Nigerian music has always been categorised with a heavy presence of rhythm, a combination of different sounds and a feel-good factor, either it’s Juju or Apala or Highlife or Afrobeat, it is always present. From the colonial era where Juju was the prominent sound in the clubs in Lagos till the Independence era where Highlife had become just as prominent as Juju music, the fusion of different sounds/beats to form a new hybrid sound remained constant.
Fela began his music career making Jazz music, until the 1960s when he reformed his sound and pioneered Afrobeat, arguably Nigeria’s biggest musical export. Afrobeat came into existence through the fusion of several genres; Ghanaian Highlife, Fuji, American Jazz, Soul and Funk. These genres were fused to create a hybrid genre that took the whole world by storm; it was something that was never seen before.
After Fela created Afrobeat, several Artistes fused the new genre with their music;
- Lijadu Sisters made a brilliant fusion of Afrobeat with Funk, Jazz, Disco and Waka. They didn’t name their fusion of sounds.
- Sir Shina Peters became famous for his fusion of Juju music and Afrobeat. He named it Afrojuju, it had a distant feel and approach to the traditional Juju music. His music was aimed at the Youths.
- eLDee and da Trybesmen found a central ground between Hip-Hop and Afrobeat, they made a brilliant fusion of both unfamiliar genre and they were highly successful with it. They didn’t give any name to the fusion they made with Afrobeat and Hip-Hop.
- Blackmagic is a maestro at fusing genres, he fuses Afrobeat with RnB, Pop, Jazz and Hip-Hop. He also didn’t give a name to his unique sound.
- Burna Boy like a lot of other artistes got their inspiration from the great Fela Kuti, he blends Afrobeat with Dancehall, Reggae and RnB. He named his successful experiment, Afrofusion.
Afrofusion has been used repeatedly over the years, but there are some questions that need to be answered; What is Afrofusion? Who invented it? Is it a genre or a sub-genre of Afrobeat? We shall take a critical look at these questions.
WHAT IS AFROFUSION?
Afrofusion is simply fusing two or more genres with Afrobeat. The most important factor in making an Afrofusion song or beat is the heavy presence of Afrobeat which is supported with several other genres, could be Pop, Reggae, Dancehall, Electronic Music, the possibilities are endless. Since the term has been coined, a lot of Nigerian music has been classified as Afrofusion because it allows the artiste and producer to experiment as much as they want; there is almost no limitation to what you can achieve with Afrofusion sonically. Often, Afrofusion songs sound very distant from each other; this is one of the beauties of Afrofusion, the songs have the “Afrobeat” factor in common. Afrofusion is like hot metal, you can bend it to whatever shape or size you want it.
WHO INVENTED IT?
From the inception of Afrobeat, fusing two or more genres with Afrobeat to create a distant sound has been a norm. It is not alien to the Nigerian music industry. However, some artistes gave a name to their sound for it to stand out, some did not. In the late 2000s till the mid 2010s, Afrobeats and Afropop were the generally accepted name for the contemporary Nigerian music. Afrobeats signified the mixture of several genres to produce the contemporary Afrobeat; fusing difference genres with Afrobeat. Afropop is simply the Nigerian version of Western Pop music. Both names stuck until the term Afrofusion started gaining prominence.
There is often some confusion about how Afrofusion came to be, with different artistes claiming to have started it but in the real aspect of things, fusing genres with Afrobeat, which is the definition of Afrofusion, has been in existence for a very long time.
In an interview with The Fader on the 25th of November 2015, Burna Boy said “…my genre of music is Afrofusion because I fuse different types of music into a ball. There’s RnB, there’s Hip-Hop, there’s Afrobeats – that’s all that makes Burna Boy, really”. With that statement came the official name for the fusion of Afrobeat with other genres that stuck. Since then, several other artistes have jumped on the Afrofusion ship; Odunsi (the Engine), Buju, Omah Lay, Rema, etc.
Burna Boy gets the credit for creating “Afrofusion” which has been in existence before he started his musical career, naming the practice Afrofusion was simply his genius move. To clarify, Burna Boy created the term “Afrofusion”, he did not start the practice of fusing several genres with Afrobeat, it is an old age practice in the Nigerian music industry.
IS IT A GENRE OR A SUB-GENRE OF AFROBEAT?
So many people get confused about exactly what Afrofusion is, “is it a genre on its own or just a sub-genre of Afrobeat”? Afrofusion is a subgenre of Afrobeat. There is no doubt or debate about it. However, Afrofusion can just be more than what Burna Boy meant it to be, Afrofusion can be an umbrella term for the different sonical invention that comes alive through the fusion of Afrobeat with other genres. Just like how Electronic Dance Music (EDM) is an umbrella term for a very wide range of subgenres, Afrofusion can play the role of being a sub-genre and an umbrella term.
Afrofusion becoming an umbrella term will make understanding the new wave of sounds coming of Nigeria easier, it will give a better structure. Instead of creating – often unnecessary – new terms and names for new genres that are birthed through fusing genres with Afrobeat, Afrofusion can easily play the role of being an umbrella where the new sub-genre is safe. Afrobeat is the parent genre; Afrofusion becomes the subgenre and also an umbrella term for the new sounds birthed through Afrofusion.
To curb the recent trend of artistes trying to stand out by renaming existing genres by adding the prefix “Afro” and also creating new terms, which are not needed, for sounds that have been in existence, Afrofusion is the name to use.