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Afrobeats, not to be confused with Afrobeat or Afroswing, is an umbrella term to describe popular music from West Africa and the diaspora that initially developed in Nigeria, Ghana, and the United Kingdom in the 2000s and 2010s. Afrobeats is less of a style per se, and more of a descriptor for the fusion of sounds flowing out of Nigeria and Ghana. Genres such as hiplife, jùjú music, highlife, azonto music, and naija beats, among others, were amalgamated under the "Afrobeats" umbrella.
Afrobeats is primarily produced in Lagos, Accra, and London. Historian and cultural critic Paul Gilroy reflects on the changing London music scene as a result of shifting demographics:
We are moving towards an African majority which is diverse both in its cultural habits and in its relationship to colonial and postcolonial governance, so the shift away from Caribbean dominance needs to be placed in that setting. Most of the grime folks are African kids, either the children of migrants or migrants themselves. It's not clear what Africa might mean to them.
In his earlier book, The Black Atlantic, Gilroy rejects the notion that Black culture and music can be bound to one geographical region. (1993). 9780860916758, Verso. ISBN 9780860916758 Afrobeats exemplifies this syncretism as a transnational genre that since 2019 has received international attention. David Drake writes about popular Nigerian music noting it is "Picking up on trends from the U.S., Jamaica, and Trinidad, they reimagine diasporic influences and—more often than not—completely reinvent them."
Afrobeats began to experience widespread global mainstream acclaim in the late 2010s, with artists achieving success across Africa, Europe, and North America. Between 2017 and 2022, Afrobeats experienced a 550% growth in streams on Spotify. In response, it has been referred to as one of Africa's 'biggest cultural' or 'musical' exports.
Afrobeat is a genre that developed in the 1960s and 1970s, taking influences from Fuji music and highlife, mixed in with American jazz and funk. Characteristics of Afrobeat include , long instrumental solos, and complex jazzy rhythms. The name was coined by Nigerian afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti. Fela Kuti and his longtime partner, drummer Tony Allen, are often credited for laying the groundwork for what would become afrobeats.
This is in contrast to the Afrobeats sound, pioneered in the 2000s and 2010s. While afrobeats takes on influences from afrobeat, it is a diverse fusion of various different genres such as British house music, hiplife, hip hop, dancehall, Soca music, jùjú music, highlife, R&B, ndombolo, Naija beats, Azonto, and palm-wine music. Unlike Afrobeat, which is a clearly defined genre, afrobeats is more of an overarching term for contemporary West African pop music. The term was created in order to package these various sounds into a more easily accessible label, which were unfamiliar to the UK listeners where the term was first coined. Another, more subtle contrast between the two sounds, is that while Fela Kuti used his music to discuss and criticise contemporary politics, afrobeats typically avoids such topics, thereby making it less politically charged than afrobeat.
Afrobeats is most identifiable by its signature driving drum beat rhythms, whether electronic or instrumental. These beats harken to the stylings of a variety of traditional African drum beats across West Africa as well as the precursory genre Afrobeat. The beat in Afrobeats music is not just a base for the melody, but acts as a major character of the song, taking a lead role that is sometimes equal to or of greater importance than the lyrics and almost always more central than the other instrumentals. Afrobeats shares a similar momentum and tempo to house music. Usually using the 4/4 time signature common in Western music, afrobeats commonly features a 3–2 or 2–3 rhythm called a clave.
Another distinction within Afrobeats is the notably West African, specifically Nigerian or Ghanaian, accented English that is often blended with local slangs, pidgin English, as well as local Nigerian or Ghanaian languages depending on the backgrounds of the performers.
Sampling is sometimes used within Afrobeats music. Burna Boy and Wizkid, for example, have both sampled Fela Kuti.
I cannot say I invented Afrobeats. Afrobeats was invented before I was born. It was invented by Fela Kuti. But what you've got to remember is the genre of music artists themselves are now producing — the likes of Wizkid, Ice Prince, P-Square, Castro, May7ven are calling their music Afrobeats. So that's what I call it when I put them on my mix tapes.
