The Rise Of Afrobeats Needs To Be Documented – Akoh Isaiah Akoh
Over the last few years, no other style of music has emerged out of Africa more than Afrobeats has, gaining international recognition and infiltrating Western charts with huge force.
From Fela creating the Afrobeats Sound to D’banj selling the sound to the world with his monster hit Single “Oliver Twist” Afrobeats has become a global sound and Gradually, Afrobeats is indispensable
Afrobeats, a music genre from Nigeria, is shaking up the global music industry. Growing since the early 90s, the genre really took off in the international music scene with Drake’s 2016 hit “One Dance,” featuring Nigerian artist Wizkid. Other US artists, including Ciara and Major Lazer, have incorporated Afrobeats sounds and featured African artists in their music.
Many people do confuse Afrobeats with Afrobeat, the style used by Fela Kuti. Afrobeat is a highly political, non-commercial music style, making it really different from Afrobeats! Although Burna Boy has used Fela Kuti’s style in passing his messages in songs especially in his recent album African Giant.
Wizkid went global with “One Dance,” and since then he has gone far internationally. Wizkid gain more international recognition after his release of Ojuelegba which is arguably his best song in his career. Drake jumped on the song and made it one of the best afrobeats song in Africa.
Another artist that have been on the rise with Afrobeats is Davido. Davido quickly rose to popularity in 2011 with his debut album Omo Baba Owolo, continuing his success with his second album, The Baddest. He won Best International Act at the BET Awards in both 2018 and 2014, and was the first African artist to receive his award in person on the BET stage.
Other known artists that have used Afrobeats to be relevant are Mr. Eazi, Tekno, and 2baba amongst others. Fast rising artists like Fireboy, Joeboy, Rema, have also emulated this style of music to stay relevant in the music industry.
Indeed Afrobeats needs to be documented and be given more recognition in the music industry.