If Kelvin Momo is an Ivy League Graduate of Amapiano then the title track of his project is a thesis on the intersection between South African jazz, house music and Amapiano. Ivy League is a towering display of musicality that makes 17 minutes feel like 8 as Momo immerses you in a blend of South African musicology. Ivy League intros with a percussive set tribal drums that have become synonymous with Amapiano and House as a rich bass and symphonic synths creep into the mix. These instruments serve as the canvas for a keyboard to vault into a jazz solo as more guitars enter the mix. The deeper the instrumentation gets the more you feel like you could be in a jazz club listening to a hypnotic band as an electric guitar takes the lead from the keys and keeps the vibe going with soulful riffs and scales. When the bass drum becomes more pronounced so does the house influence as the vibes seamlessly keep flowing in and out of jazz, house and amapiano. The jazz solos keep flowing as musical refrains start to fully settle in as motifs within this session of private school piano. Kelvin Momo and his adept collaborators conduct a masterclass on genre-blending in this vibe of a song that sensually keeps you in its groove. Ivy League takes you through multiple passages that range from tribal and soulful to funky before Ch’cco makes a point to slide a hip-hop cadence into the mix. Ivy League is a sensational listening experience that bends multiple South African soundscapes to its whim in a way that can only be done by a student of music. Kelvin Momo delivers a cultural experience with Ivy League that really finds him in a league of his own. In his own lane, doing it his own way and leaving us with no choice but to press play.

Read more Yumbs related content here. Read the full Top 22 of 2022 here.

Fun Fact: Yumbs has the most overall artist appearances of any musician on this year’s selections. He is the only person to be credited as an artist on 4 songs on the 2022 list.