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106-569: Afrobeats , not to be confused with Afrobeat or Afroswing , is an umbrella term to describe popular music from West Africa and the diaspora that initially developed in Nigeria , Ghana , and the UK in the 2000s and 2010s. Afrobeats is less of a style per se, and more of a descriptor for the fusion of sounds flowing majorly out of Nigeria. Genres such as hiplife , jùjú music , highlife , azonto music, and naija beats, among others, were amalgamated under

212-629: A 200% spike in streams for Burna Boy, gaining over 11.2 million streams in the United States. By the late 2010s, Burna Boy emerged as the leading figure in Afrobeats, selling out stadiums in both the U.K and U.S, having a number one album on the UK Album Chart , amassing ten Grammy nominations and becoming the most streamed African artist, all of which was the first by an African artist. In August 2019, Mr Eazi launched emPawa Africa,

318-411: A Nigerian musician touring from Paris, France, with his Matumbo orchestra in the 1970s. The name was partially born out of an attempt to distinguish Fela Kuti's music from the soul music of American artists such as James Brown . Prevalent in his and Lagbaja 's music are native Nigerian harmonies and rhythms, taking contrasting elements and combining, modernizing, and improvising upon them. Politics

424-452: A billion streams, and was number 1 in 15 countries. Drake's 2017 album More Life contains many Afrobeats and Dancehall influences. In 2017, Wizkid signed to RCA Records , which became the biggest ever deal an African musician has ever received. Wizkid and Drake have both been credited in helping popularise Afrobeats worldwide. "One Dance" has been credited with helping push afrobeats into worldwide mainstream appeal, which would only continue

530-419: A convention that some composers follow (e.g., Olivier Messiaen , in his La Nativité du Seigneur and Quatuor pour la fin du temps ) is to simply omit the time signature. Charles Ives 's Concord Sonata has measure bars for select passages, but the majority of the work is unbarred. Some pieces have no time signature, as there is no discernible meter. This is sometimes known as free time . Sometimes one

636-540: A different and unique sound. Nigerian artist Burna Boy has stated that he does not want his music referred to as afrobeats. However, most of these monikers, including afrobeats, have been criticised for using the 'afro' prefix, presenting Africa as a monolithic entity, rather than one with diverse cultures and sounds. Reggie Rockstone , a pioneering hiplife artist, felt conflicted over artists in an interview with Gabriel Myers Hansen: It's like 'Oh come on! We work so hard for you to get on, and now you're gonna deny what it

742-478: A discernibly regular pulse. If two time signatures alternate repeatedly, sometimes the two signatures are placed together at the beginning of the piece or section, as shown below: To indicate more complex patterns of stresses, such as additive rhythms , more complex time signatures can be used. Additive meters have a pattern of beats that subdivide into smaller, irregular groups. Such meters are sometimes called imperfect , in contrast to perfect meters , in which

848-504: A focus on chanted vocals, complex intersecting rhythms, and percussion, the style was pioneered in the 1960s by Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Fela Kuti , who popularised it both within and outside Nigeria. At the height of his popularity, he was referred to as one of Africa's most "challenging and charismatic music performers." Distinct from Afrobeat is Afrobeats , a combination of sounds originating in West Africa in

954-413: A meter, just noted with eighth notes, quarter notes, half notes, or whole notes – these conventionally imply different performance and different tempi. Conventionally, larger numbers in the bottom correspond to faster tempi and smaller numbers correspond to slower tempi. This convention is known as tempo giusto , and means that the tempo of each note remains in a narrower, "normal" range. For illustration,

1060-685: A more specific description is any meter which combines both simple and compound beats. Irregular meters are common in some non-Western music, and in ancient Greek music such as the Delphic Hymns to Apollo, but the corresponding time signatures rarely appeared in formal written Western music until the 19th century. Early anomalous examples appeared in Spain between 1516 and 1520, plus a small section in Handel's opera Orlando (1733). The third movement of Frédéric Chopin 's Piano Sonata No. 1 (1828)

1166-768: A music score the time signature appears as two stacked numerals, such as 4 (spoken as four–four time ), or a time symbol, such as [REDACTED] (spoken as common time ). It immediately follows the key signature (or if there is no key signature, the clef symbol). A mid-score time signature, usually immediately following a barline , indicates a change of meter . Most time signatures are either simple (the note values are grouped in pairs, like 4 , 4 , and 4 ), or compound (grouped in threes, like 8 , 8 , and 8 ). Less common signatures indicate complex , mixed , additive , and irrational meters . Most time signatures consist of two numerals, one stacked above

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1272-637: A number 1 hit in France and the Netherlands, as well as becoming certified gold in Belgium and Switzerland. The song gained over 400 million views on YouTube. She became the first French artist to secure seven top 10 songs in the French Singles chart and the first French singer to gain a number 1 album in the Netherlands since Edith Piaf in 1967, and became the most streamed French female artist in

1378-507: A piece may not be best described as being in one meter, but rather as having a switching mixed meter. In this case, the time signatures are an aid to the performers and not necessarily an indication of meter. The Promenade from Modest Mussorgsky 's Pictures at an Exhibition (1874) is a good example. The opening measures are shown below: Igor Stravinsky 's The Rite of Spring (1913) is famous for its "savage" rhythms. Five measures from "Sacrificial Dance" are shown below: In such cases,

