Fireboy DML has been hopping between continents lately. Not long after linking with Jamaican dancehall star Masicka on “CLAAT!”, the YBNL singer has landed in South Africa’s 3-Step scene with “IMALI,” a new single featuring JAZZWRLD and Thukuthela.
The track is out now via YBNL and EMPIRE. The title is the isiZulu word for money, which tells you where the record’s heart sits before you even press play.
3-Step is one of the fastest moving corners of South Africa’s Afro-house world, built on hypnotic percussion, rolling grooves and a spacious, atmospheric feel.
Dropping Fireboy’s smooth, melodic voice into that setting is a real swing for an artist most people still connect with “Peru” and silky Afrobeats love songs.
That’s where his collaborators come in. JAZZWRLD and Thukuthela have become key voices in the country’s contemporary Afro-house sound, picking up wide attention with releases like the streaming hit “The Most Wanted.”
Their grasp of the 3-Step pocket gives the song its backbone. Fireboy doesn’t force a foreign sound into his own lane. The production keeps its South African character, and Thukuthela’s vocals weave around his melodies rather than competing with them.
From one angle, this is a guest spot done the respectful way. The Nigerian star is stepping into someone else’s house and following its rules. That’s not always how cross-border features play out when a bigger name gets involved.
From another angle, it’s a calculated preview. Fireboy is gearing up for ZUKO, his fifth studio album, and “IMALI” hints that the project could stretch further from his comfort zone than anything he has put out so far.
That would fit his catalogue. Since debuting with Laughter, Tears & Goosebumps in 2019, he has moved through Apollo, Playboy and Adedamola, mixing R&B, pop and Afrobeats while keeping his voice at the centre. The Masicka link-up and now this one suggest the next chapter is about testing that voice against very different rhythms.
The bigger picture counts too. Collaborations between Nigerian Afrobeats acts and South African producers have been stacking up for a while, especially as Amapiano grew from local parties to global playlists. Afro-house and 3-Step look like the next sounds getting pulled into that exchange.
For South African artists, a feature with someone of Fireboy’s reach can push a local movement in front of a huge new audience. For Fireboy, it’s a chance to show he can do more than ride the wave that made him famous.
How “IMALI” lands on dancefloors in Lagos compared with Johannesburg will be the real test. With ZUKO still on the way, the question now is how many more sonic detours he has lined up before the album arrives.
