It Is An Afrobeats World And We’re All Just Living In It
Every other month, just like the topic of Drake’s hip hop credentials – the issue of Nigerian hip hop being usurped by Afrobeats comes up. And it’s always a spirited conversation, almost as if each side wants to argue the other to death. After it’s all done, the takeaway becomes that Nigerian hip hop is in a state of inertia, and the rise of Afrobeats is responsible for the slump of the less potent force that hip hop has become. It’s an unfortunate argument, and it’s unnecessary to boot.
For one, the current wave of modern Nigerian music that has dominated Africa for the better two decades and is now taking over the world has its roots and foundations in hip hop. If one wants to trace it as far back as it could go, what we now know as Afrobeats is built on the foundation the early practitioners laid – which was hip hop. From Junior & Pretty to Weird MC to the Remedies and Plantashun Boiz, the influence of American hip hop was heavy and evident, and the resultant music bore testament to it.
The relics of that era remain today, and you can see it in the lifestyle and persona of Afrobeats’ biggest stars today. When you see Burna Boy, Davido and Wizkid wear million-dollar platinum and diamond jewellery, you know that it came from hip hop. When you see Omah Lay or Ckay wear their hair in braids and colour, you can tell that it is hip hop. Even superstars like Yemi Alade, who is more understated in her hip hop flair and tends more to the pan-African look and feel – are from the hip hop era. This is why the hip-hop shadow that pans over Afrobeats shouldn’t be a bad thing. However, to paraphrase Jay Z on The Watcher Remix, Afrobeats could give hip hop its props, and that’s where it stops. The success of the genre in the last decade is because artists found a primary key: for it to be commercially successful, it has to be relatable. Sometimes – a lot of times – hip hop is not.
The beauty about the multitude of Nigerian cultures is that despite all the differences in language and ethnicity, we as a people have found a way to create a confluence that merges all of these factors and produces something that is inherently, intrinsically Nigeria: the music. Afrobeats as a music genre has found a way to create universally acceptable music and as a matter of fact, enjoyable. That is no shade to hip hop – which in Nigeria (at least) isn’t widely enjoyed nor accepted. One could make the obvious argument that the genre’s tendency to be complex and tasking to create is not for everybody. It doesn’t mean it is wrong, or unimportant: it’s just what it is.
The more central point is that the rise of any popular music genre – be it rock and roll, punk, R&B, or hip hop – is essentially defined by the youth culture of that period. When hip hop was the predominant sound of Nigerian music, it had its reign. It could be said that the rule continues till date in some form, similar to the monarchy in large parts of Europe. But like those forms of government, its power pales compared to the more modern Afrobeats.
It just so happens that the rise of the genre coincided with an explosion of tech that makes music less challenging to make and more conveniently distributed and accessed. These are factors that ought to be celebrated, not scorned. Besides, the evolution of humanity is what got all of us here. Perhaps that same evolution is needed in non-Afrobeats genres, either in composition or delivery. Who knows, maybe someday Afrobeats will lose its potency to another genre. That day is not today sha. And long may the reign continue.
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Allow me to introduce myself: my name is The Jide Taiwo. I’ve been a writer, journalist and media executive over the last decade. In that time, I’ve been fortunate to work mainly in the entertainment and media industry and my experiences have included my roles in print media, electronic media as well as music streaming. In December 2020, I published my debut book History Made: The Most Important Nigerian Songs Since 1999 and it explores the first twenty years of urban Nigerian music which also goes by the moniker Afrobeats. I’ve produced a biographical podcast about Nigerian indigenous music icon, Sikiru Ayinde Barrister. It’s called Mr Fuji. I’ve also been a co-writer on the documentary Afrobeats: The Backstory by Ayo Shonaiya. All in all, I have had the opportunity to observe the rise and dominance of Afrobeats and then work in that space.
I say all of this to say, I am the new columnist on the Sounds of Africa blog. Every week, I will share my thoughts on various subjects in and around Nigerian and African music with a view to providing insights and perspective for a global audience. I’m excited about this journey and I hope that you’ll walk with me. Please feel free to share your feedback on the website and with me on social media. I’m @thejidetaiwo on Twitter, Instagram and everywhere else.
Lastly, stay up to date with all you need to know about African music at S.O.A., right here.
