Good article Joey, of course its good to sound the alarm bells backed by research but it would also be nice to outline practical steps afrobeats people need to take in order to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.
This was great article. I am pretty new to listening to Afrobeats (2021) so thank you for sharing some artists from first glory days of the genre, I'll give them a listen. Would love more information on the Nigerian labels/execs, promoters and artist managers to know what exactly they are doing to capitalize on this resurgance of Afrobeats.
I wonder if putting more emphasis on "selling" Afrobeats as a full experience/ lifestyle (like Dancehall and Reggae did) and not just music might help. The experience I had when listening to Afrobeats for the first time was in Ghana and the way people were dancing and enjoying in the club was really revolutionary for me--I hadn't seen it before. Afrobeats has an opportunity to market itself as feel good/ good time music that makes people dance in American clubs again (which doesn't happen as much as it used to in black clubs and not as much as in Ghana) which would be revolutionary. Now we have to work on getting the DJs more songs than just "Essence" and "Peru," but that's for another day.
Finally, I'll add that there are levels of complexity here especially in the US. As a Black American, I see a lot of hesitation in the community towards Afrobeats given the troubled history of the relationship between Africans and Black Americans here in the US, as compared to the affinity black Americans have for Jamaicans and Caribbean people in general. I wonder if that has any impact.
I absolutely thank you so much for this background. History is important and indeed history does repeat itself. The question I always ask is, is it absolutely necessary for our stars to seek engagement with the United States like this? Why is this always the formula.
Good article Joey, of course its good to sound the alarm bells backed by research but it would also be nice to outline practical steps afrobeats people need to take in order to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.
Insightful piece 💯
History is bound to keep repeating itself if we keep dancing to her tune blindly.
Can we fight it? If we do, can we win it?🤔
This was great article. I am pretty new to listening to Afrobeats (2021) so thank you for sharing some artists from first glory days of the genre, I'll give them a listen. Would love more information on the Nigerian labels/execs, promoters and artist managers to know what exactly they are doing to capitalize on this resurgance of Afrobeats.
I wonder if putting more emphasis on "selling" Afrobeats as a full experience/ lifestyle (like Dancehall and Reggae did) and not just music might help. The experience I had when listening to Afrobeats for the first time was in Ghana and the way people were dancing and enjoying in the club was really revolutionary for me--I hadn't seen it before. Afrobeats has an opportunity to market itself as feel good/ good time music that makes people dance in American clubs again (which doesn't happen as much as it used to in black clubs and not as much as in Ghana) which would be revolutionary. Now we have to work on getting the DJs more songs than just "Essence" and "Peru," but that's for another day.
Finally, I'll add that there are levels of complexity here especially in the US. As a Black American, I see a lot of hesitation in the community towards Afrobeats given the troubled history of the relationship between Africans and Black Americans here in the US, as compared to the affinity black Americans have for Jamaicans and Caribbean people in general. I wonder if that has any impact.
This was a comprehensive read Joey!
I absolutely thank you so much for this background. History is important and indeed history does repeat itself. The question I always ask is, is it absolutely necessary for our stars to seek engagement with the United States like this? Why is this always the formula.