12 Movie Soundtracks Featuring Original Songs by African Artists

1 month ago 7

From Beyoncé's The Lion King: The Gift to the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack, Billboard rounds up 12 movie soundtracks that see archetypal songs by African…

10/3/2025

Yemi Alade successful 2020's Black Is King.

African artists person soundtracked superhero movies, sports dramas, Westerns and, much importantly, films that bring it backmost location to the continent.

While Billboard previously published a database astir African artists whose songs gained sync placements successful TV shows and movies, we’re present rounding up African artists who’ve intentionally recorded songs for movie soundtracks.

From Billboard‘s erstwhile list of 21st period movie soundtracks curated oregon enforcement produced by rap and R&B stars, 5 of those soundtracks marque it connected this database – including Beyoncé‘s The Lion King: The Gift and Kendrick Lamar‘s Black Panther: The Album. These albums respectively travel the live-action remake of The Lion King (as good arsenic her philharmonic movie Black Is King) and the Marvel movie and assemble a cross-continental formed of acclaimed artists, from Ghanaian dancehall king Shatta Wale to Cameroonian Afro-fusion creator Salatiel to South African gqom singer-songwriter Babes Wodumo. Jeymes Samuel, who directed some The Book of Clarence and The Harder They Fall, included artists similar Adekunle Gold, Yemi Alade, Malian singer-songwriter and guitarist Fatoumata Diawara and South African soprano Pretty Yende.

And though they didn’t technically grounds archetypal songs, Bloody Civilian and Wizkid recorded archetypal covers of Bob Marley classics for the Grammy-winning accompanying soundtrack to past year’s biographical play movie based connected the precocious Jamaican reggae legend. Tems besides covered a Marley classic, but for a antithetic film: Her mentation of Bob Marley & the Wailers‘ “No Woman, No Cry” played during the teaser trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in 2022 and was featured connected the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Prolouge EP and the movie’s authoritative soundtrack.

Below, Billboard rounds up 12 movie soundtracks that diagnostic archetypal songs by African artists, successful bid from newest to oldest.