1484-479: A platform in the United Kingdom. DJ Abrantee has been credited for coining the name "afrobeats". DJ Abrantee launched his Afrobeats charts on Capital Xtra in 2014. DJs and producers like DJ Black, Elom Adablah , and C-Real , were also crucial in spreading afrobeats, often giving songs a burst of popularity after being played on their shows. Ghanaian British artist Fuse ODG helped popularise afrobeats in

1590-481: A political tool to express community distress and gain awareness for issues facing contemporary Africa, particularly Nigeria. In April 2021, Davido's song "Fall" became the first Nigerian afrobeats song to receive over 200 million views on YouTube. In the same year, Wizkid and Tems became the first Nigerian pop artists to earn a spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with their song " Essence ", while Burna Boy became

1696-536: A quarter note might correspond to 60–120 bpm, a half note to 30–60 bpm, a whole note to 15–30 bpm, and an eighth note to 120–240 bpm; these are not strict, but show an example of "normal" ranges. This convention dates to the Baroque era, when tempo changes were indicated by changing time signature during the piece, rather than by using a single time signature and changing tempo marking. For example, while 8 , 4 , 2 , and 1 have

1802-424: A recurring pulse, or beat , usually in the range of 60–140 beats per minute. Depending on the tempo of the music, this beat may correspond to the note value specified by the time signature, or to a grouping of such note values. Most commonly, in simple time signatures, the beat is the same as the note value of the signature, but in compound signatures, the beat is usually a dotted note value corresponding to three of

1908-581: A role in increasing the visibility of afrobeats in the Middle East and North Africa . The song influenced a lot of recordings and parodies in the Arab World , notably from acts like Arash and Black Cats . Another method of utilising social media in order to boost a song was seen in the promotion of " Dorobucci ", released in 2014, wherein Don Jazzy encouraged people to record themselves singing

2014-413: A simple time-signature with triplets translates into a compound meter. The choice of time signature in these cases is largely a matter of tradition. Particular time signatures are traditionally associated with different music styles—it would seem strange to notate a conventional rock song in 8 or 2 , rather than 4 . In the examples below, bold denotes

2120-490: A slower, compound time. However, there are two different-length beats in this resulting compound time, a one half-again longer than the short beat (or conversely, the short beat is 2 ⁄ 3 the value of the long). This type of meter is called aksak (the Turkish word for "limping"), impeded , jolting , or shaking , and is described as an irregular bichronic rhythm . A certain amount of confusion for Western musicians

2226-462: A talent incubation initiative to nurture and support up-and-coming artistes in Africa. The platform will be used to help promote upcoming artists and give them a major platform. The initiative is also supported by YouTube Music. The latter half of the 2010s also saw prominent American artists experiment with Afrobeats music. This is notable due to the difficulty Afrobeats has previously had in accessing

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2332-501: A traditional dance called Etighi . Another dance was popularised by Nigerian artist Davido when he released " Skelewu " in 2013. Davido promoted the song by uploading an instructional dance video of it onto YouTube on 18 August 2013. The video was directed by Jassy Generation. The release of the instructional video accompany the announcement of the Skelewu dance competition. In order to win the competition, participants were told to watch

2438-749: A trip to the U.S. and met a woman by the name of Sandra Smith, a singer and former Black Panther . Sandra Smith (now known as Sandra Izsadore or Sandra Akanke Isidore) introduced Kuti to many writings of activists such as Martin Luther King Jr. , Angela Davis , Jesse Jackson , and his biggest influence of all, Malcolm X . As Kuti was interested in African-American politics, Smith would make it her duty to inform Kuti of current events; in return, Kuti would fill her in on African culture. Since Kuti stayed at Smith's house and spent so much time with her, he started to re-evaluate his music genre. That

2544-425: Is "Picking up on trends from the U.S., Jamaica, and Trinidad, they reimagine diasporic influences and—more often than not—completely reinvent them." Afrobeats began to experience widespread global mainstream acclaim in the late 2010s, with artists achieving success across Africa, Europe, and North America. In response, it has been referred to as one of Africa's 'biggest cultural' or 'musical' exports. Afrobeats (with

2650-459: Is 2, 3, or 4, sometimes described as duple meter , triple meter , and quadruple meter respectively. In compound meter , the note values specified by the bottom number are grouped into threes, and the upper number is a multiple of 3, such as 6, 9, or 12. The lower number is most commonly an 8 (an eighth-note or quaver): as in 8 or 8 . Other upper numbers correspond to irregular meters . Musical passages commonly feature

2756-582: Is a clearly defined genre, afrobeats is more of an overarching term for contemporary West African pop music. The term was created in order to package these various sounds into a more easily accessible label, which were unfamiliar to the UK listeners where the term was first coined. Another, more subtle contrast between the two sounds, is that while Fela Kuti used his music to discuss and criticise contemporary politics, afrobeats typically avoids such topics, thereby making it less politically charged than afrobeat. Afrobeats

2862-470: Is an early, but by no means the earliest, example of 4 time in solo piano music. Anton Reicha 's Fugue No. 20 from his Thirty-six Fugues , published in 1803, is also for piano and is in 8 . The waltz -like second movement of Tchaikovsky's Pathétique Symphony (shown below), often described as a "limping waltz", is a notable example of 4 time in orchestral music. Examples from 20th-century classical music include: In

2968-461: Is essential to Afrobeat, due to Kuti using social criticism to pave the way for change. His message can be described as confrontational and controversial, which relates to the political climate of most of the African countries in the 1970s, many of which were dealing with political injustice and military corruption while recovering from the transition from colonial governments to self-determination. As

