Grammy-nominated singer Seun Kuti has offered a critical perspective on how Afrobeats is perceived in the global music industry, asserting that it should not be classified as a genre.
During an interview with The Beat FM in Lagos, Kuti argued that Afrobeats functions more as a label than a defined musical category.
He explained that the term is broadly used to describe music originating from Africa, regardless of the style or sound.
“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],” he said.
Kuti pointed out that many artists associated with Afrobeats constantly shift between different musical influences—from dancehall and blues to Nigerian pop and amapiano—depending on current trends. This versatility, he said, reflects the absence of a consistent stylistic framework, which is typically expected of a genre.
“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 added.
According to Kuti, what is popularly referred to as Afrobeats should be seen as a broad identifier rather than a specific genre, similar to how amapiano is currently used to label emerging trends from the continent.
