Tanzanian Bongo Flava superstar Harmonize concludes his sixth studio album “31” with the title track, including Egyptian megastar Mohamed Ramadan in one of the most ambitious Pan-African collaborations of the year.
The title track arrives at 14—the last record on the album—and Harmonize uses it to transmit the most personal message throughout the whole endeavor. He turned 31 and began to reflect on growth, maturity, changing relationships, and who truly supports him as he enters a new chapter in his life. So the song is both a personal statement and a fitting final chapter for an album constructed around those same concepts.
Mohamed Ramadan is not a random pick. The Egyptian actor, singer and entertainer comes with a big North African and Middle Eastern fanbase—bringing up Harmonize’s music to markets that Bongo Flava rarely accesses directly. But musically, the collaboration also works. The record mixes Harmonize’s East African Bongo Flava influence with Arabic pop, trap and modern African sounds—and that mixing feels organic rather than forced.
They range from melodic poise to sharp percussive rhythmic attack in their vocal delivery, each lyric establishing the themes of prosperity and endurance with impressive authority. To close out a 14-track album with a collab this massive, both artists had to show up fully… and they do.
The album “31” also boasts one of the most impressive lineups of featured artists in East African music this year—Wande Coal, Stonebwoy, Rayvanny, Marioo, Yemi Alade, Darkoo, Mayorkun, Qing Madi, You Levis, Sofiya Nzau and Jay Melody all feature across the project before Mohamed Ramadan wraps it up.
Stream “31” and tell us—do Harmonize and Mohamed Ramadan close the album the appropriate way?
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