The 4 best albums of 2023

1. Call It Love

Kateleya and Kandle released a badass extended play produced by the some of the finest beatmakers in the country.

For their Call It Love EP, they hired Nessim to produce Katono, Onsanze Ndaba, Sweet Love (featuring Banana Classic) and Matatu (featuring B2C, alias Kampala Boys).

Aaronaire directed the filming of Katono while the visuals of Onsanze Ndaba were made by Darlington.

The duo tapped Artin Pro for the production of Pose (featuring Fik Fameica). Pro collaborated with Eli Akhis to make the beats for Binkolelele, which was written by Dokta Brain.

Wax filmed the video of Pose while that of Binkolele was made by Mastermind Laray.

Anel Tunes mixed & mastered Sweet Love, Oliwamu, Binkolele and Wolan (featuring Country Wizzy).

Wolan was produced by Eli Arkhis and written by Yese Omani Rafiki.

Oliwamu was produced by Magic Washington. This was co-written by Kataleya & Kandle and Dokta Brain.

2. Bedroom Essentials

Elijah Kitaka, who officially joined Swangz Avenue this year, dropped a wonderful EP titled Bedroom Essentials.

Nothing, which he produced himself, was the first song on the EP. This earworm was also remixed by The Mith, Kohen Jaycee, Timothy Code, Wonder JR and Vyper Ranking.

He also collaborated with Vinka on Tutu Mama, which has over 1 million views on YouTube and it’s one of the dopiest duets this year. It was produced by Bangar Boi. Marvin Musoke directed the video.

Other songs on the album are Ndi Wuwo, which was also produced by Bangar Boi, and the video directed by Aaronaire.

Weather for Two, another song on the album, was produced by Elijah Kitaka himself, while Kontrol was produced by Steve Keys. Yoh Kuki made the beats for Seducation and Ransom Beatz recorded Tippy Toe. Play Time was also produced by Elijah Kitaka.

3. Sankofa

Azawi used her latest album to walk her fans through some episodes of her life. She also got to work with Koshens, the Jamaican dancehall icon whose songs she has always enjoyed.

Most of the songs on the album were produced by Swangz Avenue's in-house beatmaker Bangar Boi.

He made the beats for Worship, Money, My God, Elevated (collabo with Elijah Kitaka, Mike Kayihura and Bensoul), Harder (a collabo with Elijah Kitaka), Infinity, Lucky Day, Brand New, Omwenge and 10 over 10.

Njagala Vibe, her collabo with Sauti Sol, was produced by Steve Keys, while Artin Pro came in for Champion from Africa and Married Man.

Groovy Wurld produced Egaali and Outside.

4. Blessings

For his Blessings album, Eddy Kenzo worked on some projects with Morgan Heritage, a Grammy-winning Jamaican reggae band.

Some songs on this album were also considered for the 2024 Grammy nominations.

Balippila Boda, produced by Daddy Andre, might be the most popular song on the album, probably because of its funky beats.

Its video, which has 1.1 million views on YouTube, was filmed by Director Pest of Grate Make Films.