On the 22nd of March, American music and entertainment company, Billboard partnered with music festival and global Afrobeats brand, Afro Nation, to launch the first-ever US chart for Afrobeats music. However, it has caused a lot of anger among social media users regarding the mention of American singer Beyoncé Knowles and Canadian rapper Drake being credited for the rise of Afrobeats. Among those who commented were Basito, who wrote, “Afrobeats journey to global stardom didn’t start with Drake and Beyoncé, as artistes like 2baba, D’banj, Fuse, Wizkid, Davido, Burna [Boy] have been pushing Afrobeats music beyond the shores of Africa. The newly found spotlight won’t be here without them”.
For JJ Omojuwa “Any writer who credits Beyoncé with the success of Afrobeats is either dishonest or ignorant. Two diseases a good writer shouldn’t suffer from. Learn about Tuface and DBanj, ask about P Square, DJ Abass and co, the ubiquitous Naija student…to the W D and B of today. B is Burna”.
Ralph Okobz asked “Oh really?? 😂😂😂 So what happened to Wizkid’s “Ojuelegba”, D’banj’s “Oliver Twist”, Davido’s “IF”, and Burna Boy’s “Ye?” as well as copying a paragraph from Billboard magazine which said “Afrobeats sounds and influences have grown in the U.S. market throughout the 2010s, through artistes such as Beyoncé and Drake, and now, the genre has yielded some of the biggest success stories of the young decade — including songs like Wizkid‘s “Essence” featuring Tems, CKay’s “Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah Ah)” and Fireboy DML‘s “Peru.”
One Jobless Boy wrote “Before Wizkid, Davido and Burna Boy, we had 2face Idibia, Dbanj, PSquare.” and posted a video of 2face Idibia performing at an old concert. And finally, Chuma Nnoli tweeted, “The biggest exporters of Nigerian music and Afrobeats to the US are Burna Boy, Davido and Wizkid.
D’banj also played a part earlier. Many of our big music stars are also doing the same but those three guys are still top.
Respect should be given to whom it’s due.”
The Billboard US Afrobeats Songs chart according to Billboard.com, will go live on March 29 and will rank the 50 most popular Afrobeats Songs in the country based on a formula incorporating official streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of leading audio and video music services, plus download sales from top music retailers.
