Why I don’t want to Be labelled afrobeats artiste

Nigeria singer, Ayodeji Balogun, aka Wizkid, has revealed why he refuses to be labelled an Afrobeats artiste.

In a now-deleted post via his Instagram story, the singer said although he is African, he makes all sorts of music.

He explained that labelling every song as Afrobeats is why Nigerian artistes are only nominated in African categories of music awards like the Grammys.

“U lost people always want someone to educate you. U got your phone Google research shit 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 labelled 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 African 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,” he wrote.

The 33-year-old recently asked the public not to refer to him as an Afrobeats artiste. He gave the warning while announcing his forthcoming album titled ‘Morayo’.

Afrobeats is one of Africa’s biggest exports. The music genre began to experience widespread mainstream acclaim in the late 2010s.