Seun Kuti, the Afrobeat singer, has argued that the contemporary term Afrobeats is not a genuine musical genre.
Seun delved into a nuanced debate about the very definition of Afrobeats during a recent interview on Beat FM.
The singer, whose late father Fela Kuti pioneered the original Afrobeat sound, argued that the contemporary term “Afrobeats” is not a genuine musical genre but rather a broad title for popular music originating from Africa.
“I think Afrobeats is more of a title than it is a genre. More of a title than a genre. You can see Amapiano. Yes, you can see the new Afrobeats. It is the new title of that. It is the new thing in Afrobeats,” he said.
“So, Afrobeats is just a generalisation, just a title to identify something from a particular place. I do not think it is a genre.”
He further claimed that Nigerian music executives don’t treat Afrobeats as a genre either, allowing artistes immense creative freedom without gatekeeping a specific sound.
“Even the gatekeepers, the big names, do not deal with it like a genre. They do not gatekeep it like a genre. They do not work it like a genre. Their artistes are eclectic in the way that they could do a Dancehall track today, do a Blues track tomorrow, do a Nigerian pop song and jump on amapiano,” he added.
While agreeing on the need for a clearer definition, rapper Vector, who was also a guest on Beat FM, offered a slightly different perspective.
He argued that for Afrobeats to be solidified as a genre, its musical components must be properly documented and analysed, much like his analysis of Fela’s meticulously documented Afrobeat.
“Because our musicians do not break down what exactly is going on. I personally believe the Afrobeats narration as a genre cannot be defined. In my head, I still believe there is genius in there somewhere,” he said.
“The way I would analyse Fela’s music is that it was properly documented. If it is done properly now, we might be able to find a definition as a sound that retains its original idea, even though it has a different approach.”
