Simao “SP Juice” Puati performing on Oct. 12 at the Student Union Building Ballroom at “The Arts are a Serious Matter”, an Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Zeta Tau Chapter event. Photo obtained from @_spjuice on Instagram.
By Andrea Payne
Whether through earbuds, headphones or sing-alongs, individuals indulge in different genres of music through sound and rhythm. Afropop, a sub-genre of pop music, has started to make its way into mainstream popularity.
According to a data analysis by Statista, pop music garners a total of 30 percent of all music listeners — 14 percent male and 16 percent female — and, as of 2018, is one of the leading genres in the African American community. Joshua Egbe – music manager, disc jockey and music connoisseur – said Afropop is a term which is hard to define, but provided an explanation of the phrase.
Joshua Egbe, music manager, DJ and music enthusiast, said Afropop is a term which is hard to fully define. Photo obtained from @Mst_Joshua_E on Twitter.
“It is music by Africans with an infused African sound to and for the world,” Egbe said. “Yes, it has relationships (and) fragments of African sound, it has lyrical content of shared experiences, not just limited to Africans, and it is music that deserves to be enjoyed by everybody else.”
Despite Afropop’s rise in popular culture, artists who fall under this genre are categorized as pop artists as it is not considered a stand-alone genre yet, Egbe said. Otega “Tega” Bikomo, an independent Afropop singer and songwriter from Lagos, Nigeria, said now is a great starting point for the genre to climax in a variety societies.
“It is a good time for Afro beats now even though (artists such as) Burna Boy, Wizkid, and Davido are (currently) popular,” Bikomo said. “A lot of work has gone into [this craft] and it’s been years of it. There was a time in Nigeria where there was just foreign music. Then, it got to a time in Nigeria where you couldn’t even hear foreign music.”
Bikomo also said in Nigeria, the birthplace of Afropop, there has been a decrease in foreign sound as well as a significant increase in local music, as the genre continues to travel across the globe. Oluwaseyi “Marphy Jay” Mafi, Dallas Afro beat music producer and creator of High Notes the EP, said despite the many intricacies that come along with being involved in the production side of the genre of Afropop, he still has an admiration for the world of music.
Oluwaseyi “Marphy Jay” Mafi, Dallas Afro beat music producer and creator of High Notes the EP. Photo obtained from @marphy_jay on Instagram.
“I had to do a whole lot of digging,” Mafi said in a phone interview. “Through the process, I was able to develop skills so that the transition of me being a full-time producer, including making beats and working with recording artists, would work. It has been a roller coaster ride in learning software production, but I love the process.”
The extended play album entitled “High Notes the EP“, which Mafi said he produced earlier this year with two local artists, has received recognition among diverse audiences as the amount of streams rises.
Simao “SP Juice” Puati, a rap artist from Angola, said with the rise of Afropop music in both Nigeria and Africa as a whole, it has spread to other internationally due to family migration.
“We’re the generation that got out of Africa,” Puati said. “Our parents were born and raised in Africa, moved to the (United Kingdom), moved to the United States, or moved to Canada, and this is where we grew up. As talented as you are, the resources aren’t even there in Africa for everybody who’s (gifted), and we’re the first ones who are able to tell our stories to a global audience.”
When individuals embrace their culture, Puati said it allows others in the world to see, hear and understand their story through their music. According to a data analysis from Afropop.org in 2011, the Afropop genre generated a total revenue of $219,146.
The website also notes in a 2016 tax form the genre of Afropop generated a total revenue of $447,134, a 104 percent increase during the five year period. Morojuoluwa “J’Ray” Oke, musician, songwriter and entertainer, said the genre of Afropop steadily grows because of its strong formation.
Caleb Ola, a local singer and songwriter, garners influence from the Afropop genre.
Photo obtained from @rocozina123 on Twitter.
“It is an expression,” Oke said. “Like the great Fela said, (music) is a weapon. It is something you could use to express what you cannot say with words.”
For musical artists, especially those in the world of Afro beats, determination and the drive to continue making divergent sounds for vast audiences is what makes the success and popularity of these particular melodies, Oke said. Caleb Ola, a local singer and songwriter, said he is intrigued by Afropop because of its uniqueness and growth.
“What drew me to music, or what really caught my interest, (were) the different sounds,” Ola said. “Someone’s ability to craft music to whatever they want it to be (is an art). (For example), let’s say someone is into heavy metal, they could turn the guitar into an aggressive noise.”
Ola said he enjoys listening to different categories of pop, including Afropop, because it is a universal genre and being from Africa influences his musical tastes. Puati said music is more than what audiences hear: it relates it to himself, and says it has a much more complex meaning than what is commonly thought.
Otega Bikomo, an independent Afropop singer and songwriter from Lagos, Nigeria.
Photo obtained from @tegatheking on Instagram.
“It is a diary,” Puati said, smiling. “It is where I let my emotions, my feelings, and everything I have bottled up (come out). Sometimes, I feel happy, I feel like I’m the cleanest dude in the party, or I feel like I’m so cool, and I put that in my music.”
Currently residing in Houston, Puati said his city is becoming recognized as a music hub due to artists such as Megan thee Stallion, Maxo Kream and Sauce Walka. Bikomo said looking at things from a national perspective, Afropop music has risen significantly in recent years than in elder times.
“Globally, (Afropop) became popular around (about) 2015,” Bikomo said. “You can see there was a spike and (the genre) just kept going up, but from (about) 2016 or 2017, (that rise) has been all the way up.”
Bikomo said Burna Boy, a Nigerian singer and songwriter, is one of the artists who is credited with the recent global spike in Afropop music because of to his unique sound. In a recent post on Twitter, Mafi said Afropop music was founded by a late Nigerian artist who still receives recognition in modern times.
“A lot of reference and accolades have been, and continue, to be given to Fela Kuti for the birth and growth of Afro beats,” Mafi tweeted. “Why isn’t (Sunny Ade), and the likes, mentioned in the conversation of the (greatest of all time)?”
About Reece Nations, Managing Editor
