Musically speaking, only a handful of musicians are going to make the biggest moves in the coming months as 2023 kicks into gear.
You can tell which musicians are destined for greatness in 2023 judging by the projects they initiated in the past year, the accolades they won and their proven ability to deliver.
Below is a list of the top seven musicians you absolutely need to have on your radar for 2023:
Sauti Sol
Sauti Sol as a group was not very active in 2022 but they are definitely destined for greatness in 2023.
The quartet, in October 2021 announced that they had decided to take a break from the group to focus on their solo projects which saw each member release their solo albums starting in December 2021.
The music group, which comprises Bien Aime, Savara Mudigi, Chimano and Fancy Fingers, said the break was aimed at helping each one of them reflect on their personal strengths.
“The result of deep reflections that we experienced as individuals; and as a group, leading us to craft the ultimate expansion of our musical and artistic legacies. Thus each of us shall enter into our alone phase with a single release by December 2021. This shall be followed by the release of full projects whose dates shall be announced in due time,” Sauti Sol said in a statement.
Each member of Sauti Sol released a solo album in 2022 following the break.
Sauti Sol in November 2022 announced their comeback after one-year hiatus. The group in a post on social media said they were releasing their first single two years after they last released a song.
“Excited to announce our first official single, as a group, in two years! ‘Lil Mama’ out this Friday on all platforms,” Sauti Sol said.
You can only expect Sauti Sol to drop bangers now that they are back together as a group in 2023.
Nyashinski
If music was a school then Nyashinski is that bright student who decides to deliver good results at will; he can absolutely pass with flying colours if he wants but he just doesn't want to be on top always.
Nyashinski is the type of musician who can take a 10-year music hiatus but when he comes back, he drops hit after hit and dominates the charts.
He has the potential to compete with the likes of Burna Boy, Davido, Wizkid, Diamond Platnumz etc but he is not just pushing himself harder.
In 2017, Nyashinski was nominated for MTV Europe Music Award in the same category - Best African Act, with Nigeria's Davido and Wizkid, South Africa’s Nasty C and Babes Wodumo and Angola’s C4 Pedro.
If only Nyashinski can have the same work ethic as Diamond, then Grammy nomination-like success is his for the taking in 2023.
Femi One
Femi One accomplished a lot in 2022 and you can tell she will achieve even more in 2023 if she keeps the fire burning.
In 2022, Femi One was among the most sought-after musicians in Kenya performing at state events (Madaraka Day fete at Uhuru Gardens in June) and big political functions like that of Azimio la Umoja - One Kenya coalition's final political rally at a packed Kasarani stadium on August 6.
However, Femi One's biggest achievement in 2022 was winning Afrimma Award for the Best Rapper in Africa.
Her accomplishments are the motivating factors to fire her up for achieving even more in 2023.
Nadia Mukami
Nadia Mukami is arguably the best female singer in Kenya, and she boasts of several hit songs including; ‘Jipe’, ‘Tesa’, ‘Maombi’ among others.
Mukami was tied down with motherhood for the better part of 2022 after giving birth to her first child on March 24, 2022.
The first-time mother had to juggle between motherhood and her music career last year but now that her baby has grown bigger she will get more time to focus on her music.
You better refresh your playlists because when Nadia drops a new jam it's going to be a hit.
Otile Brown
Otile Brown accomplished a lot in 2022 and he can only achieve even more in 2023 since he 'saw the light' after his US tour.
Last year, Otile traversed the US performing at different cities and states in a month-long music tour.
He came back to Kenya with a strategy he believed would make the country's music compete on the international stage favourably.
As a lesson, Otile called on Kenyan musicians to stop using Swahili language in their songs, claiming that the local language limits musicians from going global.
Speaking at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) after touching down in Nairobi, Otile noted that the language barrier was one of the main hindrances of Kenyan music not competing favourably with music that is composed in the English language.
“The debate going around that Kenyans are not putting in the work in producing music, people know the truth but they don’t want to talk about it, the truth is, it’s the language the difference between our industry and the Nigerian industry is the language,” Otile said.
Otile's sentiments were echoed by Diamond Platnumz in November 2022 who spoke at a digital forum. The Wasafi boss noted that Swahili music was one of the reasons why most East African artistes don’t conquer international platforms.
He noted that singing in part in English was what helped Rayvanny go international revealing that Vanny Boy was hesitant to sing in English at first but he really pushed him to do so.
“Doing English songs is the only way I could help Rayvanny to go international,” he said.
Diamond stressed that artistes should consider that they are writing songs for people who do not understand Swahili.
“We are currently pushing international and it is not easy. You have to have a big fan base from Africa so that you can conquer there. There are other platforms that are not making money for us and so we have to keep pushing,” he said.
Given that Otile understands that singing in English is one of the tricks for penetrating the international market, he is definitely looking at a brighter future in 2023.
Willy Paul
Willy Paul really pushed himself music-wise in 2022. He dropped a banger 'You' in late November last year featuring Nigerian singer Guchi.
Pozee also sent out a lot of hard-hitting messages to fellow musicians last year - insisting that artistes should go slow on chasing clout and put more effort toward work.
“My prayers for the Kenyan music industry. More work less clout! Very soon you’ll remember these words. Amen,” Willy Paul wrote in one of his messages.
Willy Paul's success last year saw him update his rate card indicating that he was charging Ksh1.5 million for outdoor performances, Ksh600,000 for club performances and a whopping Ksh30 million to be a brand ambassador.
If event organizers can pay Willy Paul the sum he demands, then he can only be motivated to push harder in 2023.
Lexsil
Lexsil is the newest kid on the block but he has been making great strides musically speaking.
Lexsil and Otile's collabo 'Bounce' was the most streamed Kenyan song on Spotify in 2022, a year he also managed to bag a collaboration with Rayvanny last year.
"I was in South Africa they played me your songs," Rayvanny told Lexsil last year.
Lexsil can only aim higher in 2023.
