Famous Nigerian singer, Joeboy, has expressed his disagreement with Burna Boy’s statement that most afrobeats artists lack lyrical substance in their music.
In a recent interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Burna Boy claimed that many Nigerian artists create music “without substance.”
However, during Joeboy’s appearance on the Zero Conditions podcast, he criticized Burna Boy‘s assertion.
The host asked: “For you as an afrobeats artist, how much balance do you do with living life because following the conversation of Burna Boy saying [afrobeats] artists don’t have substance, how much experience do you try to garner as an artist?”
Joeboy responded: “I feel everybody has substance. It’s just based on what people relate to. Sometimes when you made a high tempo song that is danceable, people feel like you are just vibing. Or if you don’t sing in English.
“I used to see some comments [on social media] because somebody is singing in plain English, they [fans] would be like, ‘Ah pinging!’ What’s pinging? Because he sang in English?
“Every artist out there, if you want people to feel like you are an amazing songwriter, just write in plain English. I promise you, they [fans] will be like, ‘Oh! This guys is the best songwriter ever.’ And when someone sings in Pidgin, they [fans] would be like, ‘Ah! This one dey do lamba.’
“It’s not lamba. It’s actually still connecting. I understand that you can’t connect to every form of music that you come across. But I promise you, anybody that has the ability to create something out of thin air, it is substance.”
See video below;
Joeboy explains what “SUBSTANCE” means in music…pic.twitter.com/jZ44U7jwUJ
— ChartsAfrica 📊 (@chartsafrica) August 28, 2023