3074-539: Is felt as two beats, each being a dotted quarter note (crotchet), and each containing subdivisions of three eighth notes (quavers). It is felt as The table below shows the characteristics of the most frequently used time signatures. (quadruple) (duple) (duple) (triple) (triple) (duple) (triple) (quadruple) While changing the bottom number and keeping the top number fixed only formally changes notation, without changing meaning – 8 , 4 , 2 , and 1 are all three beats to

3180-420: Is inevitable, since a measure they would likely regard as 16 , for example, is a three-beat measure in aksak , with one long and two short beats (with subdivisions of 2+2+3 , 2+3+2 , or 3+2+2 ). Folk music may make use of metric time bends, so that the proportions of the performed metric beat time lengths differ from the exact proportions indicated by the metric. Depending on playing style of

3286-495: Is known as the clave and mixes a rhythm with a normal 4/4 beat, it is commonly seen in many forms West African music. Another notable hit was " Million Pound Girl (Badder Than Bad) " by Fuse ODG, which reached 5 on the UK Singles Chart in 2014. In 2014, a genre derivative of afrobeats known as afroswing emerged in the UK, which fused the sound with influences from road rap, grime, dancehall, trap, and R&B. The genre

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3392-458: Is less of a style like Afrobeat is, and more of an overarching term for the contemporary sound of African pop music and that of those influenced by it. DJ 3K criticised the label for being a contemporary marketing category. According to David Drake, the eclectic genre "reimagines diasporic influences and—more often than not—completely reinvents them". However, some caution against equating Afrobeats to contemporary pan-African music, in order to prevent

3498-425: Is most identifiable by its signature driving drum beat rhythms, whether electronic or instrumental. These beats harken to the stylings of a variety of traditional African drum beats across West Africa as well as the precursory genre Afrobeat. The beat in Afrobeats music is not just a base for the melody, but acts as a major character of the song, taking a lead role that is sometimes equal to or of greater importance than

3604-461: Is provided (usually 4 ) so that the performer finds the piece easier to read, and simply has "free time" written as a direction. Sometimes the word FREE is written downwards on the staff to indicate the piece is in free time. Erik Satie wrote many compositions that are ostensibly in free time but actually follow an unstated and unchanging simple time signature. Later composers used this device more effectively, writing music almost devoid of

3710-419: Is that we did? Come on!' Sometimes I get that vibe, but then, in the same breath, I'm like, well, it is one Africa, and I'm pan-African to the bone. So do I really care if it's called Afrobeats or hiplife? As long as Black people are getting it, and young people are making money, feeding their kids, I think I'm okay. So, to each their own. Rockstone used "afrobeats" rather than "hiplife"—a genre often placed under

3816-466: Is written in 8 , in which the beats are likewise subdivided into 3+2+3 to reflect Basque dance rhythms. Romanian musicologist Constantin Brăiloiu had a special interest in compound time signatures, developed while studying the traditional music of certain regions in his country. While investigating the origins of such unusual meters, he learned that they were even more characteristic of

3922-521: The Azonto dance craze. American artists such as Michelle Williams , French Montana , Rick Ross , and Kanye West have all collaborated with Afrobeats artists. Michelle Williams released " Say Yes " in 2014, a gospel song based on the Nigerian hymn When Jesus Say Yes . The song's beats are said to resemble the popular four-beat of house music, but in fact follows the 3–2 or 2–3 of Afrobeats. This beat

4028-654: The Soundcity MVP Awards Festival in 2016. Mr Eazi initially gained his popularity in the UK after Juls reached out to him resulting in the song "Bankulize". Mr Eazi soon after became a star in Ghana and Nigeria. He has stated UK, Ghanaian and Nigerian music have all influenced his music. Mr Eazi calls his music 'Banku Music'. He was the first African pop artist to gain an extensive Apple Music artist page. In 2016, Beat FM in North London became

4134-547: The UK Album Chart , the first ever by an African artist. Rema released his debut album Raves & Roses in March 2022 and by 2023 the lead single " Calm Down " went viral with its remix featuring Selena Gomez reaching number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached a record of more than a billion streams on Spotify. Billboard referred to the song as "Afrobeats biggest cross over hit." In 2023, Spotify organized five local workshop and media events within African cities, under

4240-717: The UK Singles Chart in 2012 (making him the first afrobeats artist to make it to the top 10 in the UK) and number 2 on the UK R&;B Chart . In 2012, P-Square remixed their 2009 hit single " E No Easy " with Matt Houston , and it became the first afrobeats song to reach top 5 on the French SNEP music chart, as well as top 10 on the Belgian Ultratop chart, spending 29 weeks and 16 weeks respectively. The song

4346-598: The bar is first divided into equal units. For example, the time signature 8 means that there are 8 quaver beats in the bar, divided as the first of a group of three eighth notes (quavers) that are stressed, then the first of a group of two, then first of a group of three again. The stress pattern is usually counted as This kind of time signature is commonly used to notate folk and non-Western types of music. In classical music, Béla Bartók and Olivier Messiaen have used such time signatures in their works. The first movement of Maurice Ravel 's Piano Trio in A Minor

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4452-459: The grime folks are African kids, either the children of migrants or migrants themselves. It's not clear what Africa might mean to them. In his earlier book, The Black Atlantic , Gilroy rejects the notion that Black culture and music can be bound to one geographical region. Afrobeats exemplifies this syncretism as a transnational genre that since 2019 has received international attention. David Drake writes about popular Nigerian music noting it