Afrobeats is less of a style like Afrobeat is, and more of an overarching term for the contemporary sound of African pop music and that of those influenced by it. DJ 3K criticised the label for being a contemporary marketing category. According to David Drake, the eclectic genre "reimagines diasporic influences and—more often than not—completely reinvents them". However, some caution against equating Afrobeats to contemporary pan-African music, in order to prevent the erasure of local musical contributions. Some artists have distanced themselves from the term 'afrobeats' due to the overt similarity it has with 'afrobeat', even though they are different sounds.
Afrobeats is also sometimes referred to as Afro-pop and Afro-fusion. A few artists have used the same alternative names to describe their music; Don Jazzy has stated he prefers "Afro-pop" rather than Afrobeats. Wizkid, Burna Boy, and Davido all use Afro-fusion or Afro-pop to describe their music. Mr Eazi also refers to his music as 'banku music' to denote the influence Ghana has had on his music (banku is a Ghanaian dish). Rema coined the term "Afrorave", which is a subgenre of Afrobeats with influences of Arabian and Indian music.
Yeni Kuti, daughter of Fela Kuti, expressed distaste for the name 'Afrobeats' and instead preferred if people referred to it as "Nigerian pop", "Naija Afropop", or "Nigerian Afropop". Similarly, Seun Kuti, the youngest son of Fela Kuti, has maintained that the music made by Dbanj and P-Square should be classified as Afropop. In defence, he said, "You cannot just call some pop music Afrobeat just because it's coming from Africa...". Music critic Osagie Alonge criticised the pluralisation of 'afrobeat'. Sam Onyemelukwe of Trace Nigeria, a television show, however noted that he liked 'afrobeats', noting that it acknowledges the foundation set by afrobeat while also recognising that it's a different and unique sound. Nigerian artist Burna Boy has stated that he does not want his music referred to as afrobeats. However, most of these monikers, including afrobeats, have been criticised for using the 'afro' prefix, presenting Africa as a monolithic entity, rather than one with diverse cultures and sounds.
Reggie Rockstone, a pioneering hiplife artist, felt conflicted over artists in an interview with Gabriel Myers Hansen:
It's like 'Oh come on! We work so hard for you to get on, and now you're gonna deny what it is that we did? Come on!' Sometimes I get that vibe, but then, in the same breath, I'm like, well, it is one Africa, and I'm pan-African to the bone. So do I really care if it's called Afrobeats or hiplife? As long as Black people are getting it, and young people are making money, feeding their kids, I think I'm okay. So, to each their own.Rockstone used "afrobeats" rather than "hiplife"—a genre often placed under the "Afrobeats" umbrella.
However it was not until the launch of Choice FM's new Afrobeats radio show birthed and presented by DJ Abrantee in April 2011 that the genre gained traction and saw 'Afrobeats' trending for the first time in history. The launch of the show gained popularity and provided a launch pad for both UK based and African artists to submit songs for playlist consideration. Abrantee used his daytime show to test daytime play of Afrobeats. Some of the first Afrobeats songs to be playlisted on daytime radio across the UK were Mista Silva's "Boom Boom Tah", May7ven's "Ten Ten", D'Banj's "Oliver Twist", and Moelogo's "Pangolo" in March 2012. P-Square released "Chop My Money (Remix)" alongside popular Senegalese-American artist Akon in 2012. "Oliver Twist", released online by Nigerian artist D'banj in the summer of 2011 charted at number 9 on the UK Singles Chart in 2012 (making him the first afrobeats artist to make it to the top 10 in the UK) and number 2 on the UK R&B Chart. In 2012, P-Square remixed their 2009 hit single "E No Easy" with Matt Houston, and it became the first afrobeats song to reach top 5 on the French SNEP music chart, as well as top 10 on the Belgian Ultratop chart, spending 29 weeks and 16 weeks respectively. The song was the first afrobeats summer hit in France, which in turn boosted afrobeats' visibility in the francophone countries. Mr Eazi later credited D'banj in an interview with Sway in the Morning in 2019 for helping encourage Nigerians to embrace their accents and music, rather than looking outwards and trying to emulate American accents and music. British DJs such as DJ Edu, with his show Destination Africa on BBC Radio 1Xtra, and Abrantee Boateng, with his show on Choice FM, granted African music a platform in the United Kingdom. DJ Abrantee has been credited for coining the name "afrobeats". DJ Abrantee launched his Afrobeats charts on Capital Xtra in 2014. DJs and producers like DJ Black, Elom Adablah, and C-Real, were also crucial in spreading afrobeats, often giving songs a burst of popularity after being played on their shows.
