By Ghazali Ibrahim
Popular Afrobeat musician Seun Kuti has challenged the popular belief that Afrobeats is a distinct music genre as opposed to pop, R&B, Reggae and others.
He described the popular Afrobeats as a convenient label for contemporary African sounds; songs coming from African continent.
Speaking on The Beat 99.9 FM in Lagos, Kuti argued that what is often called Afrobeats lacks the defining structure of a true genre.
Instead, he said, it serves as an umbrella term to identify music emerging from Africa regardless of its style or influences.
According to him, many artists under the Afrobeats banner create eclectic bodies of work, moving fluidly between dancehall, Nigerian pop, Amapiano, blues, and other global styles.
“Afrobeats is just a title, a generalisation,” he explained.
“Even the gatekeepers don’t treat it like a genre. An artist can do a dancehall track today, Nigerian pop tomorrow, and Amapiano the next day. It’s not fixed.”
Kuti added that Amapiano, the South African house-influenced sound currently dominating African clubs, is simply the “new title” in the global market’s ongoing fascination with African music.
This clarification comes amid confusion of Afrobeat genre created by the legendary Fela Anikulapo and the current Afrobeats created by African singers.
