- Seun Kuti views Afrobeats primarily as a “label” rather than a specific music genre.
- He emphasizes that musicians and industry executives do not treat Afrobeats as a distinct genre.
- Kuti’s perspective highlights a broader understanding of the Afrobeats scene beyond traditional genre classifications.
Seun Kuti, the outspoken singer, has expressed his perspective on Afrobeats.
He stated that Afrobeats should be seen more as a “label” than an actual music genre.
The Grammy-nominated Afrobeat artist noted that both musicians and industry executives in the Afrobeats scene do not approach it as a distinct genre.
Speaking in an interview with The Beat 99.9 FM, Lagos, Kuti maintained that Afrobeats is simply a tag used to categorize music originating from Africa.
“I think Afrobeats is more of a title than a genre. You can see Amapiano is the new Afrobeats. It’s the new title, it’s the new thing in Afrobeats. So, Afrobeats is just a generalisation; it’s just a title to identify something from a particular place [Africa].
“I don’t think it’s a genre. Even the gatekeepers, the big names don’t deal with it like a genre, they don’t work it like a genre. They are [Afrobeats] artists that are eclectic in a way that they could do a dancehall track today, do a blue track tomorrow, do a Nigerian pop sound, jump on Amapiano, and whatever that is trending. So, I think it’s actually a title,” he stated.
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