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PIUS UTOMI EKPEI / Contributor via Getty Images (left) Yui Mok / WPA Pool via Getty Images (center) and Ernest Ankomah / Contributor via Getty Images (right)
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2 Baba, Tiwa Savage, Shatta Wale
Most people confuse Afrobeats with Afrobeats, not knowing that the two differ primarily in sound and genre. Music historians trace the origins of Afrobeat in Ghana and Nigeria to his 1920s, but most people trace the birth of the genre back to his 1960s. As it morphed into a looser style called Afrobeats, it became the number one popular music genre on the African continent over the past decade. And thanks to the support of major American superstars and the killer moves created by African dancers, it has made its way to America. In the same way.
“The name is a bit elusive and people get confused by it. I don’t think non-African people are the only ones confused by this. I think Africans are confused by this name too. The name Afrobeat There’s always controversy about it. Some people in this culture don’t even like the name Afrobeats. They don’t think it adequately describes the sound. I think it’s a name that people created in England and it just stuck,” culture journalist Ivy Ani told REVOLT. “Afrobeats is a name chosen by the people and is very different from Afrobeats.” She further added, “People should look at Afrobeats as a genre that came out long before Afrobeats. It’s an amalgamation of all the old sounds found in Nigeria and Ghana: Afrobeat, hip-hop, dancehall, highlife and Fuji.”
Afrobeats was first popularized by the late Nigerian legend Fela Kuti, who is widely regarded as the father of the genre. Kuti was a multi-instrumentalist, musician, composer, and human rights activist. He took African harmonic and rhythmic concepts and combined them with many contemporary music genres to create a sound. As a musician he traveled to the United States, where he absorbed American culture and applied it to his art. Featuring over 50 albums, his timeless tracks continue to spread across the country for generations.
Afrobeat brings together American influences such as jazz and funk and combines them with elements of West African musical styles. For example, in this genre you can hear the so-called Fuji music lineage. Fuji is from Nigeria and has its roots in music played to wake up Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan. Another common element of Afrobeats is highlife music, a Ghanaian genre that features jazzy horns and multiple guitars. In recent years, Afrobeats has morphed into Afrobeats and simply become the new sound of Africa. With diverse influences drawing inspiration from African roots and combined with other music genres such as rap, reggae, dancehall, R&B, and hiplife, Ghanaians have developed a more contemporary expression of this musical style. I recognize it as hip hop.
Ani revealed that a common problem that arises when talking about the two genres is that it becomes very difficult for people to distinguish between the words Afrobeats and Afrobeats phonetically. “When we’re talking about people with West African accents, they often tend to drop the s at the end of words. It’s also common in the Caribbean,” she explained. “For example, the word ‘artist’ – someone might be referring to the plural form of artist, but because of the accent, the s is omitted, so they would say artist, not artist. It often happens with the word Afrobeats. They say Afrobeat to refer to a new genre of Afrobeat, but in their accent, tone, and way of speaking, sometimes the s is omitted and then you hear them saying Afrobeat, but they’re not talking about Afrobeat. It’s not that there are. I think that’s something people don’t consider. ”
Nigerian singer 2Baba, known as one of the biggest pioneers of Afrobeats, agreed that there is a huge gap between old school music artists and new school music artists across Africa. “Although most of the sounds, ideas, philosophies, and mannerisms involved were very common and existed in an old-school sound, Fela was ahead of its time in so many ways, and this “I think people were drawn to him in every way and it was easy to accept that sound as Afrobeats,” he said.
Although Afrobeats originated in Africa and is still more popular and dominant than other types of music, Afrobeats is not just a one-continent phenomenon. It has been adopted all over the world and has a constant presence on radio, television, award show categories, social media and even in nightclubs around the world. Many West African artists have achieved chart hits in multiple countries and achieved global audiences.
2Baba’s 2004 hit single “African Queen” was one of the first iterations of Afrobeats. Asked how he felt about the impact the song has had around the world, the 47-year-old said: “I’m really grateful for the love and respect.” “There were other songs that my Naija people felt more about, but ‘African Queen’ was something that everyone could understand. As an artist, you have to definitely believe in what you put out. , you always have to hope that the listener feels what you put out. So the response I got was more than I could have hoped for,” he told MTV in 2005. He became the first ever winner of the European Music Award in the Best African Act category.
