The iTunes Top 40 Afro-folk Songs Chart is your weekly window into the world of afro-folk — South African acoustic folk rooted in traditional storytelling, mbaqanga, and contemporary singer-songwriter styles. Updated every week, this chart ranks the top 40 afro-folk singles on iTunes, giving you a real-time snapshot of what’s resonating most with fans of the genre right now.
The genre has been shaped by visionaries like Vusi Mahlasela, Lira, and the generations of South African artists who blend indigenous music with folk guitar traditions, whose work defines what afro-folk can sound and feel like. Whether the genre has centuries of tradition behind it or only emerged in recent decades, the artists on this chart are its current standard-bearers.
Discover what afro-folk sounds like today by exploring the full iTunes Top 40 Afro-folk Songs Chart, updated fresh this week, in the chart below.
Chart updated this week on: 2026-04-24
1.
Gazette (Kazet)
Mahlathini & The Mahotella Queens
10 September 1991
2.
Fruits of Your Toil (Meputso Ea Mesebetsi Es Hau)
Sankomota
23 November 1987
3.
I'm in Love with a Rastaman
Mahlathini & The Mahotella Queens
10 September 1991
4.
Melodi Yalla
Mahlathini & The Mahotella Queens
06 June 1988
5.
Re Ya Dumedisa
Mahlathini & The Mahotella Queens
06 June 1988
6.
Ubani Oyofakaza Ngami
Thokozani Langa
04 November 2013
7.
Ngitshehe S'thandwa
Shwi no Mtekhala
01 January 2004
8.
Babethi Ngiyokufa
Izingane Amakhosi
01 January 2005
9.
Ndotangira Poyi
Oliver Mtukudzi
29 July 1996
10.
Lerago Laga Laka
Johannes Mokgwadi, James Thupa & Lulu Mountains Sisters
20 October 1975
11.
Tsodio Le Khwembu
Johannes Mokgwadi, James Thupa & Lulu Mountains Sisters
