Fireboy DML goes 3-step on 'IMALI' with JAZZWLRD & Thukuthela

Fireboy DML has teamed up with South African artists JAZZWRLD and Thukuthela on his latest, IMALI, tapping into South Africa's dance-driven 3-step sound. The record has Fireboy crossing into South Africa's music scene, following August's CLAAT! with Masicka, and continues his recent pattern of experimenting across different African and Caribbean sounds.

With JAZZWRLD and Thukuthela on board, Fireboy steps into the 3-Step Afro House space, giving the track a stronger dance-floor feel than his familiar vocal style usually carries. JAZZWRLD and Thukuthela bring a partnership already prominent within South Africa's current 3-Step and Afro-house movement, and they arrive with strong regional momentum after their track The Most Wanted became a major South African streaming success. The pairing places Fireboy's melodic delivery inside a South African-rooted rhythmic setting, giving his vocals a different frame from the dancehall direction of his previous single, and allows Thukuthela's presence to sit naturally alongside him rather than feeling tacked on.

The collaboration arrives hot on the heels of Fireboy's third project and is part of the hype building around his fifth album, ZUKO. The track functions as a major lead-up single to that album, giving fans a preview of the sound he's exploring on his next chapter, and it highlights the growing connection between Nigerian Afrobeats and South Africa's evolving electronic music scene.

More broadly, IMALI signals an increase in Nigeria's Afrobeats artists' love for South African dance music, part of a wider cross-continental trend in the genre. The song was released via YBNL and EMPIRE.

Listen to IMALI here.