More breakthroughs, less crossover: Afrobeats is here to stay, on its own terms
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Afrobeats music is everywhere right now. If you open up TikTok or turn on the radio, you may hear artists like Davido or Rema.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CALM DOWN")
REMA: (Rapping) Baby, calm down. Calm down. Girl, this your body e put my heart for lockdown, for lockdown (ph)...
KELLY: The Grammys recently debuted a new African music category, but critics say the development is behind the times for a genre that is taking over the world. NPR's Sidney Madden reports.
(SOUNDBITE OF 66TH GRAMMY AWARDS BROADCAST)
BURNA BOY: (Rapping) We can go ahead and just head out and chill up in my villa...
SIDNEY MADDEN, BYLINE: At the 2024 Grammy Awards, Nigerian superstar Burna Boy made history as the first Afrobeats act to perform during the show. The singer graced the stage with R&B legend Brandy and rapper 21 Savage for his song, "Sittin' On Top Of The World."
(SOUNDBITE OF 66TH GRAMMY AWARDS BROADCAST)
BURNA BOY: Clap your hands.
BRANDY: (Singing) That I'm sitting - sitting on top of the world.
BURNA BOY: (Rapping) Feel my thug passion...
MADDEN: It was a fitting song choice for the ceremony. Last year, Luminate data reported that Afrobeats is the fastest-growing genre being listened to in the U.S. And this year, the recording academy debuted a whole new category dedicated to music from the continent - best African music performance.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
AYRA STARR: What's up? I'm Ayra Starr, the one and only Sabi girl, celestial being - you know the vibe.
MADDEN: Twenty-one-year-old singer Ayra Starr is from Benin, in Nigeria. She was one of the seven nominees in the inaugural category for her song, "Rush."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RUSH")
AYRA STARR: (Singing) But e dey rush - e dey rush well, well, e be much. Na God dey make my tap, e dey rush (ph). The kind money we touch...
MADDEN: "Rush" is the type of song that signifies how African music is changing the American soundscape.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RUSH")
AYRA STARR: (Singing) No be hype, everybody dey crush (ph). There's no dulling with us.
MADDEN: Heran Mamo, a staff writer at Billboard magazine, has been tracking this explosion over the past few years. But really, as a child of Ethiopian immigrants...
HERAN MAMO: African music has been part of my life basically since I was born.
MADDEN: Mamo says even though Afrobeats artists have popped up on U.S. charts in recent years, it was mostly by collaborating with an established Western act - think Drake's 2016 hit, "One Dance" featuring Wizkid.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ONE DANCE")
DRAKE: (Rapping) That's why I need a one dance. Got a Hennessy in my hand.
MADDEN: And even then, it was few and far between. According to Mamo, it was the 2020 pandemic, when the world felt more connected by way of our phones, and in 2021, when we finally started getting back outside, that she noticed African artists were impacting the U.S. in ways they never had before.
MAMO: It wasn't until, you know, I would say, like, when "Essence" was popping up - the song by Wizkid and Tems.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ESSENCE")
TEMS: (Singing) Only you fi hold my body (ph). You don't need no other body.
WIZKID: (Rapping) Say na me dey mess up your mind, and da ne dey make you free up your mind (ph)...
MAMO: It was just so popular at all the different parties and clubs. You couldn't escape that summer without listening to that song.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ESSENCE")
WIZKID: (Rapping) Yeah we dey together yeah day and night (ph).
MADDEN: They were breaking through without crossing over. No need for changing languages or relying on a feature from an American.
Fast-forward to now, and they're regulars on the Billboard charts. Some, like Burna Boy, have emerged as megastars.
MAMO: He's someone that - I feel like his music translates well because it has that familiar elements to it that can draw you in, but then the unfamiliar elements can excite you at the same time.
MADDEN: And the same goes for Ayra Starr's "Rush."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RUSH")
AYRA STARR: (Singing) Sabi girl no dey too like talk. Animals dey in human form (ph).
It translated so well internationally. But at the same time, I wasn't singing in English - it is a very African song.
MADDEN: Ayra says her tracks work by blending American pop culture she grew up on with the sounds of where she's from.
AYRA STARR: There are some elements you hear in the beat that are very, like, '80s pop - American pop, too. And there are some elements you hear in the beat, from the kick to the snares, and everything - it's very Afrobeats. But when you hear the chords, the chords are very, almost R&B-ish (ph).
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RUSH")
AYRA STARR: (Singing) Wan dey check if my tab e no rush. But e dey rush - e dey rush well, well, e be much (ph)...
MADDEN: South African newcomer Tyla, who ended up taking home the Grammy for her viral hit "Water," fuses genres in a similar fashion.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WATER")
TYLA: (Singing) Make me sweat. Make me hotter. Make me lose my breath. Make me water.
MADDEN: Mixing traditional African drum patterns with contemporary styles like R&B is the reason the music keeps on growing, and it's changing the perception of Africa along the way.
AYRA STARR: I'm so glad I'm a part of the generation that - showing the world what Africa is, you know? I feel like people have so much misconception about Africa, you know? I try, when people are like, oh, you have that in Africa? - like you.
MAMO: For so long, people have, you know, negative images associated with Africa. They think about poverty. They think about, you know, government corruption. And so what really made me happy about this explosion of African music, especially Afrobeats, was that it was bringing a more positive image to the continent.
MADDEN: But this spotlight - it shines on a fraction of what Africa has to offer. This year's Grammy nominees repped (ph) only three countries out of 54.
MAMO: I think that the continent is too vast to be limited to one category.
MADDEN: One category to account for over a billion people is not nearly enough space for the diversity or the diaspora. Heran Mamo is encouraged by the progress but wants even more.
MAMO: So not just Afrobeats, but Afropop, Afrofusion, alte, amapiano, kizomba, Ethio-jazz, you know, Ghanaian drill - you name it.
MADDEN: So there are still a lot of genres that need to be recognized.
MAMO: I think having something like the African Grammys in a similar fashion to the Latin Grammys would be incredible.
MADDEN: But with this Grammy nom as the battery in her back, Ayra Starr says it's a new game now.
AYRA STARR: I feel like the more we collaborate and the more we work together, we're going to bring up more different sounds. And I feel like that's where Afrobeats is going - just collaborating with other African artists and making the genre bigger than any other genre in the world.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "STABILITY")
AYRA STARR: (Rapping) E n le oh. Greet everybody for here, oh. Padi jo shey shey pele oh. Mo ti so funwon tele oh (ph).
MADDEN: Sidney Madden, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "STABILITY")
AYRA STARR: (Rapping) I get belle oh (ph)...
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