Afrobeats: Is African music finally taking over the global music stage?
Afrobeats music has gained global popularity in recent years due to a combination of factors such as the rise of streaming services, the diaspora community, and collaboration with international stars.
The streaming numbers of Nigerian Afrobeats artists Wizkid and Rema on the music streaming platform, Spotify were, 6.5 billion and 3.5 billion respectively, as of September 2, 2023.
Burna Boy having performed a medley of some of his greatest hits like "Level Up", "Onyeka", and "Ye" at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony on March 14, 2021, subsequently won the Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album for his album Twice as Tall. He became the first Nigerian artist to win a Grammy Award in the solo category.
It was the sound of Afrobeats music being played out to over a billion people worldwide when Nigerian Afrobeats artist Davido graced the stage in front of over 80,000 football fans inside the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar at the closing ceremony of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The closing ceremony of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar was watched by a global audience of 1.5 billion people; it was the most-watched event in FIFA World Cup history, said FIFA in a statement released in January.
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However, Nigerians aren't the only Afrobeats artists making headwaves on the global stage. American artist, Beyoncé's album The Lion King: The Gift, inspired by African music and culture featured famous Ghanaian artist Shatta Wale, in the song "Already". The song has been streamed over 300 million times on Spotify.
The genre was birthed out of Afrobeat (without an s), pioneered by the late legendary Nigerian musician Fela Kuti. It is a fusion of American blues, jazz, and funk with traditional Yoruba music. Before Afrobeat, there was Highlife which originated from Ghana and served as an inspiration for Fela Kuti.
Several other contemporary genres have come out of Africa including "Amapiano" which emerged from the townships of South Africa in the mid-2010s. It is said that the name amapiano is a Zulu term that translates to "the pianos". This is in reference to the prominent use of piano melodies in the genre.
Some notable representations of the fusion of amapiano and afrobeats, which is being termed by some as “afro-fusion”, have been in global hit songs like “Water" by South African artist Tyla with over 110 million listens on Spotify, and “Amapiano" by Nigerian artist Asake.
The latter has had a meteoric rise in the global music stage after releasing his debut album on September 7, 2022, titled, “Mr Money with the Vibe" to much commercial success.
