Afrobeats

In 2024, Asake released Active, one of the standout tracks from Lungu Boy. For many listeners, it was another demonstration of the sonic confidence that has come to define his music: log drums colliding with layered percussion, clipped chants giving way to melodic refrains, and a vocal performance that oscillates between swagger and supplication. Yet […]

The digital media space in Nigeria is an unrelenting arena of attention-grabbing spectacle, as hardly does an issue surface before others pull you to them. Digital netizens understand this economy of attention well and try to maximize visibility through a range of tactics. The recent online exchange between Nigerian music stars Ayo Balogun (Wizkid) and […]

An honest witness does not lie, a false witness breathes lies. –Proverbs 14:5 “No more Big 3, there’s now a Big 4,” the Nigerian Afrobeats star Rema declared in his 2024 song “HEHEHE.” Rema’s statement, fans of Afrobeats are meant to believe, is declarative: the Nigerian music industry has had three main stars—Davido, Wizkid, and […]

In the evening of 12 September 2023, social media was awash with what was thought to be a wild rumor. Afrobeats star, Ilerioluwa Promise Aloba was claimed to have died. Within hours, it went quickly from rumor to fact: Mohbad was dead. Before his demise at 27, he was most popular for his  smash hit, […]