According to her, the purpose of the genre in Nigeria is to serve as an escape from the harsh reality and not necessarily to preach against societal ills.

The ‘Love Me Jeje’ crooner stated this while reacting to Jamaican reggae legend Buju Banton’s criticism of afrobeats in a recent episode of the ‘Shopping The Sneakers’ podcast.

Banton claimed that Afrobeats had no substance and would fade with time.

“I understand where Buju Banton is coming from. Reggae is not afrobeats and afrobeats in Nigeria is specifically for escapism; that’s the purpose of afrobeats,” she said.

Ace Nigerian singer, Chinedu Okoli, popularly known as Flavour, has distanced himself from the Afrobeats genre.

Appearing on a recent episode of the ‘Afrobeats Podcast’ hosted by Shopsydoo, Flavour explained that he is not bothered about not being credited for the global rise of Nigeria’s Afrobeats genre because he is not an Afrobeats artiste.

He stated that he deserves recognition for his contribution to African music but that is not coming because the media promotes only Afrobeats as a genre from Africa.

“I don’t feel bad when I’m not given credit on the global rise of African music because what the media is talking about is Afrobeats. I’m not an Afrobeats artiste,” he said.

“What I’m doing is African music. There are guys like Fally Ipupa, Diamond Platinumz who are pushing African music globally that are not Afrobeats artists.

“Most times, the media just talks about Afrobeats. They are not talking about African music. If you talk about African music, of course, you should mention my name.”

The High-life crooner urged the media to promote not just Afrobeats but other popular African genres.

According to reports, there has been a heavy infiltration of the South African genre, amapiano into the Nigerian music industry in recent years.

In an interview with Apple Music, Rema admitted that amapiano is a great genre but maintained that Nigerian artists must sustain Afrobeats’ influence on the continent.

He noted that his recently released sophomore album, ‘HeIs,’ was heavily inspired by afrobeats legends like Don Jazzy and the Mo’hits crew, 2Baba, Olamide, P-Square and Timaya.

“I had to go back [while creating my new album]. I took a lot of inspiration from Mo’hits. When a Mo’hits song comes in for the first four seconds, you already know it’s a Mo’hits song. Don Jazzy just goes crazy on the beat,” he said.

“The times when Olamide used to drop crazy songs, he still drops crazy songs. At the time when an Olamide song comes on you still know. P-Square, 2Face or Timaya. There used to be times when the beat just…

“Amapiano is great, it is fire but there used to be a time when Afrobeats production used to be so insane that nothing could survive it in the clubs in Africa. I’m not saying we’ve lost that but I’m just saying that we need more of that. I don’t want us to go too far away from that. We need to sustain it.”

The ‘Power’ star claimed to have popularized Afrobeats-style music in the US before the ‘Afrobeats to the World’ movement gained momentum through international collaboration.

Speaking in a recent episode of the 85 South Show Podcast, Rotimi recalled bringing his single ‘Love Riddim’ to the radio stations in 2018 and it was not well received because of its Afrobeats influences.

“I remember bringing ‘Love Riddim’ to the radio stations in 2018 and the program director was like ‘This is not good’. They didn’t even understand it and this was before Wiz (Wizkid) got the record with Drake,” he said.

“I can comfortably say I brought Afrobeats to America.”

His claims have elicited heavy reactions on social media, with many observers pointing out that Nigerian-American singer, Ayo Jay’s ‘Your Number’ (2015), Drake and Wizkid’s ‘One Dance’ (2016), and Davido’s ‘Fall’ and ‘If’ (2017), which were Afrobeats songs that enjoy some success in the United States, all predated Rotimi’s ‘Love Riddim,’ which was released in 2018.

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He, however, said his “roots and identity” are always in his music.

The ‘Peru’ crooner featured as a guest in the latest episode of Amazon Music podcast, ‘B And N.’

He said, “As I always said, I don’t make Afrobeats. I just sort of like combined stuffs. I do different kinds of music so even when I am making R&B or pop, you can hear the Yoruba ‘h’ factor.

