African music had the world in a chokehold all of 2023 (and still does), and there are receipts to prove it. Artists made record achievements in the music industry throughout the year and Billboard charts show we can’t get enough of them. Since Billboard released its first U.S. Afrobeats 50 song list on March 29, 2022, the genre has been dominating the charts. The list tracks the most played Afrobeats in the United States based on streaming statistics, and frequently these chart toppers are also on the overall Billboard Top 100 list.
Billboard chart toppers include Rema, Burna Boy, WizKid, Tems, Ayra Starr, Libianca, Ckay, Davido and more.
This past year, there was finally a trend of adding African music categories to major music awards in America. Starting in the end of 2022 actually, the American Music Awards were the first show to add a “Favorite Afrobeats Artist” category that artist, WizKid, ultimately won.
In June of 2023, the Recording Academy announced one of their newest GRAMMY categories for 2024, “Best African Music Performance.” This category was added for many reasons including the fact that record achievements were made by African artists in the 2023 GRAMMYs such as Tems, who became the first female Nigerian artist to win a GRAMMY. She won the award for Best Melodic Rap Performance along with Future and Drake for their song “Wait For U.” Burna Boy also made great strides raking in two GRAMMYs in 2023 for Best Global Music Album and Best Global Music Performance-the preceding year these awards were won by WizKid.
In August of 2023, the MTV VMAs announced their new category, “Best Afrobeats” which was won by Rema and Selena Gomez for their collaboration on Rema’s song “Calm Down” on September 14th.
Major record labels have had a razor focus on rising Afrobeats artists especially hailing from Nigeria. Def Jam records actually founded an Africa sector back in 2020 and has since worked with smaller African labels to sign artists with growing haste in 2023.
African artists also made great strides in live performances throughout 2023. On July 29, WizKid became the first African artist to sell out the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. Burna Boy also became the first African artist to sell out the London Stadium and Citi Field Stadium in New York City that same summer. Tiwa Savage (commonly known as the “Queen of Afrobeats”) performed at the Coronation Concert in May.
Collaborations between African artists and American artists have gained popularity that many critics date back to Drake’s song “One Dance” which featured WizKid and Kyla. Big Afrobeats collaborators in 2023 include Ed Sheeran, Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, Chris Brown and more. Looking forward though, I think it’s important to recognize that Afrobeats can stand on its own without the push of American collaborators. In my opinion, Fireboy DML’s song “Peru” was way better without Ed Sheeran on it, but I also understand the drive of commercial success.
It’s also important-as we continue to praise African music-that we don’t group all music coming from Africa into one singular genre because that’s ignorant. Afrobeats itself is a nuanced definition of music coming out of West Africa by artists that fuse together traditional Afrobeat with dancehall, Ghanaian highlife, funk and jazz. It’s important we don’t mix Afrobeat with Afrobeats because those have two different meanings. Afrobeat is cited as being the predecessor of Afrobeats, getting popularized in the 1960’s-80’s with Nigerian artist, Fela Aníkúlápó Kútì, being the trailblazer of the genre.
There’s also a rise in Amapiano music-which is considered a subgenre of House and Kwaito music coming out of South Africa. With South African artist, Tyla commanding our ears with her popular song, “Water,” her influence could also bring even more success to Amapiano music in 2024 possibly.
Overall, Afrobeats makes a party. It instills this certain energy in the listener that influences one to keep these tracks on repeat. It also reflects a sense of authenticity and genuineness in music as social, political and personal issues are tackled in songs as well. Everyone loves honesty when it comes to art, so when you can fuse this with a catchy beat and the right vibes, you got a masterpiece and that is Afrobeats.
“I don’t think currently there’s better or more advanced music being made anywhere outside the continent,” says CEO and editor in chief of Nigeria media company, The NATIVE Networks, Seni Saraki-in an interview with Billboard. “From what we call Afrobeats — which is, really, just popular music from Nigeria — through amapiano, the rap music, Afropop, I genuinely think this is some of the most exciting music in the world right now. And the academy is becoming cognizant of that.”
