Posted by Samuel on Thu 26th Mar, 2026 - tori.ng
Speaking in a recent interview with Day Genius, Ruggedy Baba said he had always opposed the term but was accused of being jealous of Afrobeats singers.
Veteran rapper Ruggedman has criticised the tendency to group all African music into a single, catch-all genre known as Afrobeats.
Speaking in a recent interview with Day Genius, Ruggedy Baba said he had always opposed the term but was accused of being jealous of Afrobeats singers.
He argued that Afrobeats is not a genre but a “name” talentless Nigerians hide behind.
“I don’t like Afrobeats as an umbrella genre from every music coming out of Africa. That was a mistake. I didn’t liked it from the beginning but when I complained people accused me of being jealous or trying to gatekeep.
“Right now, if I go to the UK to perform, I would be tagged an Afrobeats artistes. It is wrong.
“It is the people in the UK who started this thing of tagging every African music Afrobeats. Nigerians love classicism. They just wanted to give it a name.
“For me, Afrobeats with an ‘S’ is a name talentless Nigerians hide behind. All you need to make an Afrobeats hit is just to get a good beat and a street slang and repeat it as many times as you like. Then spend a lot of money to promote it. That is the Afrobeats with an ‘S’,” he said.
The rapper also claimed that only a few Afrobeats artists can sing without autotone.
He added that that is why most Afrobeats artists shy away from freestyling and live performances with bands.