Afrobeats is a title, not a genre” — Seun Kuti sparks debate in new interview

According to the son of late music legend Fela Kuti, Afrobeat should not be seen as a strict genre but more as a label that identifies sounds coming out of Africa.

“Clearly still not doing justice to the music. I think Afrobeat is more of a title than it’s a genre. More of a title than it’s a genre,” Seun said.

He argued that the versatility of Nigerian artists shows why the tag is more of an umbrella name than a rigid sound.

“You can see amapiano. Yes, you can see the new Afrobeat. It’s the new title of that. So Afrobeat is just a generalization, just a title to identify something from a particular place. I don’t think it’s a genre. It’s not a genre,” he insisted.

Seun further explained that even the biggest names in the industry do not operate as though Afrobeat is a fixed genre.

Even the gatekeepers, the big names don’t deal with it like a genre. Their artists are eclectic in the way that they could do a dancehall track today, do a blues track tomorrow, do a Nigerian pop song and jump on amapiano,” he said.

He concluded that the flexibility of African musicians proves Afrobeat is better understood as a unifying label rather than a musical category.