Wizkid has argued that he no longer wants to be called an “Afrobeats” artist any longer.
Last night (March 17), the Nigerian artist took to his Instagram stories to tell fans that his upcoming album is “done.” In the process, he warned that his sound would be different to his earlier its and shared his frustrations with being labelled an “Afrobeats” artist.
“If you like Afrobeats, please don’t download my album!” said Wizkid. “I’m not a fucking Afrobeats artiste! Don’t call me that, hoe! I’m not Afro anything, bitch!’”
Wizkid announces his new album “Morayo” is done and that it’s not Afrobeats. He also makes it clear he’s not an Afrobeats artist. pic.twitter.com/VGFiaODYxk
— Rap Alert (@rapalert6) March 15, 2024
In a longer message, the ‘Ojuelegba’ star also mentioned that his 2020 album ‘Made In Lagos’ was “not an ‘Afrobeats’ album.”
Wizkid further explained: “You lost people always want someone to educate you. You got your phone, Google [and] research shit or take a flight and see the world. Don’t be ignorant and stupid all the time. Listen, am I African? Yes! But I do make all sorts of music. Fine music! But I don’t want [to be] labeled just Afrobeats. That’s like like saying every American artiste makes rap. That’s stupid.
“This is why no matter how good or amazing the music we make – [albeit] R&B or whatever other genre, we all get nominated in one Africa category or the other. I’ve made songs from different genres of music. ‘Made In Lagos’ is not an ‘Afrobeats’ album. That’s a fusion of different sounds. Real music! The word ‘Afrobeats’ was made up by y’all to put all we [Africans] make in one box. [Legendary afro-pop pioneer] Fela [Kuti] created Afrobeat!! I make all sorts of music. [A] fusion of sounds!”
The Lagos native then declared he is an “‘artiste’ before anything else [who’s] true to my art.”
🗣️ Wizkid via Instagram stories:
“Don’t be ignorant and stupid. Am I African? Yes. But I do all sorts of music. But I don’t want these labeled as just Afrobeats. That’s like saying every American does rap.” pic.twitter.com/4ZqxtkGhwU
— 𝗔𝗟𝗕𝗨𝗠 𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗞𝗦 📀 (@AlbumTalksHQ) March 16, 2024
Other Afropop stars have also denounced the term, most notably Burna Boy who caught backlash after saying the genre has “no substance.”
He further explained to Zane Lowe last year: “Half of them, [actually,] 90 per cent of them, have almost no real-life experiences that they can understand. That’s why you hear most Nigerian music, African Music, or Afrobeats, as people call it, is mostly about nothing, literally nothing.”
BNXN told NME last year that he believed Burna “meant the Western acceptance of Afrobeats or understanding of what Afrobeats is.”
He continued: “[To them] it’s just a good time. If you stop [someone who’s not African] and ask him, ‘Do you know what they’re talking about? Do you understand what he’s saying in that song?’, he’ll tell you, ‘No, man, but it feels good. ”
Wizkid’s most recent record, ‘More Love, Less Ego’, was released in 2022 and earned a perfect score from NME: “Wizkid is continuing to expand his sound with great success… ‘More Love Less Ego’ is a masterful collection that sees Wizkid beginning to truly perfect his universal pop sound.”