The Hottest African Producers Right Now

A celebration of the people who are making African music tick right now, featuring Semzi, Tempoe, Dlala Thukzin, Guiltybeatz, Louddaaa, and more.

Ghanaian producer Guitybeatz working in a music studio

Photo by GuiltyBeatz

Producers are an indispensable part of the music creation process. Through their composition and curation, they provide a sonic background for artists to shine. Without them, the songs that make the Afrobeats scene what it is wouldn’t be possible at all.

Imagining a world without producers is the stuff of dystopian fiction, and fortunately, we don’t have to. As long as musicians are found and developed each day, there will always be the need for producers to guide them through the motions of music-making, a responsibility they usually share with A&Rs.

Producers take up a very important role, they’re responsible for bridging the artist’s ideas and bringing them to life with added instrumentation and programming. 2025 has seen no shortage of impressive producers who’ve either consolidated on previous success or staked out a new claim for themselves — whatever the case, the unifying factor in this list is sonic excellence.

From the rhythmic mastery of an East African master to the inventive percussion of his West African counterparts, down to the electronic-fuelled vibrance of Southern African creators, these are some of the hottest producers working today.

Semzi

There have been few producers who’ve soundtracked Nigerian pop as assuredly as Semzi has in recent years. With his records often falling within the mid-tempo range, he offers a colorful and dynamic backdrop for the genre’s much-liked themes of hedonism. It’s telling that artists as diverse as Victony, Timaya, and Mayorkun have called him up. This year, Semzi co-produced “Kai,” a hypnotic number that celebrates the long-held musical alliance of the veterans Olamideand Wizkid. Further working out from the edges of the Afro sound, a joint project with Easyscope revealed Semzi’s outlier understanding of the genre.

Tempoe

Just about every part of the Afrobeats market has felt the vibe that is “With You,” a standout song from Davido’slatest album,“5ive,”featuring Omah Lay. Beyond its undeniable appeal, perhaps the biggest signifier of its greatness is its pairing of two different generations, reaching a seamless middle ground. That mastery comes from Tempoe, who produced the record and whose hand has been evident in some of the most forward-pushing Afropop music of recent years. He also produced “SMH,” the early-year hit from Joeboy. It bears on Tempoe’s talent that his songs tend to have a cohesion of spirit, which hints at his greater skills as not just a producer but an executive producer, as well as a musical director.

Guiltybeatz

With “Love Me Jeje” winning the Grammy Award for Best African Music Performance earlier this year, it entered into a much-heralded list of globally recognized cult records. Before then, its intergenerational appeal was quite evident, flipping the Seyi Sodimu classic with an unprecedented finesse. Guiltybeatz, the producer behind that spectacle, has been the chief orchestrator of Tems’ brilliance, executive producing Born in the Wild. This year, he’s had the fine flex of producing “Koffee,” the latest release from the generational Jamaican reggae star, her first in two years. This is a man with a natural feel for extravagance.

Louddaaa

Speaking to OkayAfrica, it was clear that Louddaaa had gone through a long journey to find himself. In fact, that painful and progressive path towards self has been the biggest influence on his soulful production, he told us, and listening to his productions, one couldn’t agree more. From his groundbreaking work on Ayra Starr’s early music to what he’s done with Mavin acts and, more recently, to charting a wider music course, Louddaaa’s brilliance speaks for itself. This year, he’s contributed to Davido’s 5ive, orchestrating “Anything,” one of its sterling standouts, while soundtracking the rousing anthem that is “So It Goes,” the fine collaboration of Black Sherifand Fireboy DML.

Major League Djz

The twin duo Major League Djz are some of the biggest influencers in the world of amapiano and electronic music at large. From crafting banging numbers that made them a household name in their native South Africa, the siblings have gone on to collaborate with the world’s finest, using their frequent tours as a creative spur. They had a strong end to last year, after featuring Wiz Khalifa on a crossover record and returning home to co-produce the momentous project1050 Poster Boys. Jorja Smith is their latest international collaborator, as they chart a path of spiritual enlightenment on “Come With Me,” a fine composition that reveals their ever-expanding palette.

Yung Alpha

Although he’s yet to crack it as a singer, Yung Alpha has accrued a very impressive resume as a producer and songwriter. Moving to Lagos more than a decade ago has culminated in a rich network of collaborators, with artists like Davido, Flavour, and others calling on his expertise. He was the biggest contributor in what is arguably the year’s biggest project, Davido’s 5IVE, as he co-wrote five songs, and also engineered its breakout hit “Offa Me,” which features American R&B star Victoria Monet. Yung Alpha’s combination of writing and compositional skills makes him an enviable talent, and so far, he’s delivered spectacularly on the star-studded field that is Afrobeats.

M.O.G Beatz

In the past decade, few producers have held down the Ghanaian music scene as strongly as M.O.G Beatz. He’s produced for everyone, from Sarkodie to Darkovibes and King Promise. Showing no signs of slowing down, M.O.G Beatz remains one of the hottest producers in Africa. His debut single “Pay As You Go” featuring Camidoh and Sarkodie was released last year, and he’s continued to double down on his personal output, a fine follow-up from his unprecedented fifth consecutive ‘Producer of the Year’ win at the 3Music Awards. This yea,r he co-produced “Police,” the crossover record from Kizz Daniel, which features the iconic Angélique Kidjo andJohnny Drille, while also co-producing KiDi and Gyakie’s “Cheat On You,” which was one of OkayAfrica’s best Afrobeats songs of last month.

Axon

Nicknamed The Godfather, few East African producers do not revere Axon. That respect comes from his seamless versatility, how easily he’s curated the music of several distinct artists while moving in his unique directions as an electronic-influenced producer. The Ugandan producer has an inimitable flavor to his sound, inspired by native East African rhythms and propelled by his live music flourishes. It’s a detail you’ll hear in his recent work on the genre-fluid beauty that is FAVE’s “Belong To You” and “Dalilah II” by Joshua Baraka, among other impressive records.

Niphkeys

It’s a travesty how underrated Niphkeys tends to be. He’s sparingly received credit for his sterling contributions to ‘street hop’ through collaborations with the likes of Mohbad, Zinoleesky,andLil Kesh. But even beyond that, Niphkeys has formidably impacted the mellow poise of contemporary Afrobeats, producing some of the year’s biggest hits in “PITY THIS BOY” and “CONSE,” both records vocally spearheaded by ODUMODUBLVCK. With the April release of his projectIntergalactic Dreams, Niphkeys further entrenched himself in the popular consciousness, putting a fine cap to what has been an inspiring run to his journey so far.

Dlala Thukzin

Coming to prominence about a decade ago, it speaks to Dlala Thukzin’s hard work that he’s never gone off the top echelon of producers in South Africa and the wider continent. Like other electronic-indebted producers, he’s heavy on collaboration, working with the likes of Kabza De Small and Zee Nxumalo over the past year, impressing his unique gqom style on the larger scene. Dlala ended last year with a blaze, following the soulful “Nkosi” (which he co-produced with Kabza and Darque) with the hypnotic “Sohlala Sisonke,” further flexing his auteur-esque abilities. In 2025, he spearheaded a studio camp that has produced an eight-track EP, aptly titled O31 Studio Camp 2.0, a strong showcase of his expanding leadership role within the ever-vibrant South African music scene.

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