“You just know that this is not an American or British person, so you can always tell that my roots and my identity is always in my music.”

Fireboy said Nigerian artists need to take advantage of their newfound global recognition and build a structure for their home music industry.

“One thing I want to take about is we are here [Western world] now. Afrobeats is here now. So what is the way forward? What next?

“I personally think this Afrobeats to the world thing shouldn’t be given more attention. I mean, we are already here. even before the Grammy [created an African category], we’ve already been recognised. We’ve achieved so much. So we need to build a structure. And more concerned about the future of the genre; the sustainability,” he said.

And 2024 will also be the year that the superstars will receive higher honors than ever before. On Sunday (Feb. 4), the Recording Academy will give out the Grammy award for best African music performance for the first time. Nominees in the category include Mr. Money Asake, who doesn’t stop getting after the money in his new single “Only Me,” and Davido, who reunited with Kizz Daniel for the first time since their 2018 collaboration “One Ticket” on the remix of “Twe Twe.”

We’ve highlighted 10 of our favorite new Afrobeats (and related) songs that have come out roughly within the last month. Get into our first Fresh Picks of 2024, and start off the new year with some new tunes in our Spotify playlist below.

Chssom & Crayon, “Chemistry Luv”  

Chssom and Crayon capture the intense pull of “Chemistry Luv” with high-pitched piano chords that could be transposed for the woman of their dreams to walk down the aisle to. “Girl, I’ve never felt like this before!” Chssom exclaims in the hook, demonstrating the potency of the spell he’s under.  

Yung D3mz & Tera Kòrá, “Futuristic”  

Yung D3mz recruits Curaçaoan producer Tera Kòrá for the sun-soaked penultimate track of his latest EP, Before the Sun Comes Down. Kòrá’s “soulswing” sound – which he describes as “a warm and moving, loungey vibe” that’s inspired by his “sunny Caribbean roots” – breathes new life into D3mz’s Afro-fusion. From the dizzying flute melodies to the bubbling bassline, it’s impossible not to sway your hips to this song.  

KJ Spio, Oxlade & Sarkodie, “Undress You”  

Ghanaian music executive and self-proclaimed “culturepreneur” KJ Spio taps Oxlade and Sarkodie for this slinky, sensual track. With a swoon-worthy melody inspired by T-Pain’s 2005 smash “I’m Sprung,” “Undress You” paints a lascivious picture of how they plan on letting the night unfold, with Oxlade crooning “Time to have sex” in the chorus (a la Mad Cobra’s 1992 dancehall hit “Flex”) and Sarkodie rapping, “More sex less talk we waking up to the sunset.”  

Highlyy, “Honest” 

The Essex-born Congolese breakout sensation bares her soul on the “Honest” cut from her debut EP +243. The twinkling keys and pensive pitter-patter of the percussion give listeners a glimpse of the war between Highlyy’s head and heart, as she remains firm in her decision to end things with a lover – even if it’s one of the toughest decisions she’s had to make. “I was talking to a boy, a very toxic situationship. There’s always that person that you say you’re done with but keep running back to them. That song means everything to me because it’s so true,” she told Clash.  

PsychoYP & Jeriq, “Disintegrate”  

No one and nothing can break down indomitable Nigerian rappers PsychoYP and Jeriq on “Disintegrate,” the first track off their joint EP Evil Twin. The two effortlessly feed off of each other’s flows, flexing with lines like “Afum your 12 missed calls during a business meeting, I’m sorry but I won’t call you back unless Inwe ezigbo reason,” because the hustle doesn’t stop for anyone.  

Fave, “Belong To You”

The young Nigerian singer broke out in a big way in the past few years, with high-profile features on tracks by Davido and Olamide and her own single “Baby Riddim,” but this new cut is something different from her — a straight-up R&B-pop cut that showcases her powerful vocals and the emotion in her voice as she relates a relationship seemingly broken, but with deep wells of feeling under the surface. She’s poised for a breakout look.

