Davido Joins Konshens on Slippery Single Boom Bang

“Boom Bang” is the latest track to mix dancehall and afrobeats

The parade of collaborations between Jamaican dancehall acts and Nigerian afrobeats singers continues with “Boom Bang,” a sugary single from Konshens and Davido. The sticky core of this track is a sing-song jumble — “boom bum ba-dum bum bum ba-da-bum” — that descends in conjunction with a pinging bass line.

In recent years, these cross-Atlantic team-ups have become increasingly common: Try Vybz Kartel and Wizkid, Popcaan and Davido, Devin Di Dakta and Niniola, Kranium and Wizkid, Konshens and DJ Neptune and Joeboy, Konshens and Afro B, Popcaan and Runtown, and the Haitian artist Michael Brun and Mr. Eazi. Major Lazer’s Walshy Fire devoted his entire 2019 album Abeng to collaborations between Caribbean and African artists; the New York-based DJ-producer just aimed to fuse Caribbean sounds (reggaeton) with African styles (afrobeats) on “La Montamos,” a great collaboration with Nino Augustine released earlier this month.

In a statement, Konshens said that the “cultures” of Jamaica and Nigeria “have been connected from the get-go.” “Both genres [dancehall and afrobeats] are like the little cool street kids that grow up in adversity and then manage to influence the world,” Konshens adds. “I’ve been collaborating with afrobeats artists for years now, and I’m happy to see the levels it’s reached in recent years.” Konshens is also happy to work with reggaeton acts: He appears on “Real” with Justin Quiles and Dalex, which is part of the just-released F9 soundtrack.

“Boom Bang” was produced by Ricky Blaze and Jonny Blaze, who are not related: Ricky is a longtime dancehall hit-maker — he crafted Gyptian’s anthem “Hold Yuh,” among others — and solo artist, while Jonny works as Konshens’ in-house producer in Miami, where the singer is based.

Konshens’ last album, Soca Virgin, came out in 2020.