# 2021 in African music

The following is a list of events and releases that happened in 2021 in African music.

## Events

* 14 March – At the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, Nigerian musician Burna Boy wins the Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album and is among the live performers.
* 18 June – South African soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha wins the Song Prize at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition.
* 9 August – In recognition of South African Women's Day, Apple Music launches the third part of its Visionary Women campaign, celebrating female artists such as Makhadzi.
* October – CKay's "Love Nwantiti" becomes the most-watched music video on YouTube, the first song from Africa to achieve this.
* 14 November – The 8th African Muzik Magazine Awards takes place in Dallas, Texas.

## Albums released in 2021

| Release date | Artist | Album | Genre | Label |
| January 8 | Monica Ogah | Different (EP) | Christian | Indie |
| January 22 | Ayra Starr | Ayra Starr (EP) | Afropop, R&B, neo-soul | Mavin Records |
| January 29 | KaniBeatz & Bella Alubo | Chrystical (EP) | Pop | Lightcastle Music Global |
| February 4 | Joeboy | Somewhere Between Beauty and Magic | Afrobeats, Contemporary R&B | emPawa |
| February 5 | Femi Kuti & Made Kuti | Legacy + | AfroBeat/Jazz | Partisan |
| April 9 | Peruzzi | Rum & Boogie | Afrobeats | DMW |
| April 23 | Osibisa | New Dawn | High Life/Jazz/FunkRock | Marquee Records |
| April 30 | Laycon | Shall We Begin | Rap | Fierce Nation |
| May 16 | Kpanto | Sound from the Xtreetz | Hipco | Indie |
| May 21 | Mdou Moctar | Afrique Victime | Electronic | Matador |
| June 18 | Olamide | UY Scuti | Afropop | YBNL Nation Empire Distribution |
| July 9 | Les Filles de Illighadad | At Pioneer Works | Tuareg rock | Sahel Sounds |
| July 23 | Obongjayar and Sarz | Sweetness | Afrobeat | |
| August 6 | Ayra Starr | 19 & Dangerous | Afrobeat, R&B, trap, alté | Mavin Records |
| September 3 | Big Zulu | Ichwane Lenyoka | Rap, Hip hop | Inkabi Records |
| September 3 | Sarahmée | Poupée russe | Rap, Afropop | Ste=4 Musique |
| September 9 | Brymo | 9: Èsan | Alternative rockafro-soulsentimental balladfolk music | Indie |
| September 9 | Brymo | 9: Harmattan & Winter | Alternative rockafro-soulsentimental balladfolk music | Indie |
| September 15 | Tems | If Orange Was a Place | alt-R&B, Soul | RCA/Since '93 |
| October 26 | Amerado | Patience (EP) | Hiphop/Afrobeat | MicBurnerz Music |
| November 5 | Zlatan | Resan | | |

## Musical films

* Neptune Frost, with music by Saul Williams

## Deaths

* January 8 – Dorine Mokha, 31, Congolese dancer and choreographer (malaria)
* January 22 – Guem, 73, Algerian singer, composer and dancer.
* January 23
** Jonas Gwangwa, 83, South African jazz musician
** Ahmed Achour, 75, Tunisian composer and conductor
* January 28 – Sibongile Khumalo, 63, South African singer
* January 31 – Wambali Mkandawire (Mtebeti Wambali Mkandawire), 68, Malawian jazz singer and activist.
* February 5 – Abdoul Jabbar, 40–41, Guinean singer-songwriter
* February 16 – Soul Jah Love, 31, Zimbabwean reggae/Zimdancehall musician (complications from diabetes)
* March 7 – Josky Kiambukuta, 72, Congolese singer (TPOK Jazz).
* March 14 – Thione Seck, 66, Senegalese mbalakh singer and musician
* April 5 – Haja El Hamdaouia, 91, Moroccan singer and songwriter, known for Chaabi and Aita
* April 18 – Naïma Ababsa, 51, Algerian singer
* April 27 – Sammy Kasule, 69, Ugandan musician and singer
* May 7 – Jamal Salameh, 75, Egyptian songwriter and composer
* June 21 – Mamady Keïta, 70, Guinean drummer
* June 22 – Mzilikazi Khumalo, 89, South African composer and academic
* June 25 – Wes Madiko, 57, Cameroonian singer
* July 1 – Steve Kekana, 63, South African singer
* July 11 – Sound Sultan (Olanrewaju Abdul-Ganiu Fasasi), 44, Nigerian rapper and hip hop pioneer (angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma)
* August 3 – Allan Stephenson, 71, British-born South African cellist, conductor and composer
* August 9 (killed in car crash)
** Khanya "The Voice" Hadebe, 20s, South African amapiano musician
** Killer Kau, 23, South African amapiano musician
** Mpura, 20s South African amapiano musician
* August 28 – Victor Uwaifo, 80, Nigerian ogbonge musician and cultural figure
* August 31 – Nobesuthu Mbadu, 76, South African mbaqanga singer
* September 2 – Alemayehu Eshete, 80, Ethiopian singer
* September 28 – Nana Ampadu, 76, Ghanaian musician
* October 3 – Anouman Brou Félix, 86, Ivorian Akyé musician
* October 8 – Rabah Driassa, 87, Algerian artist and folk singer
* November 7 – Bopol Mansiamina, 72, Congolese guitarist, vocalist, composer, and producer
* November 17 – Theuns Jordaan, 50, South African singer-songwriter (leukaemia)
* December 27 – Defao, 62, Congolese singer-songwriter, COVID-19.