Afrobeat singer Seun Kuti says the popular term “Afrobeats” should not be regarded as a musical genre but rather a broad title for contemporary African music. He made the remarks during an interview in Lagos.
Seun, whose late father Fela Kuti pioneered the original Afrobeat sound, argued that Afrobeats is used only as a label to describe African music globally. He added that Nigerian artistes have freedom to move between styles such as dancehall, blues, pop and amapiano without being restricted by genre.
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Also speaking, rapper, Vector said Afrobeats could only be defined as a genre if its musical elements were properly documented. He compared it to Fela’s Afrobeat, which was carefully recorded and analysed as a distinct sound.
Vector added that clearer documentation of today’s Afrobeats movement could one day provide the structure needed to classify it as a genre, even if it has evolved differently from the original Afrobeat.
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