The African underground is never really “underground.” It just operates beneath the volume of hype. Away from the TikTok charts and Afrobeats think-pieces, there’s a generation of artists crafting sound from instinct. These are not the loudest voices on the continent, they’re the ones tuning it.
That’s the reason The Upper Quintet exists. Ten volumes in, — five artists at a time, five new reasons to believe the next evolution of African sound won’t come from the obvious places.
This volume belongs to Deerichi, Stubborn, Donald Kadiri, Deblyn, and Mista Myles — creators who exist somewhere between the margin and the mainstage. They are building honest soundscapes out of chaos, desire, and discipline, the kind of artists who make music because they must, not because they can.
Deerichi:
If self-sufficiency had a soundtrack, it might sound like Deerichi. The Abuja-based artist and sound engineer makes music that is structured, layered, and intentional. His blend of Afro-fusion, rap, and experimental textures is made for deep listening.
His single GBEDU isn’t a club record pretending to be intellectual — it’s rhythm meeting restraint. There’s a sense that every snare and synth has been debated, every silence curated. Deerichi belongs to that rare breed of underground artists who don’t rebel loudly; they evolve quietly, letting craft speak louder than co-signs.
Stubborn:
Stubborn is what happens when grit becomes poetry. His Lagos-rooted sound is a rhythmic autobiography, equal parts defiance and survival, with hooks that feel lifted straight from street corners. In his verses, Lagos isn’t the usual caricature of noise and struggle; it’s a living organism, humming with wit, hustle, and heart.
He’s the kind of underground artist who doesn’t beg for attention, he commands it with candour. His delivery is raw, his tone unfiltered, his message lucid: there’s a new language being spoken in the trenches, and he’s fluent in it. Stubborn’s music is not a cry for validation; it’s Lagos documenting itself.
Donald Kadiri:
There’s a quiet rebellion happening in Nigeria’s gospel scene, and Donald Kadiri might just be one of its new architects. He doesn’t scream salvation from the pulpit; instead, he glides over basslines with the calm of a man who’s found peace in the middle of a storm. His gospel doesn’t ask for your hands in the air, it asks for your heart, and maybe your hips too.
Born in Edo State, Kadiri isn’t your conventional “church artist.” He belongs to a new wave of spirit-led creators who are unafraid to lace sacred messages with groove, unbothered by genre gatekeeping, and uninterested in the old dichotomy between “holy” and “hip”
Deblyn:
Deblyn is proof that independence can still sound intentional. The rising artist of Sierra Leonean descent, now based in the United States, is quietly building a cross-continental identity through music that fuses reggae, dancehall, Krio-fusion, and Afrobeats into something both familiar and strikingly her own.
In April 2025, she released Everything and Lie Lie, a two-track showcase that introduced listeners to her rich vocal texture and unhurried storytelling. It wasn’t her debut, but it marked a distinct creative pivot, the moment she began asserting her musical identity with intention.
Later, she resurfaced with Batty Gyal and Dance, a more confident two-track EP that revealed her duality: sensual but grounded, rhythmic but reflective. Batty Gyal, released under Deblyn / PLAUS PLUS and distributed by Warner Music Africa, captures her essence perfectly — fearless, borderless, and unapologetically feminine.
Mista Myles:
There’s a temptation to call Mista Myles a pop artist, but that would miss the point. He’s a tactician. His sound is sleek and deliberate, balancing Ghana’s rhythmic softness with global precision. Every melody feels edited, every lyric necessary.
Myles’ presence in the underground is proof that craftsmanship and charisma aren’t mutually exclusive. He’s the kind of artist who makes pop feel intelligent again, no gimmicks, no inflated hype, just control. His restraint is his rebellion.