4558-424: The s ) is commonly conflated with and referred to as Afrobeat (without the s ); however, these two are distinct, sound differently and are not the same. Afrobeat is a genre that developed in the 1960s and 1970s, taking influences from Fuji music and highlife , mixed in with American jazz and funk . Characteristics of Afrobeat include big bands , long instrumental solos, and complex jazzy rhythms. The name

4664-512: The "Afrobeats" umbrella. Afrobeats is primarily produced in Lagos , Accra , and London . Historian and cultural critic Paul Gilroy reflects on the changing London music scene as a result of shifting demographics: We are moving towards an African majority which is diverse both in its cultural habits and in its relationship to colonial and postcolonial governance, so the shift away from Caribbean dominance needs to be placed in that setting. Most of

4770-515: The "Afrobeats" umbrella. Styles of music that make up afrobeats largely began sometime in the late '90s and early to mid-2000s. With the launching of MTV Base Africa in 2005, West Africa was given a large platform through which artists could grow. Artists such as MI Abaga , Naeto C and Sarkodie were among the first to take advantage of this, however most of the artists were merely making interpretations of American hip hop and R&B. Prior to this, groups such as Trybesmen , Plantashun Boiz , and

4876-582: The 'world's first official charts' for afrobeats music. During the Nigerian End SARS protests in October, Davido's song "Fem" was described as a 'protest song' for the movement. The song was prominently played outside the government secretariat in Lagos, to protest and drown out the Lagos governor who was attempting to speak to the protestors. The Burna Boy song “20 10 20” was created in response to

4982-898: The 1990s, there have been collaborations that resulted in albums such as Africa: Centre of the World by Roy Ayers, released on the Polydore label in 1981. In 1994, Branford Marsalis , the American jazz saxophonist, included samples of Fela's "Beasts of No Nation" on his Buckshot LeFonque album. Afrobeat has also profoundly influenced various important contemporary producers and musicians, such as Brian Eno and David Byrne , who credit Fela Kuti as an essential influence. Both worked on Talking Heads ' highly acclaimed 1980 album Remain in Light , which brought polyrhythmic Afrobeat influences to Western music. The new generation of DJs and musicians of

5088-615: The 2000s who have fallen in love with both Kuti's material and other rare releases have made compilations and remixes of these recordings, thus re-introducing the genre to new generations of listeners and fans of afropop and groove . In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a small Afrobeat scene began in Brooklyn , New York, with projects including Antibalas , The Daktaris and the Kokolo Afrobeat Orchestra . Since then, other artists like Zongo Junction have come onto

5194-453: The 21st century. This takes on diverse influences and is an eclectic combination of genres such as hip hop , house , jùjú , ndombolo , R&B , soca , and dancehall . The two genres, though often conflated, are not the same. Afrobeat evolved in Nigeria in the late 1960s by Fela Anikulapo Kuti , (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun) who, with drummer Tony Allen , experimented with different contemporary music of that time. Afrobeat

5300-732: The Afro-beat Crusaders , Shaolin Afronauts (from Adelaide, Australia), Newen Afrobeat (from Santiago, Chile), Eddy Taylor & the Heartphones (from Cologne, Germany), Bantucrew , the Albinoid Afrobeat Orchestra ;/ Albinoid Sound System (from Strasbourg, France), Underground System / Underground System Afrobeat (from Brooklyn, New York), Abayomy Afrobeat Orquestra, Chicago Afrobeat Orchestra, Warsaw Afrobeat Orchestra, Karl Hector &

5406-454: The American market. In 2016, Nigerian Popstar Ayo Jay enlisted the help of American artists Chris Brown and Fetty Wap to release a remix to his single "Your Number" . In 2017, Wizkid linked up with Chris Brown for a single titled " African Bad Gyal .” In 2018, Swae Lee and Drake released " Won't Be Late ", produced by Nigerian artist Tekno. In 2019, Janet Jackson released " Made for Now " with production by Harmony Samuels . The song

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5512-618: The British Official Charts Company announced it would be creating an ' Official UK Afrobeats Chart ' to track the sales and streaming data of afrobeats songs in the UK. In the year prior, afrobeats artists had spent a collective 86 weeks on the Official Chart Top 40, compared to 24 in 2017, and the amount of afrobeats artists in the UK Top 40 had doubled in that period. The company claimed it was one of

5618-529: The Lekki Massacre perpetrated by SARS on 20/10/20, where the police forces killed 12 protestors at the Lekki Toll Gate. Lyrics of the song include “Twentieth of October 2020 / You carry army go kill many youth for Lekki / Na so water o, water runaway my eye / Nothing you go talk wey go justify the case of their murder.” The political nature of these songs highlights how Afrobeats has been used as

5724-535: The Malcouns (from Munich, Germany), Ojibo Afrobeat (from Vilnius, Lithuania), Afrodizz and Dele Sosimi and the ex-Africa '70 members Oghene Kologbo (guitar) with Afrobeat Academy , Nicholas Addo-Nettey (percussion), who is also known as Pax Nicholas  [ de ] , with Ridimtaksi (both based in Berlin, Germany). Namibian artist EES (Eric Sell) associates Afrobeat with reggae and kwaito . In 2009,

