Ghanaian-American singer and Sad Girls Love Money hitmaker Amaarae has sparked conversation with her bold claim that Afrobeats is currently experiencing a creative rut on the global stage.
While the genre has experienced a surge in popularity over the past few years, she believes it’s now losing momentum, and it’s time for African artists to take risks again.
In a candid interview with British-Nigerian media personality Madame Joyce, Amaarae expressed concern that Afrobeats, and African music more broadly, is stagnating due to artists prioritizing commercial success over musical innovation.
“Afrobeats and African music need to evolve,” she said. “It needs to evolve in a direction that is fearless, and I think right now artists have made so much money from a certain type of sound that they are afraid to step out of the boundaries.”
Amaarae argued that this fear has caused the genre to stall creatively, as some artists stick to formulas that guarantee hits instead of pushing the boundaries of sound and culture.
Highlighting an exception, she praised Rema’s 2023 album HEIS as a bold example of what musical evolution within Afrobeats can look like.
“One of my favourite albums last year was Rema’s HEIS. That’s what I consider the evolution of Afrobeats. You see how it moved the genre and the culture forward, and you see how it moved his career forward.”
She criticized other artists for playing it safe despite having massive platforms, insisting that experimentation is necessary if Afrobeats is to remain relevant and exciting to global audiences.
“There have been a lot of people that have big hits that aren’t willing to push the boundaries… and as a result, Afrobeats is in a bit of a rut,” she said.
Amaarae concluded her thoughts by urging African artists to embrace innovation and bring excitement back to the genre.
“Africans need to get it together, get on up, and start to experiment. Music needs to evolve, and it needs to excite people again.”
