Popular Nigerian singer Joeboy has said that Afrobeats is currently experiencing a renaissance, stressing that the genre is being cleansed of what he described as adulterated sounds.
The “Faji” crooner made the remarks midway through his sold-out Valentine’s Day concert in Lagos, where he told fans that Afrobeats is returning to “real music.”
“Afrobeats right now is going through a purge. We are getting back to the times where real music is going to stay — no more gimmicking and all of that,” Joeboy said.
“I can feel it already and I am happy that we are getting back to those zones where the music speaks. I thank God for that,” Joeboy added.
At the start of the 2020s, Nigeria’s music industry saw a wave of heavy fusion between Afrobeats and other genres, particularly South Africa’s Amapiano, as well as American hip-hop and R&B. The trend sparked debate among critics and music enthusiasts, some of whom argued that excessive foreign influence had diluted the originality of Afrobeats.
However, by 2024, a number of Nigerian artists began returning to what many describe as “core” Afrobeats sounds, reducing the strong infusion of Amapiano elements in their productions.
While many music fans have welcomed this shift as a positive development, some acknowledge that it may take time for the genre to fully reclaim and redefine its traditional rhythm on the global stage.
