Posted by Samuel on Sun 17th Mar, 2024 - tori.ng
He noted that because of the Afrobeats tag, African artists are always boxed in “one Africa category or the other.”
Ayodeji Balogun, the Grammy award-winning Nigerian singer, who is popularly known as Wizkid, has explained why he rejected being tagged an Afrobeats artiste.
Recall that Wizkid has been under heavy fire after he denounced Afrobeats in a social media post recently.
However, reacting to the backlash, the singer explained that his decision to cease identifying as an Afrobeats artiste was because he makes “all sorts of music.”
He noted that because of the Afrobeats tag, African artists are always boxed in “one Africa category or the other.”
On his Instagram story, Wizkid wrote: “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 artist 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 shit. Now y’all drink some milk!”