Rapid Domination Of Afrobeats In World Music With What It Is And What It’s Not.

The Nigerian music industry and its performers have fought for years to get noticed outside of their country despite having outstanding musicians because of a number of problems, including the language barrier. Regardless of how well-known Nigerian musicians may be, the world does not regard them on a par with their foreign competitors; as a result, those that have less international acclaim are seen as unique.

The Nigerian music business was carefully positioned on the global stage so that the audience couldn’t help but notice the skill and class, but those days are now in the past thanks to the hard work of many musicians, artists, and other individuals.

It is fascinating to observe how independent foreign musicians approach Nigerian artists for a feature, how Nigerian artists seek respect on the global stage, or even how Nigerian artists reject to let praise define how great of an artist they are.
Despite the fact that it is largely true that Afrobeats catapulted Nigeria to the notice of the world, there are misconceptions about what it is and is not.

What is Afrobeats?

The “Afro beats” musical genre represents the development and pinnacle of Sub-Saharan African musical traditions across time. It emphasizes percussion and intricate, dynamic rhythms heavily. The genre of Afro beats has several subgenres. Afropop, Afrofusion, and Afro-house are a few examples.

The fact that the Grammys, one of the most prestigious awards in the world, are thinking about adding a voting category for Afrobeats is essential to note.

“We had a virtual listening session where we heard from the people who created Afrobeats and called in producers, composers, performers, and executives.

“We just discussed the topic, ‘What are the many subgenres? What needs are there? What goals are there?

If this plan is effective, more Nigerian musicians would have a chance to be nominated in the Afrobbeats category than they did when they were previously grouped with the “Global Music” category, which hurt their chances.

There are problems with this choice. It may be vital to highlighting the fact that not all Nigerian music is Afrobeats because many people are unsure of what Afrobeats is and is not.

What Afrobeats is Not

The notion that Afrobeat is not afro beats is the first misconception we wish to debunk.

Fela Anikulapo Kuti is sometimes credited with inventing Afrobeats, however, the two genres are distinct in that Fela’s Afrobeat included new electronic-styled and rhythmic-based music while Afrobeats featured new electronic-styled and rhythmic-based music.

That does not change the fact that portions of Afrobeat’s sounds and delivery have been adopted into its own music by Afrobeats. Some of these components include a rhythmic baseline and the usage of jazz-inspired music.

Nigeria’s music industry is being propelled to a previously unheard degree of worldwide domination by a new trend in and of itself: afro beats. It won’t be inaccurate to say that Afrobeats represents the future, but doing so would mean dismissing the other kind of music that we’ve known for so long, leaving it behind, and allowing it to perish.

Not all genres are Afrobeats in Nigeria.

If I don’t sound like a broken record, Nigerian music isn’t just limited to Afrobeats. There are extra genres, but it doesn’t seem like anyone else is aware of them.

All Nigerian performers have been lumped together as being part of the Afrobeats genre in interviews, videos, and articles that have been published. Due to Nigeria’s broad music industry, which encompasses genres like Fuji, Apala, and Highlife, to name a few, this may be troublesome in certain aspects.

It can be tough to accurately categorize different artists since eventually, we may get into a categorization problem where we aren’t sure what goes where.

In Conclusion

We are thrilled by the impressive growth of the Afrobeats genre, but we must be careful not to get carried away by the enthusiasm and energy that surrounds it. The capacity to appropriately classify our own music is what has brought the business to where it is now, and the diversity and range of genres inside the industry will drive further growth.