Outspoken singer Seun Kuti has sparked fresh conversations after sharing his candid take on Afrobeats. According to the Grammy-nominated Afrobeat star, Afrobeats should not be viewed as a true music genre but rather as a “label” used to classify sounds coming out of Africa.
Speaking on The Beat 99.9 FM, Lagos, Seun explained that both artists and industry executives don’t necessarily treat Afrobeats as a distinct genre.
Instead, it has become a convenient tag for identifying African music on the global stage. His comments have since ignited online debates among fans and music lovers.
“I think Afrobeats is more of a title than a genre. You can see Amapiano is the new Afrobeats. It’s the new title, it’s the new thing in Afrobeats. So, Afrobeats is just a generalisation; it’s just a title to identify something from a particular place [Africa].
“I don’t think it’s a genre. Even the gatekeepers, the big names don’t deal with it like a genre, they don’t work it like a genre. They are [Afrobeats] artists that are eclectic in a way that they could do a dancehall track today, do a blue track tomorrow, do a Nigerian pop sound, jump on Amapiano, and whatever that is trending. So, I think it’s actually a title,” he stated.