5830-605: The Remedies were early pioneers that fused modern American influences from hip-hop and R&B with local melodies. While this allowed them to build local audiences, it blocked them from a wider platform due to the language barriers in-place. P-Square released their album Game Over in 2007, which was unique for its usage of Nigerian rhythms and melodies. Meanwhile, artists such as Flavour N'abania embraced older genres, such as highlife , and remixing it into something more modern, as seen in his song " Nwa Baby (Ashawo Remix) ". By

5936-493: The U.S. In the year prior, Wizkid had spent a collective 27 weeks on the radio domination Chart with Essence , after which Kodak Black 's "Super Gremlin" claimed the number one spot. Currently, the genre has yielded some of the biggest success stories of the young decade — including songs like Wizkid 's "Essence" featuring Tems, CKay 's "Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah Ah)" and Fireboy DML 's "Peru". In August 2023, Burna Boy 's seventh Studio album , I Told Them debuted at number one on

6042-574: The U.S. Nigerian artist Burna Boy also saw some success, performing to over 9,000 people in Brooklyn , and gaining over 11.2 million streams from the US on his single "Ye". His album African Giant was nominated for 'Best World Music Album' at the Grammy Awards . Wizkid's " Come Closer " became certified RIAA Gold in 2020, 3 years after initial release. His song " Soco " also received a Canadian Gold certification in 2020. Despite gaining popularity in

6148-409: The UK afrobeats scene. Mista Silva and Skob credited Fuse ODG's "Azonto" song for encouraging them to create afrobeats. Ghanaian artist Guru also popularised his own dance in 2013 called " Alkayida " with the release of the song "Alkayida (Boys Abrɛ)". Nigerian artist MC Galaxy also popularised a dance called "Sekem". “Shekini”, off of P-Square’s “ Double Trouble ” album (released in 2014), played

6254-565: The UK. He was also the first to top the iTunes World Chart and received the Best African Act award at the 2013 MOBO Awards . In 2009, Fuse ODG described his sound as "hip hop with an African vibe". In 2011, Fuse ODG travelled to Ghana where he discovered the Azonto dance, and became inspired by hip hop-influenced Afro-pop and Naija beats. Once he returned to London, he fused the sounds he had found in Ghana into what he described as "Afrobeats, but with my U.K. thing added to it", fusing

6360-660: The US also reached music radio stations, which began airing afrobeats, something they typically would not do before. Davido's " Fall " became a top 20 radio hit in America, 24 months after it was initially released. "Fall" also began rising on the Billboard R&;B/Hip-Hop Airplay and U.S. Shazam charts, also becoming the longest charting Nigerian song in Billboard history. The song later became certified Gold in Canada and

6466-576: The US there stands some contention between the African American community and the greater African Diaspora. Afrobeats has been treated as an "other" category at BET awards despite being a black genre. These awards are catered toward Black Americans highlighting their lack of solidarity the diaspora says Boima Tucker. Afrobeats artists are tired of being treated like "second class citizens" in African-American Music award shows in

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6572-418: The United States. In December 2019, YouTube announced it would be supporting four afrobeats artists: Kizz Daniel , Reekado Banks , Simi , and Teni . Announced at an event titled "A celebration of Afrobeats" hosted in Lagos, Nigeria, YouTube stated it would be providing them with tools to "propel their music, grow their presence on YouTube and accelerate the growth of their audience globally". In July 2020,

6678-620: The Western popular music tradition, unusual time signatures occur as well, with progressive rock in particular making frequent use of them. The use of shifting meters in The Beatles ' " Strawberry Fields Forever " and the use of quintuple meter in their " Within You, Without You " are well-known examples, as is Radiohead 's " Paranoid Android " (includes 8 ). Paul Desmond 's jazz composition " Take Five ", in 4 time,

6784-538: The additional focus on emotional and romantic-focused lyricism in his music. In the same month Wizkid's "Essence" became the first African song to be certified platinum and to reach the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100. In March 2022, the United States Billboard announced it would be creating an ' Official U.S Afrobeats Songs Chart ' to track the sales and streaming data of afrobeat songs in

6890-511: The backgrounds of the performers. Another distinction within Afrobeats is the notably West African, specifically Nigerian or Ghanaian, accented English that is often blended with local slangs, pidgin English, as well as local Nigerian or Ghanaian languages depending on the backgrounds of the performers. Sampling is sometimes used within Afrobeats music. Burna Boy and Wizkid, for example, have both sampled Fela Kuti. London -based DJ Abrantee

6996-489: The characteristic aksak meter of the Turkish karşılama dance. However, such time signatures are only unusual in most Western music. Traditional music of the Balkans uses such meters extensively. Bulgarian dances , for example, include forms with 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 22, 25 and other numbers of beats per measure. These rhythms are notated as additive rhythms based on simple units, usually 2, 3 and 4 beats, though

7102-573: The erasure of local musical contributions. Some artists have distanced themselves from the term 'afrobeats' due to the overt similarity it has with 'afrobeat', even though they are different sounds. Afrobeats is also sometimes referred to as Afro-pop and Afro-fusion . A few artists have used the same alternative names to describe their music; Don Jazzy has stated he prefers "Afro-pop" rather than Afrobeats. Wizkid , Burna Boy , and Davido all use Afro-fusion or Afro-pop to describe their music. Mr Eazi also refers to his music as 'banku music' to denote

7208-401: The first African artist to earn 100 million streams across three albums each on Spotify . A range of new artists, such as Rema, Fireboy DML , Tems , Joeboy , and Ayra Starr began to gain widespread popularity around the early 2020s, with a defining sound of R&B-infused, and sometimes trap -influenced, afrobeats music. In January 2022, Fireboy DML was the first Nigerian artist to reach

