlist.
Discover Africa Rising here: applemusic.com/africarising.
