Afrobeat: How Nigerian stars continue to redefine music

Afrobeats is seen as the genre of music catching the attention of music lovers and experts all over the world, with Nigeria the face of the rave given the rush of music releases in recent times. FAVOUR BOLUWADE and KOLA MUHAMMED, in this piece, examine why Afrobeats appears to be taking centre stage.

Ask a Brit to name the current season, s/he would tell you it is ‘summer’, ask a Nigerian, especially an entertainment lover, the person would tell you it is a music season. Such is the rush and buzz of music from all corners of the industry. This has made many observers admit that the gap between Nigeria’s music industry and the rest on the continent will only get wider.

An Afrobeat enthusiast, Gbenga Abodunrin, commented on the progress of the Nigerian music industry and the gap with other African contenders.

“Their yardstick for comparison won’t be valid. Nigerian music over the years has obviously evolved. Listen to Idris Abdulkareem and then Falz, you’ll see how significantly we’ve upgraded. Put TuFace of 2004 side by side with Davido of 2020, we’ve evolved a great deal.

“We have artistes dusting billboards all over the world, staying on top of charts for weeks. Quality, style and genre have evolved. Production has evolved too. Nigerian music is lightning and thunder; because of us, everyone sings Afropop now,” Abodunrin enthused.

Off the continent, American superstar singer, Beyoncé, launched an album to the strength of some of the best African talents. Even Grammy-winning artiste and producer, P Diddy, admitted to being blessed by working with Burna Boy, disclosing on his Twitter page: “He’s the first African artiste I’ve been blessed to work with.”

Also, towards helping the world understand the rave that is Afrobeat, America-based entertainment brand, Billboard recently featured Davido, Tiwa Savage and Mr Eazi on its cover. It is apparent that Nigerian stars with their creativity and exploration of Afrobeat are shrinking music borders and making the world take note.

Between August and now, the number of albums and EPs that have been dropped are too numerous to mention. From Burna, Tiwa Savage, Patoranking, Fireboy, Adekunle Gold and DJ Cuppy, it’s been a seeming unending galore of songs.  If you factor in singles, then it’d be like calculating a year into seconds. This fest has continued to draw attention to what African artistes have to offer. From sound, artistry, street culture to storytelling, there is much to the evolution of Afro-music and why it seems to be the fancy of everyone the world over.

Evolution of sound

Afrobeat is regarded by analysts as the most diversified in terms of sub-genres. Whether it’s up-tempo romance, dancehall, politically-spiced rap, and funk or feel-good pop, Afrobeat appears to have it all.

Adekunle Kosoko, popularly known as Adekunle Gold or AG Baby, broke out onto the music scene with ‘Sade’ and ‘Orente’. His ‘Gold’ album was largely in Yoruba. While the album was a success reaching number seven on Billboard’s World Albums Chart, critics in certain quarters noted that the singer’s style was not sustainable. Reference was made to 9ice, who fizzled out after two albums. The world had moved on to the likes of Wizkid, Olamide and Davido.

It meant that the industry was evolving in sound and artistes that failed to adapt would be left behind. With ‘Afro Pop Volume 1’, AG Baby has embodied the dynamism that characterises the industry. Every project projects a new side to the artiste.

The Lagos-born father of one claimed that that the new discography was experimental. This album is different; nobody has ever named an album a new genre before. I wanted to coin all the sounds I put together on this album. I have been looking for an avenue to express myself limitlessly,” Adekunle said in an interview.

While there is a continuation of his style from his previous album on ‘Exclusive’ and ‘Water carry me’, Adekunle Gold’s new album according to comments online serve as a reminder to artistes and onlookers from outside the continent that Afrobeats is dynamic and depicts the inherent multiculturalism of the Black nation.

Evolution of the artiste

The competition in the industry has been put down by observers to be down to the influx of people from all walks to try music. While there are those of the opinion that everybody cannot sing, others simply believe that music is more than talent, it is about passion and will.

When disc jockey, singer and daughter of billionaire businessman, Florence Otedola, popular as DJ Cuppy announced her album ‘Original copy’ on social media, eyebrows were raised given the ratings her singles had attracted. Cuppy, in an apparent determined fashion, promised to ‘blow minds’.