More viral dances would follow which played an important part in popularising afrobeats. In 2011, Nigerian singer Iyanya released "Kukere". The song became popular and known for its adaption of a traditional dance called Etighi. Another dance was popularised by Nigerian artist Davido when he released "Skelewu" in 2013. Davido promoted the song by uploading an instructional dance video of it onto YouTube on 18 August 2013. The video was directed by Jassy Generation. The release of the instructional video accompany the announcement of the Skelewu dance competition. In order to win the competition, participants were told to watch the instructional dance video and upload videos of themselves dancing to the song. According to Pulse Nigeria, the number of dance videos uploaded to YouTube by fans aggregated to over 100,000 views.
Other British afrobeats artists also emerged around 2012–2013, such as Mista Silva, Vibe Squad, Weray Ent, Naira Marley, Kwamz, Flava, Moelogo, and Timbo, who collectively set the foundation for future UK afrobeats and its derivative genre, Afroswing. Mista Silva's songs "Bo Won Sem Ma Me" and "Boom Boom Tah" were notable early hits in the UK afrobeats scene. Mista Silva and Skob credited Fuse ODG's "Azonto" song for encouraging them to create afrobeats.
Ghanaian artist Guru also popularised his own dance in 2013 called "Alkayida" with the release of the song "Alkayida (Boys Abrɛ)". Nigerian artist MC Galaxy also popularised a dance called "Sekem".
“Shekini”, off of P-Square's “Double Trouble” album (released in 2014), played a role in increasing the visibility of afrobeats in the Middle East and North Africa. The song influenced a lot of recordings and parodies in the Arab world, notably from acts like Arash and Black Cats.
Another method of utilising social media in order to boost a song was seen in the promotion of "Dorobucci", released in 2014, wherein Don Jazzy encouraged people to record themselves singing the song prior to release. The song won Best Pop Single at The Headies 2014, and Song of the Year at the 2015 MTV Africa Music Awards. It gained over 20 million views by 2016.
Ghanaian artist Sarkodie won Best International Act Africa at the MOBO Awards in 2012, and Best Hip Hop award at the 2014 MTV Africa Awards. In 2011, his song "U Go Kill Me" became a hit in Ghana and helped popularise the Azonto dance craze.
In 2014, a genre derivative of afrobeats known as afroswing emerged in the UK, which fused the sound with influences from road rap, grime, dancehall, trap, and R&B. The genre was popularised by J Hus. This has led to many people referring to afroswing as 'afrobeats', however the two genres are distinct from each other. Canadian artist Drake also began to experiment with afrobeats in the mid-2010s, which arguably helped afrobeats gain international mainstream appeal. In 2014, he featured on "Ojuelegba (Remix)" by Nigerian artist Wizkid alongside British MC Skepta, and in 2016 when he released "One Dance" alongside British singer Kyla and Wizkid. "One Dance" became Spotify most streamed song, with over a billion streams, and was number 1 in 15 countries. Drake's 2017 album More Life contains many Afrobeats and Dancehall influences. In 2017, Wizkid signed to RCA Records, which became the biggest ever deal an African musician has ever received. Wizkid and Drake have both been credited in helping popularise Afrobeats worldwide. "One Dance" has been credited with helping push afrobeats into worldwide mainstream appeal, which would only continue the rise within the following years. Wizkid was later entered into the Guinness Book of Records 2018 for featuring on the most streamed Spotify single of all time, "One Dance". He is the first afrobeats artist to enter the Guinness Book of Records.