7314-418: The first Afrobeats songs to be playlisted on daytime radio across the UK were Mista Silva 's "Boom Boom Tah", May7ven 's "Ten Ten", D'Banj 's " Oliver Twist ", and Moelogo 's "Pangolo" in March 2012. P-Square released " Chop My Money (Remix) " alongside popular Senegalese-American artist Akon in 2012. " Oliver Twist ", released online by Nigerian artist D'banj in the summer of 2011 charted at number 9 on

7420-529: The first British radio station dedicated to afrobeats. Nigerian artist Tekno signed a multi-million dollar deal with Columbia Records . In August 2017, he released "Pana". The song was a hit in Nigeria, but failed to propel Tekno's career into America as was hoped. On October 1, 2017, Wizkid became the first African artist to hold a sold-out headline show at the Royal Albert Hall . 2017 also saw

7526-409: The genre spread throughout the African continent, many bands took up the style. The recordings of these bands and their songs were rarely heard or exported outside the originating countries but many can now be found on compilation albums and CDs from specialist record shops. Many jazz musicians have been attracted to the aromatic genre of Afrobeat. From Roy Ayers in the 1970s to Randy Weston in

7632-444: The influence Ghana has had on his music ( banku is a Ghanaian dish). Rema coined the term "Afrorave", which is a subgenre of Afrobeats with influences of Arabian and Indian music. Yeni Kuti , daughter of Fela Kuti, expressed distaste for the name 'Afrobeats' and instead preferred if people referred to it as "Nigerian pop", "Naija Afropop", or "Nigerian Afropop". Similarly, Seun Kuti , the youngest son of Fela Kuti, has maintained that

7738-481: The initiative of promoting Afrobeats acts. Later that year, Tyla became the first South African artist to debut on the Billboard Hot 100 in 55 years, with her single " Water " which contains Afrobeats influences. Afrobeat Afrobeat (also known as Afrofunk ) is a West African music genre , fusing influences from Nigerian (such as Yoruba and Igbo music ) and Ghanaian (such as highlife ) music, with American funk , jazz , and soul influences. With

7844-547: The instructional dance video and upload videos of themselves dancing to the song. According to Pulse Nigeria, the number of dance videos uploaded to YouTube by fans aggregated to over 100,000 views. Other British afrobeats artists also emerged around 2012–2013, such as Mista Silva , Vibe Squad , Weray Ent, Naira Marley , Kwamz, Flava, Moelogo, and Timbo, who collectively set the foundation for future UK afrobeats and its derivative genre, Afroswing . Mista Silva's songs "Bo Won Sem Ma Me" and "Boom Boom Tah" were notable early hits in

7950-599: The late 2000s, artists within the burgeoning scene were beginning to become stars across the continent. However it was not until the launch of Choice FM's new Afrobeats radio show birthed and presented by DJ Abrantee in April 2011 that the genre gained traction and saw 'Afrobeats' trending for the first time in history. The launch of the show gained popularity and provided a launch pad for both UK based and African artists to submit songs for playlist consideration. Abrantee used his daytime show to test daytime play of Afrobeats. Some of

8056-499: The lyrics and almost always more central than the other instrumentals. Afrobeats shares a similar momentum and tempo to house music. Usually using the 4/4 time signature common in Western music, afrobeats commonly features a 3–2 or 2–3 rhythm called a clave . Another distinction within Afrobeats is the notably West African, specifically Nigerian or Ghanaian, accented English that is often blended with local slangs, pidgin English, as well as local Nigerian or Ghanaian languages depending on

8162-529: The music label Knitting Factory Records (KFR) produced the Broadway musical Fela! The story showcased Kuti's "courage and incredible musical mastery" along with the story of his life. The show had 11 Tony nominations, receiving three for Best Costumes, Best Sound and Best Choreography. Fela! was on Broadway for 15 months and was produced by notables such as Shawn "Jay-Z " Carter and Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith . Many celebrities were noted as attending

8268-439: The music made by Dbanj and P-Square should be classified as Afropop. In defence, he said, "You cannot just call some pop music Afrobeat just because it's coming from Africa...". Music critic Osagie Alonge criticised the pluralisation of 'afrobeat'. Sam Onyemelukwe of Trace Nigeria, a television show, however noted that he liked 'afrobeats', noting that it acknowledges the foundation set by afrobeat while also recognising that it's

8374-474: The music of Vampire Weekend and Paul Simon . In 2020, Antibalas was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album . Afrobeat artists of the 2000s and present continue to follow in the footsteps of Fela Kuti. Some examples of these artists are his sons Femi Kuti and Seun Kuti , Franck Biyong & Massak (from Cameroon), London Afrobeat Collective (from London, UK), Segun Damisa &

8480-444: The notation fails to describe the metric "time bending" taking place, or compound meters . See Additive meters below. Some video samples are shown below. While time signatures usually express a regular pattern of beat stresses continuing through a piece (or at least a section), sometimes composers change time signatures often enough to result in music with an extremely irregular rhythm. The time signature may switch so much that

8586-457: The number two position on the UK Singles Chart with his " Peru " remix featuring Ed Sheeran . In September 2021, Ckay became the second Nigerian pop artist to debut on the Billboard Hot 100 with his song " Love Nwantiti " which peaked at number one in India, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland, and gained popularity across TikTok . CKay personally dubbed his sound 'Emo-afrobeats', noting