Other popular Afrobeat pioneers such as P-Square, D’banj, Wizkid, Davido, Tiwa Savage, Burna Boy, Sarkodie have consistently made records on the charts over the years, Tems, Rema, Fireboy DML He has paved the way for new Afrobeats artists such as. You can also try doing the same with C. He has also made the genre world famous by influencing and collaborating with Western pop music artists such as Beyoncé, Brandy, Madonna, Ed Sheeran, Drake, Chris Brown, Selena Gomez, and Justin Bieber.
Wizkid was one of the first Nigerian artists to top the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2016 with his collaboration with Drake, “One Dance.” His hit single “Essence” featuring Thames became popular all over the world and rightfully made it onto the charts. In the same way. In 2019, Nigerian-American singer Davido’s 2017 hit song “Fall” was in the top 100 most searched singles on Shazam in the United States, according to 2019. rolling stone. Two years after its release, the song became her longest-charting Nigerian pop song. signboard history. his latest album, timeless, It peaked at number 37 on the US Billboard 200 chart.
Tiwa Savage, a Nigerian singer who started her career as a backing vocalist for Mary J. Blige, has been crowned the “Queen of Afrobeats.” She signed a management and publishing deal with Roc Nation in 2016, and in 2018 became the first woman to win the Best African Act award at the MTV Europe Music Awards. Her collaboration with Brandy on “Somebody’s Son” earned her an NAACP Her Image Award nomination for Outstanding International Song. “I draw a lot of inspiration from different eras of Nigerian music such as Afrobeats, Afro Juju, Fuji, Highlife, and Yoruba sounds. I grew up with these genres in my childhood. So it’s completely helped shape the way I make music,” Savage said of his musical background.
A few months ago, Ghanaian dancehall artist Shatta Wale’s latest album, Mari, reached number 1 on iTunes’ Top 100 Reggae Albums chart. She also became the first Ghanaian artist to perform with Beyoncé in 2019. He was featured on the Grammy Award winner’s hit single “Already.” The Lion King: The Gift This album earned him several spots in the US signboard chart. “Collaborating with an artist of Beyoncé’s caliber can be a great opportunity for any artist,” he said. “Working with someone as talented and influential as Beyoncé gives you increased exposure, credibility, and the opportunity to reach a wider audience. Simply put, her team contacted me. and I was like, “Wow!” Beyoncé? JAY-Z, Godfather’s wife? In 2012, rapper Sarkodie became the first Ghanaian artist to win the BET Award for Best International Act, and in 2019, he was announced as the inaugural winner of the BET Hip Hop Award for Best International Flow.
On Tuesday (June 13), the Grammy Awards announced three new categories, including Best African Music Performance. This is a victory for both Afrobeats and Afrobeat culture. This is because, rather than being limited to the latter genre, it traverses the very ingrained musical styles mentioned above, such as Fuji, Highlife, and Kizomba. The breakdown of the categories is as follows: “The track and single category recognizes recordings that make use of regional expressions from various parts of the African continent.” This category focuses on the melodic, harmonic and rhythmic musical traditions of the region and includes Afrobeat, Afrofusion, Afropop, Afrobeat, Arte, Amapiano, Bongo Flava, Genge, Kizomba. , Chimurenga, Highlife, Fuji, Kwassa, and Ndombolo. , Mapoka, Ghanaian Drill, Afro House, South African Hip Hop, and Ethio-Jazz genres.
“It’s so gratifying to see Afrobeats being embraced like this around the world,” Savage said. “This is an ongoing journey, but growth is definitely something to celebrate and feel good about.”
“The inclusion of the Afrobeats category in the awards show reflects the impact this genre has had on the music industry and its growing fan base. This is a great way for African artists to gain recognition and exposure on a global scale. We can provide a platform for this and contribute to the diversification and enrichment of music as a whole,” Shatta Wale added.