Nigerian artist Mr Eazi began to gain popularity in 2016 with his breakout singles "Skin Tight" and "Bankulize", both produced by British-Ghanaian producer Juls. He won Best New Artist at the Soundcity MVP Awards Festival in 2016. Mr Eazi initially gained his popularity in the UK after Juls reached out to him resulting in the song "Bankulize". Mr Eazi soon after became a star in Ghana and Nigeria. He has stated UK, Ghanaian and Nigerian music have all influenced his music. Mr Eazi calls his music 'Banku Music'. He was the first African pop artist to gain an extensive Apple Music artist page.
In 2016, Beat FM in North London became the first British radio station dedicated to afrobeats.
Nigerian artist Tekno signed a multi-million dollar deal with Columbia Records. In August 2017, he released "Pana". The song was a hit in Nigeria, but failed to propel Tekno's career into America as was hoped. On October 1, 2017, Wizkid became the first African artist to hold a sold-out headline show at the Royal Albert Hall.
2017 also saw the rise of Shaku Shaku, another dance craze. Though the origins are not known, the dance is believed to have been popularized by street urchins in Agege around mid-2017. The Shaku Shaku dance move first appeared in Olamide's "Wo" music video. Much like the Azonto dance, Shaku Shaku also gave rise to its own genre of music, pioneered by artists such as Mr Real, Slimcase, Idowest.
In 2018, French-Malian singer Aya Nakamura released "Djadja". The song became a number 1 hit in France and the Netherlands, as well as becoming certified gold in Belgium and Switzerland. The song gained over 400 million views on YouTube. She became the first French artist to secure seven top 10 songs in the French Singles chart and the first French singer to gain a number 1 album in the Netherlands since Edith Piaf in 1967, and became the most streamed French female artist in the world. Her sophomore album Nakamura became certified gold in France. Her rise has been notable due to the relative difficulty French black women have had in gaining mainstream popularity in France. In June 2018, prominent American rapper Kanye West released his album titled Ye. Fans of Kanye West that searched for his album also, unintentionally, came across Burna Boy song called "Ye" (released in January). This led to a 200% spike in streams for Burna Boy, gaining over 11.2 million streams in the United States. By the late 2010s, Burna Boy emerged as the leading figure in Afrobeats, selling out stadiums in both the U.K and U.S., having a number one album on the UK Album Chart, amassing ten Grammy nominations and becoming the most streamed African artist, all of which was the first by an African artist.
In August 2019, Mr Eazi launched emPawa Africa, a talent incubation initiative to nurture and support up-and-coming artistes in Africa. The platform will be used to help promote upcoming artists and give them a major platform. The initiative is also supported by YouTube Music.
The latter half of the 2010s also saw prominent American artists experiment with Afrobeats music. This is notable due to the difficulty Afrobeats has previously had in accessing the American market. In 2016, Nigerian Popstar Ayo Jay enlisted the help of American artists Chris Brown and Fetty Wap to release a remix to his single "Your Number". In 2017, Wizkid linked up with Chris Brown for a single titled "African Bad Gyal.” In 2018, Swae Lee and Drake released "Won't Be Late", produced by Nigerian artist Tekno. In 2019, Janet Jackson released "Made for Now" with production by Harmony Samuels. The song was afrobeats, and became a top 10 hit on Adult R&B radio. In 2019 two prominent American artists, GoldLink and Beyoncé, both released albums with afrobeats influence. GoldLink released Diaspora on June 12, 2019, featuring an afrobeats song as the lead single, "Zulu Screams" and production from P2J. GoldLink had also previously made "No Lie" alongside Wizkid back in 2014. Beyoncé released , coinciding with the release of Lion King film released by Disney , on July 19, 2019. The album featured artists such as Burna Boy, Mr Eazi, Wizkid, P2J, Yemi Alade, Maleek Berry, Tiwa Savage, and Shatta Wale. Mr Eazi and GuiltyBeatz predicted the album would help afrobeats reach a higher level of popularity, especially in the US, than it has yet to achieve. In July 2019, Yemi Alade's "Johnny" set the record for the most viewed female African music video on YouTube which made her the second artist with the most views on a single video after Davido. In July 2019, Davido and Chris Brown released a music video for their collaboration “Blow My Mind", which at the time became the first video by a Nigerian artist to amass 2 million YouTube views within the first 24 hours of release. Afrobeats artist Rema was the first Nigerian musician to land a song on former US president Barack Obama's yearly summer music playlist. On August 23, 2019, Jidenna released the afrobeats album 85 to Africa. On October 1, Chris Brown released "Lower Body", an afrobeats single featuring Davido. On October 25, 2019, Akon released a new afrobeats album titled Akonda.
