A year after the release of his first album Building Bridges in 2021, Ghanaian music entrepreneur–turned–artist Smallgod returns with a follow-up that expands on his stated desire to lay out the lattice work of collaborations and kinship that underpins the ever-evolving genre of Afro-pop.

While Building Bridges cast a wide net over the many artists Smallgod has worked with over the course of his fifteen-year career, Connecting the Dots, released in 2022, focuses on emerging artists whose success is dismantling old hierarchies thanks to democratic avenues for recording, releasing, and promoting music.

They require the platform as well. They, too, require encouragement. Smallgod tells Apple Music that the musicians he chose for his sophomore album also require applause. ‘I’m like a ship that they can utilize to reach wherever they want to go.’ We all have the same dream: to bring Africa to the rest of the world.’

The new approach also applies to the album’s up-and-coming producers, all of whom blend autonomy with collaboration: ‘Ninety percent of the time I play a beat for an artist I think they’ll like,’ Smallgod says with the assurance that only love and experience can provide.

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