8692-451: The other: For instance, 4 means two quarter-notes (crotchets) per bar, while 8 means four eighth-notes (quavers) per bar. The most common time signatures are 4 , 4 , and 4 . By convention, two special symbols are sometimes used for 4 and 2 : These symbols derive from mensural time signatures , described below. Simple meters are those whose upper number

8798-416: The primary stress of the measure, and italics denote a secondary stress. Syllables such as "and" are frequently used for pulsing in between numbers. Simple : 4 is a simple triple meter time signature that represents three quarter notes (crotchets), usually perceived as three beats. In this case the subdivision would be the eighth note (quaver). It is felt as Compound : Most often, 8

8904-417: The record for the most viewed female African music video on YouTube which made her the second artist with the most views on a single video after Davido . In July 2019, Davido and Chris Brown released a music video for their collaboration “ Blow My Mind ", which at the time became the first video by a Nigerian artist to amass 2 million YouTube views within the first 24 hours of release. Afrobeats artist Rema

9010-402: The release of Lion King film released by Disney , on July 19, 2019. The album featured artists such as Burna Boy, Mr Eazi, Wizkid, P2J, Yemi Alade , Maleek Berry , Tiwa Savage , and Shatta Wale . Mr Eazi and GuiltyBeatz predicted the album would help afrobeats reach a higher level of popularity, especially in the US, than it has yet to achieve. In July 2019, Yemi Alade 's "Johnny" set

9116-754: The rise of Shaku Shaku, another dance craze. Though the origins are not known, the dance is believed to have been popularized by street urchins in Agege around mid-2017. The Shaku Shaku dance move first appeared in Olamide 's "Wo" music video. Much like the Azonto dance, Shaku Shaku also gave rise to its own genre of music, pioneered by artists such as Mr Real, Slimcase, Idowest. In the late 2010s, international record labels Universal and Warner Music began to invest money into Afrobeats artists. In 2018, French-Malian singer Aya Nakamura released " Djadja ". The song became

9222-621: The rise within the following years. Wizkid was later entered into the Guinness Book of Records 2018 for featuring on the most streamed Spotify single of all time, "One Dance". He is the first afrobeats artist to enter the Guinness Book of Records. Nigerian artist Mr Eazi began to gain popularity in 2016 with his breakout singles "Skin Tight" and "Bankulize", both produced by British-Ghanaian producer Juls . He won Best New Artist at

9328-420: The same beat pattern, they would conventionally be used for increasingly slow music. A 20th century example is " O Fortuna " (1935–1936) by Carl Orff , which begins slowly in 1 , and then speeds up and changes to 2 . Signatures that do not fit the usual simple or compound categories are called complex , asymmetric , irregular , unusual , or odd —though these are broad terms, and usually

9434-473: The same meter, the time bend can vary from non-existent to considerable; in the latter case, some musicologists may want to assign a different meter. For example, the Bulgarian tune " Eleno Mome " is written in one of three forms: (1) 7 = 2+2+1+2 , (2) 13 = 4+4+2+3 , or (3) 12 = 3+4+2+3 , but an actual performance (e.g., "Eleno Mome" ) may be closer to 4+4+2+3 . The Macedonian 3+2+2+3+2 meter

9540-642: The scene. Many others have cited Afrobeat as an influence, like Daptone Records-adjacent groups The Budos Band and El Michels Affair . The horn section of Antibalas have been guest musicians on TV on the Radio 's highly acclaimed 2008 album Dear Science , as well as on British band Foals ' 2008 album Antidotes . Further examples are Val Veneto, Radio Bantu, Tam Tam Afrobeat, Combo Makabro, Marabunta Orquesta, Minga!, Antropofonica, Guanabana Afrobeat Orquesta, El Gran Capitan, Morbo y Mambo, Luka Afrobeat Orquesta or NikiLauda. Some Afrobeat influence can also be found in

9646-654: The shows, including Denzel Washington , Madonna, Sting, Spike Lee (who saw it eight times), Kofi Annan , and Michelle Obama . Michelle Williams , former singer of girl group Destiny's Child , was cast as the role of Sandra Izsadore. Fela Kuti's music has been sampled by various hip-hop musicians such as Missy Elliott , J. Cole , and Kanye West , as well as other popular acts such as Beyoncé . The "Festival de Afrobeat Independiente" (FAI) takes place regularly in Buenos Aires , where regional bands as well as renown Afrobeat acts perform. Time signature In

9752-408: The signature's note values. Either way, the next lower note value shorter than the beat is called the subdivision . On occasion a bar may seem like one singular beat. For example, a fast waltz, notated in 4 time, may be described as being one in a bar . Conversely, at slow tempos, the beat might even be a smaller note value than the one enumerated by the time signature. Mathematically

9858-514: The song prior to release. The song won Best Pop Single at The Headies 2014 , and Song of the Year at the 2015 MTV Africa Music Awards . It gained over 20 million views by 2016. Ghanaian artist Sarkodie won Best International Act Africa at the MOBO Awards in 2012, and Best Hip Hop award at the 2014 MTV Africa Awards . In 2011, his song "U Go Kill Me" became a hit in Ghana and helped popularise

