Mass Country (stylized MASS COUNTRY), is the fourth studio album by South African rapper AKA. It was released posthumously by Sony Music Entertainment Africa and Vth A on 24 February 2023. It was preceded by four singles "Lemons (Lemonade)", "Prada", "Paradise", and "Company", with guest appearances from Nasty C, KDDO, Thato Saul, Khuli Chana, Blxckie, Gyakie, Nadia Nakai, Sjava and others.
Background and promotion It is the final album recorded by AKA shortly before he was murdered in February 2023. The album was promoted on the rapper's official Instagram account hours before his shooting. The album's lead single, "Lemons (Lemonade)", received positive reactions from the likes of American record producers Swizz Beatz and Diplo. Spotify honored AKA by displaying a billboard of the album in Times Square, New York.
Sony Music Africa manager, Caroline Morabe, stated that AKA left unreleased music behind and they plan on releasing a special edition of Mass Country.
Commercial performance The album surpassed 10 million streams on Spotify in less than 8 hours, becoming his most streamed album. Mass Country was certified Gold by the Recording Industry of South Africa (RiSA) two weeks after its release, and later Platinum. Sony Music Africa hosted a private brunch to celebrate the milestone and announced that the posthumous album surpassed 35,404 album-equivalent units, which is equivalent to 40,972,588 streams in South Africa alone.
Artwork AKA revealed the album's artwork on 11 January 2023, on his Instagram account. The artwork was designed by South African illustrator Karabo Poppy. It shows the face of AKA surrounded by objects which represent South African Culture, like a 10-cent coin, an old BMW, a skull, and a snake.
Title In an interview with Slikour, AKA revealed that the album's title is inspired by a South African cultural music genre called Maskandi, citing that the title "MASS COUNTRY" sounds like "Maskandi", blending the genre with hip hop music and country music.
Thus the link between the title of the album and its artwork are about South African Culture, as particular objects that represent the culture appear.
Track listing
"Amapiano" samples "Sister Bettina" and "Mas Que Nada"
Awards and nominations
AKA came out as the most nominated individual in 2023 leading the nomination list of the South African Music Awards (SAMAs) with seven nominations, of which four categories namely Album of the Year, Male Artist of the Year, Best Hip Hop Album, and Best Engineered Album he scored amid the success of MASS COUNTRY.
List of Accolades Award / Music Festival Year Recipient Nomination Result Ref.Metro FM Music Awards2023Best Hip Hop ArtistSouth African Music Awards2023Male Artist of the YearAlbum of the YearBest Engineered AlbumBest Hip Hop Album
Certifications and sales
Release history +Release dates and formats for Mass Country Region Date Format(s) Edition(s) Label Worldwide 24 February 2023 Standard
References
External links