In an industry often characterized by territorial competition and rigid genre boundaries, Warner Music Africa’s ‘Welcome to Babi’ arrives as both artistic statement and strategic blueprint. The six-track extended play arrives as the fruit of a week-long creative residency at Villa Tahiba in Abidjan, in January, where over 20 artists, producers, and songwriters from Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, and South Africa collaborated on a genre-fluid pan-African album.

Created by Warner Music’s Francafrique arm, the camp connected emerging cross-continental talents including South African acts Herc Cut the Lights, Yumbs, Ch’cco; Ivorian acts Ste Milano, Paulo Chakal; and Nigerian songbird Kold AF. For seven days, the artistes exchanged ideas, techniques, and collaborated organically to create several records.

Bagging nearly 376,000 song plays, the lead single from the project, ‘I Gotchu’ by Spy Shitta, has already achieved internet virality, netting over 1, 200 user-generated TikTok reels, and at least 5.82 million views. Its second lead single, ‘Monaco’, featuring Paulo Chakal and LIMO, has complemented ‘I Gotchu’s’ success through a different market approach. The project’s focus track, ‘C’Est Gate’, has been positioned as the creative centerpiece, highlighting the cross-pollination of regional sounds that defined the Villa Tahiba sessions.

From an industry perspective, ‘Welcome to Babi’ represents significant investment in African music infrastructure. This initiative arrives amid broader shifts in African music’s global positioning. Afrobeats has achieved mainstream status in international markets, with Nigerian artists regularly charting in North America and Europe. South African Amapiano has similarly expanded beyond continental boundaries, influencing club music in major global cities. Even francophone African music, long marginalized in anglophone-dominated international markets, is beginning to achieve recognition.

“What happened at Villa Tahiba wasn’t transactional. These artists formed real connections. They’re still in contact, still sharing ideas. The EP is just the first tangible output of relationships that will likely produce multiple future projects,” the Warner Music Team said.

Without mincing words, ‘Welcome to Babi’ demonstrates the commercial viability of pan-African collaboration when approached with adequate resources, genuine creative intention, and respect for artistic process. It doesn’t resolve all the questions one might have about African music’s global trajectory, but it offers compelling evidence that collaboration—real collaboration, not merely additive features — can produce work that satisfies both artistic and commercial objectives.

‘Welcome to Babi’ is available now on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Audiomack, Boomplay, and all major streaming platforms.