Davido has joined a growing list of Nigerian artists, including Wizkid, Burna Boy, and Fireboy, in distancing himself from the Afrobeats label.
During his appearance on the latest episode of the Business Untitled Podcast, the 'OBO' singer expressed frustration at the oversimplification of African music into the Afrobeats genre, regardless of its diverse styles.
He remarked, “The UK was the first to embrace African music outside the continent, before America followed suit. The UK coined the term 'Afrobeats' to describe African music.
“Afrobeat, originally pioneered by Fela Kuti, has now become a catch-all term for all African music. If an African artist sings pure R&B akin to SZA or Summer Walker, they are labeled as Afrobeats. Even if an African rapper sounds like Drake, they're still categorized as Afrobeats.
“I'm not personally offended by being labeled as Afrobeats. It's important to have a genre, whether it's R&B, Afropop, or otherwise. Personally, I refer to my music as Afrofusion, but I'm not insistent on labeling each song as such. I understand the long journey African music took to gain mainstream recognition.”