The rising attention of afrobeats in the US also reached music radio stations, which began airing afrobeats, something they typically would not do before. Davido's "Fall" became a top 20 radio hit in America, 24 months after it was initially released. "Fall" also began rising on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and U.S. Shazam charts, also becoming the longest charting Nigerian song in Billboard history. The song later became certified Gold in Canada and the U.S. Nigerian artist Burna Boy also saw some success, performing to over 9,000 people in Brooklyn, and gaining over 11.2 million streams from the US on his single "Ye". His album African Giant was nominated for 'Best World Music Album' at the . Wizkid's "Come Closer" became certified RIAA Gold in 2020, 3 years after initial release. His song "Soco" also received a Canadian Gold certification in 2020. Despite gaining popularity in the US there stands some contention between the African American community and the greater African Diaspora. Afrobeats has been treated as an "other" category at BET awards despite being a black genre. These awards are catered toward Black Americans highlighting their lack of solidarity the diaspora says Boima Tucker. Afrobeats artists are tired of being treated like "second class citizens" in African-American Music award shows in the United States. In December 2019, YouTube announced it would be supporting four afrobeats artists: Kizz Daniel, Reekado Banks, Simi, and Teni. Announced at an event titled "A celebration of Afrobeats" hosted in Lagos, Nigeria, YouTube stated it would be providing them with tools to "propel their music, grow their presence on YouTube and accelerate the growth of their audience globally".
During the Nigerian End SARS protests in October, Davido's song "Fem" was described as a 'protest song' for the movement. The song was prominently played outside the government secretariat in Lagos, to protest and drown out the Lagos governor who was attempting to speak to the protestors. The Burna Boy song “20 10 20” was created in response to the Lekki Massacre perpetrated by SARS on 20/10/20, where the police forces killed 12 protestors at the Lekki Toll Gate. Lyrics of the song include “Twentieth of October 2020 / You carry army go kill many youth for Lekki / Na so water o, water runaway my eye / Nothing you go talk wey go justify the case of their murder.” The political nature of these songs highlights how Afrobeats has been used as a political tool to express community distress and gain awareness for issues facing contemporary Africa, particularly Nigeria.
In April 2021, Davido's song "Fall" became the first Nigerian afrobeats song to receive over 200 million views on YouTube. In the same year, Wizkid and Tems became the first Nigerian pop artists to earn a spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with their song "Essence", while Burna Boy became the first African artist to earn 100 million streams across three albums each on Spotify.
A range of new artists, such as Rema, Fireboy DML, Tems, Joeboy, and Ayra Starr began to gain widespread popularity around the early 2020s, with a defining sound of R&B-infused, and sometimes Trap music-influenced, afrobeats music. In January 2022, Fireboy DML was the first Nigerian artist to reach the number two position on the UK Singles Chart with his "Peru" remix featuring Ed Sheeran. In addition, artists such as Sarz and Niniola incorporated House music influences into their music (on songs such as "Ibadi" and "Shaba"). This style of music has sometimes been dubbed 'afro-house', denoting the fusion of afrobeats and house music.
In September 2021, CKay became the second Nigerian pop artist to debut on the Billboard Hot 100 with his song "Love Nwantiti" which peaked at number one in India, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland, and gained popularity across TikTok. CKay personally dubbed his sound 'Emo-afrobeats', noting the additional focus on emotional and romantic-focused lyricism in his music. In the same month Wizkid's "Essence" became the first African song to be certified platinum and to reach the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100.
