African Business, 17/07/2024
On a stage in front of thousands of screaming, mud-covered fans, Nigerian singer Tems is performing at Glastonbury music festival to roaring success. On another stage a few fields over, fellow Afrobeats star Ayra Starr performed the day before to crowds of fans. On Glastonbury’s final day, Afrobeats megastar Burna Boy (pictured) took his stage by storm.
“We’ve been waiting for the globalisation of Afrobeats, and it’s happening now,” Starr said, speaking to the BBC ahead of her Glastonbury performance. “But it’s not just what you’re seeing today. It’s years and generations of musicians and hard work that’s made it what it is now.”
Afrobeats, a genre of music originating in West Africa, has enjoyed a slow but steady rise in popularity around the world, and has come to dominate Spotify and YouTube playlists. Yet this genre, which is now influencing artists in the US and Europe alike, can trace its origins back to Nigeria. Its early development has been credited to artists such as Fela Kuti in the 1960s and 1970s. He blended traditional Yoruba music with Western jazz and funk to create a unique and rich sound. Coincidentally, Kuti himself played at Glastonbury in 1984, and this year, his son Femi Kuti also played there.
The evolution into contemporary Afrobeats began in the late 1990s and early 2000s, as Nigerian artists began incorporating elements of hip-hop and pop into their music. Artists like 2Baba, D’banj, and P-Square were among the pioneers of this newly-created genre, and their success paved the way for the next generation of artists, who would take Afrobeats to even greater heights.
