On March 16, 2024, Wizkid posted on his Instagram story to announce the completion of his next album ‘Morayo’ named after his late mother who passed in 2023.
In the latest episode of Pulse Hot Take guests Obong Roviel and Basito discussed Wizkid’s recent decisive post dissociating him from Afrobeats.
In a series of posts, Wizkid said that those who loved the type of Afrobeats music he made like ‘Pakurumo’ should not bother listening to his next album. He also stated that he was not an Afrobeats artist before asking Nigerian blogs not to post his next album in a rant that sent social media agog.
Discussing Wizkid’s claim of not being an Afrobeats artist, Obong Roviel tagged it as a clout-chasing endeavour meant to rile up Nigerians just like Burna Boy did with “Afrobeats lacked substance” statement ahead of the release of his last album ‘I Told Them’.
“When an artist is trying to put out a project in Nigeria, you just know because they do things to chase clout,” Obong Roviel says about Wizkid’s rant.
Obong Roviel stated that contrary to what people claim, Afrobeats does not box artists.
“Drake is a rapper yet he makes pop music. Hip hop didn’t box Drake so Wizkid can’t claim that Afrobeats boxed him,” Roviel said.
Basito who is a popular Wizkid fan held a contrary view that the Afrobeats tag has limited the opportunities African artists are afforded in international awards.
“When it comes to international awards, they put every artist coming out of Africa in one category whether they make Afrobeats or not. This is what Wizkid is fighting against because he wants Nigerian artists to compete in other categories,” Basito argued.
The claims of the Afrobeats tagged boxing up artists remain unsubstantiated as it doesn’t stop them from making music across other genres.
Commentators in the Afrobeats space have pointed out that Wizkid won an R&B category at the BET with his song ‘Essence’ while Burna Boy was nominated in the Best Melodious Hip Hop category for his song ‘Sittin’ On Top of The World’ feat 21 Savage at the 66th Grammys.
This goes to show that when Nigerian artists make other genres that are stripped of Afrobeats markers, they stand a chance to be recognised in other categories. Hence the Afrobeats tag isn’t the problem since the artists have refused to make the type of music that can compete in the main categories.