The Afrobeats scene is in a rich vein of form. Some of the newly released songs by the top 6 are not just smash hits but nostalgic because these artists are digging into archives to sample some of the greatest classics ever recorded in the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. They have executed it with perfection.

From Tiwa Savage, Burna Boy, and Rema to Ayra Starr, some of their latest releases sampled award-winning RnB, Hip-hop, and African Pop classics. Their inventiveness made the new release spellbinding and resurrected the original record(s) into today’s streaming and airplay conversations.

Burna Boy “Update” Samples Soul II Soul “Back To Life”

Burna Boy’s release of the single Update on Wednesday, 19 February 2025, was met with huge acclaim. The song sampled Back To Life (However Do You Want It) by British RnB band Soul II Soul featuring Caron Wheeler (released on 30 May 1989).

According to statistics,

Burna’s Update on Spotify had 14,230,297 streams since 19 February 2025.  

First-day stream – 463

Monthly Spotify listeners – 21 Million.

The Total streams across all credits on Spotify – Over 7.29 billion

Tiwa Savage’s “”You4Me samples Tamia’s “So Into You”

Tiwa Savage released You4Me on Tuesday, 22 April. As one of the trendiest songs right now on Instagram and TikTok, the tunefulness reminded us it was a sample from So Into You, by Canadian Rnb singer – Tamia, released on 23 June 1998, off her self-titled album.

“You4Me” lyrics video had 594k views in 11 days

Rema’s “Baby (Is It A Crime)” Samples Sade Adu’s “Is It A Crime“

Rema came out all guns blazing with the release of Baby (Is It A Crime) on Friday, 7 February 2025. Everything about the song is eargasmic. A sample of Is It A Crime by Sade Adu, released in 1985, off her album Promise.

Rema’s “Baby (Is It A Crime)” has surpassed 40 million streams on Spotify. It also holds the record for the #biggest first-day streams for a 2025 African song on Spotify, with 2.158 million streams.

Ayra Starr’s “Gimme Dat” Featuring Wizkid Samples Wyclef’s “911”

Ayra Starr featured Wizkid in the single “Gimme Dat”, released on Friday, 25 April 2025. The song sample of “911”, by Wyclef featuring Mary J. Blige, was released in 2000. It was the third song from his second album, The Ecleftic.

As of May 2025, Ayra Starr’s “Gimme Dat” featuring Wizkid has amassed over 5 million streams on Spotify. The song also recorded 1.75 million streams on Spotify within its first day of release. It is currently Ayra Starr’s 4th most popular song on Spotify.

Davido’s “Funds” Samples Brenda Fassie’s “Vul Indlela”

Davido’s Funds, featuring Odumodublvck and Chike, was one of the biggest songs released on Friday, 13 December 2024. The single is a sample of Vul Indlela by Brenda Fassie, released in 1997.

On its first full day, “Funds” earned 2.14 million streams globally and 1.255 million in Nigeria, the second-highest daily stream peak on the Nigeria Spotify chart. As of May 2025, the song has accumulated over 47 million streams on Spotify.

Tems’ “Love Me Jeje” Samples Seyi Sodimu’s “Love Me Jeje”

Tems’ Love Me JeJe won the Best African Music Performance at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards. The single is a sample of Love Me Jeje by Seyi Sodimu, released in 1997.

According to reports, the song Love Me JeJe by Tems has been played 145,344,519 times on Spotify.

Asake’s “Active” Samples Jazzman Olofin’s “Raise The Roof”

Asake’s Active, featuring Travis Scott, has a sample element. The sample phrase “Ma Jo fine girl” is from Raise The Roof by Jazzman Olofin, released in 2004. According to reports, Asake’s song “Active,” featuring Travis Scott, has amassed 57,883,639 streams on Spotify since its release on 6 August 2024.

Pheelz’s MAJO sampled Adewale Ayuba’s Ijoba Fuji. Adekunle Gold Rodo samples Opon Apala Ti Sun by Haruna Ishola. Many other Afrobeats did some samples but the artists listed above made the biggest impact with their samples.

Words by Sesan Adeniji