Arushi Garg afropop WHAT IS IT , AND WHY IS IT GETTING POPULAR ?
It is true that with the surge of social media and the planet getting more connected due to rampant globalisation , the world has opened its doors to varied music genres from across many continents . One such big phenomenon is AfroPop , which uses the intrinsic beats and music originating from Africa and combines it with trending pop favourites like R & B , Hip-Hop , Reggae and more . Africa is a land where music plays a big part in festivities , culture and traditions , with their rhythms having a resonance with their heritage that has been undisrupted for generations .
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Already existing music genres from places like Ghana and Nigeria , like Highlife , Fújì , Jùjú and Azonto , have inspired many famous artists but have now seen a renewed interest as many songs are inspired by them . African artists from the U . K . and U . S . A . were exposed to these funky beats , which they started incorporating into their music , too , which underlined a growing likeness for Afro music . With more and more artists coming forward with their musical creations , they started experimenting with a wider scope of genres . Multiple concerts and festivals channelled more stars to become global icons , which created a massive fan base and a prospective audience .
Nigeria-based Mr Eazi , who in 2015 embraced the highlife sounds with songs like ‘ Anointing ” and ‘ Skin Tight ’. Using a somewhat less is more approach made the audience appreciate the uniqueness of the songs . Similarly , the songs which oozed the tropical vibe were on the rise and artists like Runtown and Korede Bello made a strong concoction with the same formula with ‘ Mad Over You ’ and ‘ Do Like That ’. African percussion rang high in the many songs in this genre , and Davido created a benchmark with three songs , namely , ‘ If ’, ‘ Fall ’ and ‘ FIA ’, which were charted on the Billboard Top 10 for the year 2017 .
Drake is known to have worked with many African artists for his numerous songs over the years , like his superhit song in collaboration with Wizkid , ‘ One Dance ,’ which saw an AfroPop explosion of a sort . Since then African artists have even received Grammy nominations and wins for their outstanding work , which has even gained the critic ’ s nods . For the blockbuster ‘ The Lion King ’, which itself is set in the African sub-terrain , the song ‘ The Gift ’ uses African musicians to imbue the deep-rooted sounds from the great continent .
In 2020 , with the world getting enamoured by Instagram and TikTok reels and the many viral dance videos , AfroPop took the trend to another level . The new and younger African artists who were mixing sounds and creating subgenres became the newest trendsetters . Artists like Oxlade , Omah Lay and Fireboy DML wrote meaningful lyrics that tug a string in the hearts of the audience with a similar life experience as depicted in their songs . The biggest win for this music came from ‘ Love Nwantiti ’ by CKay and ‘ Calm Down ’ by Rema , which took the world by a storm . It is no secret that this beautiful genre is going to soar high up , with the sky being the limit .