Wizkid made headlines when he declared that he is “not a f*cking Afrobeats artist.”
And now the GRAMMY winner, who also announced his new album ‘Morayo,’ is building on his stance with another impassioned post. One in which he unpacks the reasoning for his stance.
Full story below…
Reacting to the debate his words ignited, the ‘Essence’ hitmaker said:
“U lost people always want someone to educate you.
U got your phone Google research sh*t or take a flight and see the world don/t be ignorant and stupid all the time.
Listen, am I African ?
Yes! But I do make all sorts of music. Fine music! But I don’t want these labeled just Afrobeats. That’s like saying every American artiste makes Rap. That’s stupid. This is why no matter how good or amazing the music we make be it RnB or whatever other genre we all get nominated in one Africa category or the other. I’ve made songs from different genres of music. Made in Lagos is not an “Afrobeats” album. That’s a fusion of different sounds. Real music! The word Afrobeats was made up by y’all to put all we make into one box. Fela created Afrobeat!! I make All sorts of music. Fusion of sounds!
“I’m an artiste” before anything else.. True to my art.
Not scared to try sh*t.Now y’all drink some milk.”
😕 😕 😞
See, African won’t admitted they are African… Shame!
That broken English 😖😖😖😖😖😖😖😖😖😖😖😖
Go back to where you came from heaux
You do the same. Your White master free you guys already. 💅🏻
African American artist have created Rock, R&B, blues, gospel, hip hop, house, and influenced Afrobeat with jazz/funk, and country music. AAs created their own networks, award shows, fought for award show categories in mainstream and more. Unless you get signed as a new act like Rih did and be presented as a international act with cross over appeal you will be seen soley as what you arrived as. These artist came with their own labels, teams, fanbases from their countries… the usa labels will put them under one umbrella to market them on that wave only. American music scene is tied to race and history. You can’t roll up in the States and become the face of others genres. I hope that makes sense….. yes you can create different styles of songs but to win awards and be put in categories when you’re not from said country is not as easy for some… euro artist tend to be able to do that… they can be a breakout country, blues, soul singer… but others… very complex situation… i do understand the frustration of being labeled one style
With the exception of a few phenomenal artists, the music business in America isn’t structured to accommodate the fusion of multiple genre’s in one act. For marketing purposes artists are typically pushed into the ONE lane that will garner them the most success. If he and other “Afrobeats” artists were labeled as multi genre artists, they wouldn’t fair well in America. Our business systems like order, categories, and indexing.