It seems like the globe is obsessed with African celebrities and Afrobeats music. The beat-driven, electronic sound of afrobeats already has the entire world in its arms and does not require anyone’s approval.
The stars of Afrobeats are already well-known around the world.
Garhe Osiebe, a research associate at Rhodes University, lists three aspects of the success of Afrobeats on a global scale. They consist of;
Dance Videos
The popularity of African music, notably Afrobeats, has been greatly influenced by the exponential growth of dance videos on platforms like TikTok. CKay’s Love Nwantiti (2019) was one of the most Shazamed songs ever, and TikTok played a significant role (Shazam is an app that identifies tracks). At the height of the song’s popularity, more than 10 million videos a week were being uploaded on TikTok and Instagram by users.
Nigerian artistes’ achievements in the diaspora
Wizkid, Burna Boy, and Davido, three major Afrobeats artists, have sold out music venues all throughout Europe. Unsurprisingly, Nigeria is in the top thanks to its 200 million-strong diaspora, which has been instrumental in introducing African music, notably Afrobeats, to host countries.
International Collaboration
The development of African music has been aided by partnerships with some of the biggest stars in the world. Beyoncé, a well-known American singer, has worked with Afrobeats artists Wizkid and Burna Boy on several occasions. She worked with Wizkid on the song Brown Skin Girl, which won Best Music Video at the 2021 Grammys. Black Coffee, a 2022 Grammy winner, expressed gratitude to the team members who “believed in working with a lesser artist like me and trusted me and my ear.”
