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Afrobeats, our baby. One of the few children of mother Nigeria that is doing well. When the movement became ‘ Afrobeats to the world’, many people ran with that umbrella, and used it to open and further the boundaries of their music.
It became cool to be an Afrobeats artist as the world wanted to hear the term. Now. Afrobeats is in danger and everyone is running away from the umbrella term.
We’ve had artists come out and gain popularity, money and access by being associated with the genre and then come out to dismiss it.
Burna Boy has come out saying his genre was Afro-fusion and not Afrobeats ( when the definition of Afrobeats in itself is Afro-fusion), Wizkid has said he does not want to be labelled an Afrobeats artist anymore, Tems says she isn’t an Afrobeats artist and many more artists have said similar things.
Most recently, Flavour, in an interview with Adesope Shopsy doo said he could not be bothered about not being mentioned in top player conversations in Afrobeats because he is not an Afrobeats artist but an African artist.
He claimed that not everyone has to fit into the Afrobeats narrative, he is content with being an African artist, and that if you want to talk about African music you have to talk about Flavour.
Afrobeats is African Music, but not all African music is Afrobeats
His point is a controversial one and a conversation I do not think we are ready for as an industry, and also one I agree with. Afrobeats is not African music. Not every music that comes out of Nigeria is Afrobeats music. People make R&B. Fuji. Highlife.
For instance, Johnny Drille does not make the same genre of music as Asake. Ogbonjayar does not make the same music as Seyi Vibez.
The problem is that Afrobeats was never properly defined. It’s a fusion of different sounds with African elements, simple. It feels more like a culture than a genre, a movement. It’s also why the forerunners try to define their sound.
It’s also dicey because Flavour needs to understand that Afrobeats is African music. The biggest Afrobeats stars are still African artists. They also have root elements of African music. Asake is heavily reliant on Fuji music, Rema has been heavily influenced by Benin culture and the street tempo and sound recently, and Apala music is making a shock return to the mainstream.
Afrobeats by definition is a fusion of sounds with African elements, so the genre can lay claim to being African music and vice versa.
The context Flavour meant African music in is valid. Considering people like Fally Ipupa, Diamond Platinumz, Sarkodie, Sauti Sol, Angelique Kidjo and others, are people that will come to mind at the mention of African artists.
They are different and not your regular Afrobeats artists. Their sound is also different, very. In this context, you can not talk about African music without mentioning Flavour. In Afrobeats also, you can not talk about the genre without mentioning Flavour.
What’s Afrobeats? It is an umbrella term to describe popular music from West Africa and the diaspora that initially developed in Nigeria, then Ghana and the UK in the 2000s and 2010s.
Afrobeats is less of a style per se and more of a descriptor for the fusion of sounds flowing majorly out of Nigeria. Genres such as hiplife, jùjú music, highlife, azonto music, and Naija beats, among others, were amalgamated under the “Afrobeats” umbrella.
African music is essentially music from Africa. The big question is who is wrong? I do not think anyone is. Better education will do us a favour in these tough times. Also, the definition and what we decide to call Afrobeats needs to change. Really soon too.
