Once, afrobeats would have been lumped into the category of ‘world music’. Just as anything from outside the Western poposphere was all thrown together as music from ‘elsewhere’, reserved only for nerdy aficionados or pretentious rockstars. Not anymore. Now, just as K-pop has, African music is taking over the world, driven by Gen Z’s love of stars from Burna Boy to Tems.
African music has seen an unprecedented surge in popularity in recent years, from streaming platforms to live shows, and mainstream pop acts such as Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber and Rihanna (who co-wrote the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever smash Life Me Up with Tems) have been lining up to collaborate with afrobeats stars. The music has gone from a continental craze to a global phenomenon, making superstars out of artists such as Wizkid and Mr Eazi. And the sounds have been wholeheartedly embraced by the UK.