9964-773: The sound with influences from UK funky and grime . In 2012, he saw his first success with the song " Antenna " which peaked at number 7 on the UK Singles Chart . He followed that up with " Azonto ", which further helped popularise afrobeats and the dance in the UK. Such songs, and the Azonto dance craze, helped encourage Black Brits to embrace their African heritage rather than, as was the norm before, attempting to fit into British-Caribbean communities. Afrobeats night clubs became primary features of UK's nightlife with clubs opening in most major cities. More viral dances would follow which played an important part in popularising afrobeats. In 2011, Nigerian singer Iyanya released " Kukere ". The song became popular and known for its adaption of

10070-472: The time signatures of, e.g., 4 and 8 are interchangeable. In a sense all simple triple time signatures, such as 8 , 4 , 2 , etc.—and all compound duple times, such as 8 , 16 and so on, are equivalent. A piece in 4 can be easily rewritten in 8 , simply by halving the length of the notes. Other time signature rewritings are possible: most commonly

10176-534: The traditional music of neighboring peoples (e.g., the Bulgarians ). He suggested that such timings can be regarded as compounds of simple two-beat and three-beat meters, where an accent falls on every first beat, even though, for example in Bulgarian music , beat lengths of 1, 2, 3, 4 are used in the metric description. In addition, when focused only on stressed beats, simple time signatures can count as beats in

10282-497: The world. Her sophomore album Nakamura became certified gold in France. Her rise has been notable due to the relative difficulty French black women have had in gaining mainstream popularity in France. In June 2018, prominent American rapper Kanye West released his album titled Ye . Fans of Kanye West that searched for his album also, unintentionally, came across Burna Boy's song called " Ye " (released in January). This led to

10388-453: Was afrobeats, and became a top 10 hit on Adult R&B radio. In 2019 two prominent American artists, GoldLink and Beyoncé , both released albums with afrobeats influence. GoldLink released Diaspora on June 12, 2019, featuring an afrobeats song as the lead single, "Zulu Screams" and production from P2J . GoldLink had also previously made "No Lie" alongside Wizkid back in 2014. Beyoncé released The Lion King: The Gift , coinciding with

10494-562: Was coined by Nigerian afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti . Fela Kuti and his longtime partner, drummer Tony Allen , are often credited for laying the groundwork for what would become afrobeats. This is in contrast to the Afrobeats sound, pioneered in the 2000s and 2010s. While afrobeats takes on influences from afrobeat, it is a diverse fusion of various different genres such as British house music , hiplife , hip hop , dancehall , soca , jùjú music , highlife , R&B , ndombolo , Naija beats, Azonto, and palm-wine music . Unlike Afrobeat, which

10600-554: Was credited by The Guardian for coining the name "Afrobeats", adding an "s" to Afrobeat, in order to package and present the sound to British dancefloors. DJ Abrantee stated: I cannot say I invented Afrobeats. Afrobeats was invented before I was born. It was invented by Fela Kuti. But what you've got to remember is the genre of music artists themselves are now producing — the likes of Wizkid , Ice Prince , P-Square , Castro , May7ven are calling their music Afrobeats. So that's what I call it when I put them on my mix tapes. Afrobeats

10706-517: Was influenced by a combination of different genres, such as highlife , fuji , and jùjú , as well as Yoruba vocal traditions, rhythm, and instruments. In the late 1950s, Kuti left Lagos to study abroad at the London School of Music, where he took lessons in piano and percussion and was exposed to jazz. Fela Kuti returned to Lagos and played a highlife-jazz hybrid, albeit, without commercial success. In 1969, Kuti and his band went on

10812-418: Was one of a number of irregular-meter compositions that The Dave Brubeck Quartet played. They played other compositions in 4 ("Eleven Four"), 4 (" Unsquare Dance "), and 8 (" Blue Rondo à la Turk "), expressed as 8 . "Blue Rondo à la Turk" is an example of a signature that, despite appearing merely compound triple, is actually more complex. Brubeck's title refers to

10918-550: Was popularised by J Hus . This has led to many people referring to afroswing as 'afrobeats', however the two genres are distinct from each other. Canadian artist Drake also began to experiment with afrobeats in the mid-2010s, which arguably helped afrobeats gain international mainstream appeal. In 2014, he featured on "Ojuelegba (Remix)" by Nigerian artist Wizkid alongside British MC Skepta , and in 2016 when he released " One Dance " alongside British singer Kyla and Wizkid. "One Dance" became Spotify's most streamed song, with over

11024-401: Was the first Nigerian musician to land a song on former US president Barack Obama 's yearly summer music playlist . On August 23, 2019, Jidenna released the afrobeats album 85 to Africa . On October 1, Chris Brown released "Lower Body", an afrobeats single featuring Davido. On October 25, 2019, Akon released a new afrobeats album titled Akonda . The rising attention of afrobeats in

11130-558: Was the first afrobeats summer hit in France, which in turn boosted afrobeats' visibility in the francophone countries. Mr Eazi later credited D'banj in an interview with Sway in the Morning in 2019 for helping encourage Nigerians to embrace their accents and music, rather than looking outwards and trying to emulate American accents and music. British DJs such as DJ Edu, with his show Destination Africa on BBC Radio 1Xtra , and DJ Abrantee , with his show on Choice FM , granted African music

11236-630: Was when Kuti realized that he was not playing African music. From that day forward, Kuti changed his sound and the message behind his music. Upon arriving in Nigeria, Kuti had also changed the name of his group to " Africa '70 ". The new sound hailed from a club he established called the Afrika Shrine . The band maintained a five-year residency at the Afrika Shrine from 1970 to 1975 while Afrobeat thrived among Nigerian youth. Another influential person Ray Stephen Oche  [ de ] ,

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