In March 2022, the United States Billboard announced it would be creating an 'Official U.S. Afrobeats Songs Chart' to track the sales and streaming data of afrobeat songs in the U.S. In the year prior, Wizkid had spent a collective 27 weeks on the radio domination Chart with Essence, after which Kodak Black's "Super Gremlin" claimed the number one spot. Currently, the genre has yielded some of the biggest success stories of the young decade — including songs like Wizkid's "Essence" featuring Tems, CKay's "Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah Ah)" and Fireboy DML's "Peru". In August 2023, Burna Boy's seventh Studio album, I Told Them debuted at number one on the UK Album Chart, the first ever by an African artist. Rema released his debut album Raves & Roses in March 2022 and by 2023 the lead single "Calm Down" went viral with its remix featuring Selena Gomez reaching number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached a record of more than a billion streams on Spotify. Billboard referred to the song as "Afrobeats biggest cross over hit."
In 2023, Spotify organized five local workshop and media events within African cities, under the initiative of promoting Afrobeats acts. Later that year, Tyla became the first artist to debut on the Billboard Hot 100 in 55 years, with her single "Water" which contains Afrobeats influences.
Artists associated with the genre include Seyi Vibez, Tope Alabi, 9ice, Oritse Femi, Jaywon, Dotman, Barry Jhay, Bella Shmurda, Zinoleesky, MohBad, Asake, T.I Blaze, Magicsticks.
Afro-adura has alternatively been referred to as a subgenre of street-hop, or even as a synonym for street-hop. Seyi Vibez personally stated he was not aware of the term, and it has been criticised as an unnecessary 'branding exercise'.
In 2013, The Bronx-based rapper 2 Shy released "Azonto Girl", produced by Ghanaian-British producer Rude Boy, helping spread the genre and dance to the United States.
Davido's songs "If" and "Fall" both fall under the Pon Pon subgenre. Other songs include "Mad Over You" and "For Life" by Runtown, “Away” by P-Square, "Medicine" and "Odoo" by Wizkid, "Gaga Shuffle" by 2Baba, "Mama" by Mayorkun, "Ma Lo" by Tiwa Savage, "Jeje" by Falz, and "Ur Waist" by Iyanya.
The subgenre began to fade away by the late 2010s.
In the early 2020s, Afropiano became one of the most popular forms of afrobeats. One of the most well-known afropiano songs that helped popularize the style of music in its earlier days is the track "Monalisa" by Lojay and Sarz. The song entered the top 10 list of music on the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs charts and became the most Shazamed Afrobeats song globally in 2021. Other afropiano songs include "Champion Sound" by Davido, "Amapiano" by Asake, "Go low" by LAX.
Shakira Marshall, a New York-based choreographer, has been credited with coining the name 'afrosoca' for her dance class in 2012 in order to describe the unique fusion of Western, Southern and Central African, and Caribbean dance styles she was teaching. Afrosoca songs typically have a similar tempo to Groovy Soca (110 to 135 BPM), often with West African-influenced melodies.
Gospel singer and songwriter Isaac Blackman and DJ Derek "Slaughter" Pereira have both criticised the name and the implication that it's a new sound, particularly due to the fact that the origins of soca are African music to begin with.
Afroswing is largely defined by its melody rather than a specific tempo. Producer Steel Banglez stated the key elements of afroswing were happy or dark chords that "make you feel a certain way", and that "drum pattern is the most important thing about this whole sound, it's the snare that comes on the third. In hip-hop it comes on the fourth. Coming off the third beat comes from afrobeats".
Martin Connor, an expert in vocal melodies and rap analysis, described the characteristics of the genre as being ".. technically in 4/4, what you will hear over and over again is this recurring pattern made up of three notes that are still repeated in the framework of a 4/4 time signature .. You can hear the inspirations of Jamaican music in the rhythm except Jamaican music doesn't have a bass kick and the snare – that's hip hop, that's traditional rap. So this is that translation of cultures happening subtly in the instrumentation. Yet it still has a hip hop sensibility in terms of lyrical focus and music videos: cars, money, authenticity, hardness".
The genre has since spread across Europe, especially in Germany where artists such as Bonez MC and RAF Camora have been pushing the genre, however with a heavier lean towards dancehall than afrobeats. The German variation of the genre has been criticized by Ghanaian Stallion for the lack of actual African influences, with the only thing remaining being a dancey rhythm.
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