Originally from English-speaking West Africa, Afrobeats has crossed the continent's borders to become a global musical phenomenon and the spearhead, since 2016, of a real African soft power .
After another summer swaying to the rhythms of Davido or Burna Boy, who could still claim that Afrobeats isn't living its golden age? Some signs are unmistakable. Multi-award-winning musician WizKid became on August 3, with Made in Lagos , the first Nigerian to sell his album over 500,000 copies in the United States. The said album had already been the first African album to chart in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, after remaining 72 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100.
Billboard also launched the first American afrobeats ranking this year , in partnership with the festival company AfroNation. It's been three years since afrobeats was invited to the Grammy stage: Wizkid, again, distinguished himself there in 2022 with his Made in Lagos and last year, it was Burna Boy who won the prize. Best Album for Twice As Tall , while Wizkid shared a Grammy with Beyoncé for Brown Skin Girl . Afrobeats has undeniably become, in the words of superstar Ckay, "the new pop" of a globalized culture. And the majors felt the tide turn: Tiwa Savage signed with Universal, Davido and Wizkid with Sony.
To read : Best Nigerian Afrobeats titles 2022 | TOP 24
A polymorphic musical culture
The hype dates back to 2016, when Western audiences discovered Afrobeats on the hit One Dance , a feature between Canadian superstar Drake and Nigerian Wizkid, which became the most played track of all time on Spotify by surpassing the two billion streams.
But its roots are much older: they delve into afrobeat without "s", a genre at the crossroads of highlife, funk, jazz and traditional Nigerian music, invented and popularized by the genius multi-instrumentalist Fela Kuti in the 1970s. But not only: polymorphic current par excellence, it is a conglomeration of Nigerian and Nigerian fuji, Cameroonian makossa, Congolese soukous... but also hip hop and reggae, even electronic music like amapiano, this sub -kind of South African house, born in the townships.
And the big names in Afrobeats don't hesitate to get involved with Western superstars: let's mention Burna Boy and Jorja Smith, WizKid and Beyoncé, Davido and Young Thug... This is one of the first keys to his success. : with such varied versions and collaborations, it's hard not to find a shoe that suits you.
So much so that it finally seems difficult to define Afrobeats as a genre, but rather as a musical culture in its own right. You could say that afrobeats have in common aggressive percussion, snare drums and shakers .
But before any musical classification, it is above all about catchy and dancing pieces, which invite you to party. Afrobeats is not chamber music, it cannot be listened to alone: it is shared, diffused and savored with others. For all living room DJs, playing Afrobeats in the evening is a safe bet. And at a wedding or a birthday, it is guaranteed to move at least the foot or the head of the most spoiljoyful guest.
The role of nigerian diasporas from UK and US
But for Phiona Okumu , head of sub-Saharan Africa at the Swedish giant Spotify, which set up in Kenya in February 2021, it is mainly thanks to the African diasporas that the genre has exploded. "They represent 154 million people, it's like a sixth African region! Enthuses this ex-music journalist. All these people have a strong desire to connect with their country, and Afrobeats allows them to find this connection. " It is no coincidence, then, that Nigeria has strong ties with two major providers of pop, the UK and the US.
" Nigeria's population, over 200 million strong, includes a middle class that is among the most migrant in the world, " writes Garhe Osiebe, a research fellow at the university's Center for African Studies and African Music Library. of Rhodes, who analyzed the phenomenon for The Conversation.Nigerian populations are found in many parts of the world, due to the country's infrastructural challenges and high unemployment rate.Consequently, contemporary Nigerian culture - including the afrobeats - is a very mobile culture. If artists don't move cities, consumers do."
On Spotify, 40% of Afropop created in Nigeria is thus streamed in the United States, England and France, according to figures given by Phiona Okumu, while the Nigerians Wizkid, Davido and Burna Boy are sold out when they perform at the O2 Arena in London or the Accor Arena in Paris*.
"Members of the Nigerian diaspora are enthusiastic about the idea of living the experience of a concert with their favorite afrobeats stars, explains the specialist. A similar logic applies to the culture of downloading and streaming. While the streaming is unaffordable for many people in Nigeria, the Nigerian in the Diaspora can afford streaming, so the poor state of Nigerian infrastructure actually promotes the evolution and spread of Afrobeats."
Distribution channels
Because it's all online. Streaming platforms like Spotify allow creators to broadcast their songs for a small fee, and social networks to explode the view counters in record time.
Young prodigy Rema broke through on Instagram in 2018, when his freestyle on D'Prince's Gucci Gang went viral. He thus captured the attention of the Nigerian label Mavin Records, who signed him and released his first EP in stride. In 2019, Rema became a superstar thanks… to former US President Barack Obama, who included Dumebi in his annual playlist.
But on the side of social networks, it is especially to TikTok that afrobeats owes its virality. The Chinese application has made the glory of Piki Piki Skirt by Zambian Afunika, Sad Girlz Luv Money by Ghanaian Amaarae, Touch It by Ghanaian KiDi…
An opaque and capricious kingmaker, TikTok's algorithm allows African musicians to break through without investing thousands of dollars in an old-fashioned marketing campaign. The most emblematic success story , Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah Ah) by Nigerians CKay and Joeboy and Ghanaian Kuami Eugene, became the most "shazamed" track in the world in 2021, and gave birth to a slew of international remixes: a version in Arabic and French with El Grande Toto, in French with Franglish, in German with Frizzo…
This is the strength of Afrobeats, which has been able to go global without losing its African authenticity. Its Nigerian or Ghanaian superstars sing partly in English, partly in the local language or in pidgin, and the Western or Asian public follows without complaining: who does not know, at least in yogurt, the refrain of the title On the Low by Burna Boy? ? " Angeli-, Angelina, you dey cool my temperature…" The lyrics, moreover, count so little that Ghanaian Stonebwoy's hit Putuu Freestyle (Pray) means nothing, to the delight of Ghanaian listeners. " A minute of silence for all non-Ghanaians who think this song is a real language", laughed one user in the most "liked" comment on YouTube , while another concluded: "Don't worry, we don't understand the lyrics either. Let's forget what it could mean and let's dance instead on the beat!"
What about French-speaking artists in Afrobeats? For now, these are mostly conspicuous by their absence. With the notable exception of French-Malian singer Aya Nakamura, whose hits Djadja , Copines , Pookie and, more recently, Dégaine en feat. with Damso, have succeeded in their breakthrough on the continent… as far as Ghana and Nigeria, where they are almost the only sounds in French to date to make people dance in clubs.