Understanding The Origin of Afrobeats

Afrobeats is the name that the West used for many years to refer to pop music that originated in Ghana, Nigeria, and other Sub-Saharan African countries. 

Seldom does the music fit the definition of "Afrobeats" when it is employed. Rather, it highlights the musician's African heritage and the inclusion of African influences in the song. 

Although the genesis of the phrase "Afrobeats" is not well documented, It is unclear when and by whom it was created. 

However, Afrobeat is a genre that developed in the 1960s and 1970s, taking influences from Fuji music and highlife, mixed in with American jazz and funk. Characteristics of Afrobeat include big bands, long instrumental solos, and complex jazzy rhythms. The name was coined by Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti. 

According to Nigerian entertainment executive Obi Asika in the “Journey of the Beats”, a desire to take Nigerian pop music into the Western mainstream led to the creation of the tag “Afrobeats”. 

There’s no record of who created the term Afrobeats. According to Obi Asika, the term just came around in the 2000s and it played a big part in helping to move Nigerian pop music from being tagged world music into the western mainstream. 

Afrobeats is most identifiable by its signature driving drum beat rhythms, whether electronic or instrumental. These beats harken to the stylings of a variety of traditional African drum beats across West Africa as well as the precursory genre Afrobeat. 

The beat in Afrobeats music is not just a base for the melody, but acts as a major character of the song, taking a lead role that is sometimes equal to or of greater importance than the lyrics and almost always more central than the other instrumentals. 

Afrobeats share a similar momentum and tempo to house music. Usually using the 4/4 time signature common in Western music, afro beats commonly features a 3–2 or 2–3 rhythm called a clave.

Another distinction within Afrobeats is the notably West African, specifically Nigerian or Ghanaian, accented English that is often blended with local slang, pidgin English, as well as local Nigerian or Ghanaian languages depending on the backgrounds of the performers.