AESTHETIC IN AFROMUSIC

EVOLUTION OF AFROBEATS

Nigeria's vast—and affluent—diaspora contributes to Afrobeats' global success. However, social media, YouTube, and access to global streaming platforms such as Spotify, Tiktok have all played a role in its spread.

Afrobeats is popular not only with the general public but also with world-famous musicians. Drake famously collaborated with Wizkid on One Dance, a huge 2016 summer hit that spent ten weeks at the top of Billboard's Hot 100, and DJs including Major Lazer and DJ Snake are also collaborating with Nigerian artists. Ciara has cited Tiwa Savage as an inspiration for a new record, and Quavo of the Migos has a track with Davido on his debut album. Wizkid, Yemi Alade, Shatta Wale, Tiwa Savage, Burna Boy, Tekno, Busiswa, and a slew of other talented African artists were featured in Beyonce's "The Lion King: The Gift" album, which was a global smash hit.

Beyoncé identifies with Yoruba goddess Oshun, also spelled Osun, in the music videos for "Hold Up" and "Spirit," using visual elements such as water and brightly colored clothes to reinforce the philosophy that Afrobeats is about more than just music.

And recently Burna Boy and Wizkid won awards at the 2021 Grammies; Burna Boy took home the award for Best Global Music Album, while Wizkid took home the award for Best Music Video for his collaboration with Beyoncé, Brown Skin Girl, from The Lion King: The Gift album.

Afrobeats has also made inroads at some of the world's most prestigious record labels. Sony and Universal Music have both opened offices in Nigeria in the last two years, signing publishing and distribution deals with a number of Afrobeats artists. R&B musicians like Chris Brown and Roy Woods, as well as British pop singers like Dua Lipa and Anne-Marie, have incorporated the sounds into their own hits, extending the genre's reach beyond West African artists.

It's not every day that a new artist's song appears on the famous playlist of a former American President. However, a young artist from Benin City, Nigeria, did just that. Rema, whose song Iron Man made Barack Obama's list of favorite songs for 2019, and whose eponymous debut EP topped the Apple Music Nigeria chart that year. This occurred, according to Rema, not as a result of, but in spite of, Afrobeats' international success.

Afrobeats, like Burnaboy, Wizkid, Tiwa Savage, and Rema, declare to the world, "Every country I go to, they tell me I am the future." A sea of smartphones catches the moment to broadcast to the rest of the world. The rise of Afrobeats from West Africa is still in its early stages.

Presently, afrobeats has now been infused with other genres with different sounds... like creating something out of something but at the same time out of nothing; to unveil the capabilty of the amount of changes it'll have in years and even generation to come.

Artist	Achievement	Album
Buju	platinum	Album: sorry i'm late
Rema	Platinum	Album: rave and roses(unreleased)
Tems	Platinum	Album: If Orange Was A Place(EP)

Check out Apple top 100 Nigerian soul uplifting sounds. Who knows..? you might find just the right taste for you.