When the album was released, music analyst, Seun Adesida, said that he was not interested in it because of the flops she had had in her attempt to sing previously but had his mind changed at giving the album a benefit of the doubt.

Adesida said: “Listen to this album, it is nice. I am amazed. I just decided to check it out and I was impressed. She even did some Afrobeats rendition and did collaboration with Fireboy, Teni, Rema and Rayvanny.”

On the album, she pays homage to ‘Epe’ her ancestral homeland, sings about love and even explored some Ghanaian vibes.

She typifies the trend of disc jockeys, producers and more all vying to become singers, perhaps due to how lucrative the trade had become despite saying on ‘Original copy (Interlude)’, “DJ Cuppy, jo tori Olohun, music is not your forte.”

Class and crass

Widely regarded as the queen of Afrobeats, Tiwa Savage, has over the course of three music projects and numerous international deals proven that she has the versatility to be any version of singer she wants to be – whether it’s R&B, soul or highlife.

In ‘Celia’, Tiwa’s fourth discography which debuted at number two on Apple Music album charts, many point at the obvious class of the 40-year old mother of one which reflected on majority of the tracks. The opening track, ‘Save my life’ is a track which vulgarity Naira Marley would be proud of. It is perhaps surprising that Savage chose to feature Naira Marley on ‘Ole’ instead as Naira Marley’s reputation for the lewd and wild is known even to government authorities.

Street culture

Reacting to Tiwa Savage’s ‘Celia’,  some attested to the fact that Afrobeat is not the same without bringing some ‘street’ into it. With the use of slangs and storytelling techniques, street experiences have become very relatable and also bridged communication gap.

In response to a poll, some music lovers explained that slangs could be constructed in any language but the contexts are usually well understood if one pays attention to the music. In lieu of this, slang has been incorporated into everyday use because of how music spreads across borders.

Social critic, David Adekunle, in regards to that narrative said, “Olamide popularised this with songs dropped, he took to the streets immediately.

More so, because of his choice of language, the medium of communication, you understand immediately. Even when you don’t actually understand to the fullest, you still can repeat what he said easily. Other artistes have continued to do this. So, it was not surprising seeing Tiwa collaborate with Naira Marley on ‘Ole’. The ‘street’ was needed in her album.

Achieving marketing success

Impressed at the speed at which albums trended within Nigeria and outside the country, music entrepreneur, David Olufuwa said artistes deserved accolades for all they do to put Nigerian music on charts all over the world.

But he was of the opinion that the industry had a lot to do. He said social media has made a lot of the new acts get more popular just as Fireboy, one of the fast rising stars in the industry, is gradually becoming a force.

Olufuwa said, “We are sugarcoating for now. We already have international recognition because of social media and how many people can stream anything online. Look at Fireboy, DJ Cuppy and other new acts. So we got more popular, but what movement is there yet? Fela’s music had its own themes; parody of the government’s actions and direct criticism that got him arrested often.

“We are just entertaining now, doing street songs, telling stories of money and love. Only a few still want to continue that theme. We listen now to extreme sexual contexts. All these new albums only brushed a tip of the iceberg on what we really want in Nigeria; change, positively,” Olufuwa added.

Abodunrin concluded that: “What sells today is sex appeal, love and money. That is what a chunk of the populace that accepts music wants to hear.”

Okoro Uwale Essence popularly known as Essence has been in the music space for almost two decades. On why the thriving afro beat is becoming a trend, she said Nigerians love to hear it.

Essence said: “People like to dance. The youths want to whine and grind; they are navigating towards dance and that’s what artistes now put out there. There was a time RnB was holding sway but that course has changed.  You can’t force creativity on someone. We artistes are creative; we put in effort in our albums but people don’t listen to the whole package, they just usually pick songs that appeal to them.  Someone called me recently that my ‘The Shift’ album was stuck in his car and he was forced to listen to all tracks on it and he was amazed.

“So there are people who still sing on revolution but they don’t trend.  The public’s mindset have to change, people should be ready to accept those kinds of song. Music is not a union where we have to enforce what we want the people to hear.”

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