Flavor Playlist

Sunday Reset

Flavor Playlist Vol. 01. Six songs from across the continent, in the order you need them: from the slow start to golden hour.

Flavor Playlist · 25 Oct 2026 · 4 min read

A good Sunday has a shape. It starts slow, opens up, checks in on itself, softens through the afternoon, gets a second wind and ends in golden light. This playlist follows that shape, one song at a time, with a little of the story behind each one.

  1. 01By Your Side

    By Your Side

    Sade
    The slow start · 2000 · from Lovers Rock

    The lead single from Lovers Rock, the album that won Sade the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album. It's a simple promise, to stay by someone's side through the hard times, over a groove that never hurries. Sade Adu was born in Ibadan, Nigeria, and there's no gentler way into a Sunday.

  2. 02Jailer

    Jailer

    Aṣa
    Windows open · 2007 · from Aṣa

    The opening track of Aṣa's self-titled debut, produced, like the whole album, by Cobhams Asuquo. It sounds soft, almost like a lullaby, but it's a protest song about freedom and self-determination. Let go of whatever is holding you.

  3. 03People

    People

    Libianca
    Check on yourself · 2022 · single

    The Cameroonian singer drew on her own experience of depression for this one, and listeners everywhere heard themselves in it. It went all the way to No. 2 in the UK and spawned remixes with Ayra Starr, Omah Lay and Cian Ducrot. Take it as your cue to check in on yourself, and on your people.

  4. 04I Choose You

    I Choose You

    Bridget Blue & Bien
    Soft afternoon · 2024 · single

    Released in October 2024, this duet pairs Kenyan singer Bridget Blue with Sauti Sol's Bien. No drama, no games, just two warm voices making one easy decision. Bridget Blue was one of the artists whose streams more than doubled among young Kenyan listeners in mid-2026.

  5. 05Lucy

    Lucy

    Bensoul
    The pick-me-up · 2019 · single

    Bensoul's debut single for Sol Generation, the label Sauti Sol set up, and the song that introduced him to the country in February 2019. He has said it was inspired by true events: a young man who isn't sure where he stands with someone, but keeps loving them anyway. Turn it up a little.

  6. 06Wish You Were Here

    Wish You Were Here

    Black Coffee feat. Msaki
    Golden hour · 2018 · single

    One of South Africa's biggest DJs and producers, with one of its finest voices. A soft, uplifting house song about love across distance, whose video followed couples who have to live apart. Play it as the sun goes down and think of whoever you wish was there.

Save this for next Sunday. Which one is on repeat?

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