In a recent appearance on the Business Untitled Podcast, Nigerian music sensation Davido has made a bold declaration, distancing himself from the Afrobeats genre and sparking a heated debate within the music community.
Davido expressed his frustration with the blanket term “Afrobeats” being applied to all African music, regardless of its diverse styles and influences. He argued that the term, originally coined to describe the pioneering work of Fela Kuti, has become too broad and misleading.
“The first place that accepted African music outside Africa is the UK before America later join. The UK termed African music Afrobeats.
Afrobeat is a sound that was originally pioneered by Fela Kuti. But now all African songs are termed Afrobeats. If an African artiste sings pure R&B, sounding like SZA, Summerwalker, they put them under Afrobeats. If an African rapper rapping like Drake, they still put them under Afrobeats.
I don’t get offend when we’ve been categorised as Afrobeats. I mean, we need a genre. It could be R&B or Afropop. I call my music Afrofusion but I’m not big on ‘O put Afrofusion on my song.’ I know how long it took for African music to become mainstream.”
With this statement, Davido is reclaiming his artistic identity and challenging the music industry to recognize the diversity and complexity of African music. Will his bold move inspire a new wave of artists to redefine their own genres and push the boundaries of African music?
What do you think about Davido’s stance on Afrobeats vs Afrofusion? Share your thoughts!