Asake, “Only Me”

Sometimes it seems like the breakout star of the past two years can do no wrong, and Asake keeps up the relentless pace of his output here with another catchy, melodic hit for the catalog. He has a way of crafting these earworms out of small phrases that give his songs a lasting quality, and his inclination to always incorporate choral backing vocals gives his songs a cinematic feel that others just can’t match.

Black Sherif, “January 9th”

Celebrating his 22nd birthday, the Ghanaian takes time to reflect on his position and the weight of the pressure on him, while seeming to take a very zen point of view on the matter. The production is deeply soulful and his lyrics rise to the occasion, making this single a mission statement of sorts — with everything he’s got going on, everything is still alright. It’s a good sign for his forthcoming album.

Kizz Daniel & Davido,” Twe Twe”

The remix to Kizz’s latest single features one of Africa’s biggest stars, and has fun playing with and overlaying different rhythms and syncopation, which helps it stand out from many of its contemporary songs on the scene right now. The lush production propels it forward and the duo — together on a track for the first time in several years — brings it home.

Ckay, “Is It You?”

Afrobeats’ resident emotional loverboy returns with another entry in the genre, with a wistful hook and verses that see him pining over a woman he’s just met. His melodies and vocals have continually set him apart, and while we wait to see what else he’s got in store, he keeps hitting his sweet spot with songs that recall some of his biggest hits, though with a bouncier beat behind him here.

The song was inspired by the harmful effects that rumours can have on people’s lives. Gossiping keeps you from your purpose, and when people spread false rumours about you, it can stop you from being successful, so it is
harmful both to the spreader of rumours and the subject of them.

With the song Konkonsa, SAJ encourages his listeners to use their voices to positively impact and give encouraging words to others instead of making harsh judgments.

Follow the artiste on aftown music and wait on the release here: Konkonsa

Worlasi’s 3rd studio album; WORLA – THE MAN & THE GOD, is a collaborative album with his day one band – SENKU; who WORLASI gives production & composition credits to. The 10 track album was recorded live. An album inspired by the great Ghanaian band OSIBISA — a vibe of native elements, comedic compositions & great musicianship through and through.

The listening session saw him perform 5 of the songs off the upcoming 10-track album scheduled for release on the 1st of December.

Worla’s sound continues to growth in depth. From the traditional elements, distinct lyrics, unique style of tap & song that keeps his verses sought after by many of his fellow artists. His native tongue; Ewe is still very dominant in the songs we heard with a few verses of pidgin laced in.

If this Listening is anything to go by, we’re all in for an incredible experience at his upcoming FESTIVAL scheduled for the 7th of December also at Alliance Francaise.

The album is Available for pre-order on aftown.com

Bertha Bridget Kankam popularly known as Yaa Yaa has just released her new single titled ‘E Be Money’

‘E Be Money’ means ‘because of money’. In the Song she say the different names for money in different languages; such as French, Twi and Ga.

The song talks about how everything we do is because of money. She talks about how we sweat, hustle and work because of money. All of our goings and comings are linked to money.

The song is uptempo and has a catchy chorus and beat. You can still sense the soul in the music so it doesn’t take away from the style of music we know Yaa Yaa to do. It’s relatable to everyone as we are all in it for the money, one way or another, though we may not want to necessarily admit it.

For me personally, I’d say I like the sound, the song has a message behind it and it speak concerning everyday life.

‘E Be Money’ has been released on the Aftown Music App and is available to download for GH₵2.00. Simply go to www.aftown.com where you can download Yaa Yaa’s new single as well as other artist.

Written by Noelle Francesca

Twitter: @NoelleFranc3sca

Happy Boy”, Mr. Eazi, returns with “Property”, a trumpet-laced Afrobeats/ dancehall tangle which sees him offer generously, everything he owns to a lover.

The horn section is rendered by Mo-T, of South African band, Mi Casa, and visuals for the record are directed by Meji Alabi.

“Property” is released ahead of the singer’s ‘Life is Eazi, Vol. 2 – Lagos To London’ LP.

Watch below: