The growth of African music in the past 7 years has been spectacular. From 2017 to 2024, many events have contributed to the current reality of African artists being the most talked about music makers on the world scene.
Different players have contributed to the creation and growth of genres, sounds and the general movement of the Afrobeats to the world culture. A year by year breakdown shows us that the journey has been somewhat linear, but also interesting and intentional.
2017
2017 can be termed as the Exodus. An exodus can be interpreted to mean the departure, or the road out. Pre-2017, different moments had contributed to the exportation of the sound to the global market.
From Dbanj’s Oliver Twist released in 2012 having Kanye West in the video and doing madness in the UK, to Wizkid having Akon on his Ayo album, having Tinie Tempah on Mamacita and Chris Brown on African Bad Gyal, Ayo Jay releasing Your Number and many more moments like this, different moments at different times helped the genre gain identity and movement.
2017 however was the moment the journey officially took off as one, and left the shores of the country in search of greener pastures ( ironic, considering we have two patches of green on our national flag.
2017 saw Davido put out Fia, a song that would do considerable numbers in the US market, it also had Wizkid release Come Closer with Drake, the record which had two videos without the Canadian superstar and still did good internationally, it had Ycee release Juice with Maleek Berry, a track that dominated the UK market for a while, amongst other moments.
The year also produced a lot of hits on the local scene, but this was the point where the international market started to notice. 2017 also saw Davido put out IF and Fall, monstrous hits that did well enough internationally and it was safe to say that 2017 belonged to Davido.
2018
2018 was the year of Burna Boy’s rebirth. 2018 delivered the superstar that was in the process of incubation and reformation. The African giant put out Ye in 2018, a song that would be the beginning of the rest of it all for the global pop star.
2018 also had AfroB serve us with Joanna, and the effect and contribution of this song to the UK market is heavily underappreciated and not spoken about enough. 2018 also witnessed a crazy run from Wizkid.
He put out Bella, with MHD, and that helped form the bond Afrobeats currently shares with France, the plate from which many eat now.
We saw Starboy deliver hits like Bad Energy with Skepta, Borrowed Love with Metro Boomin and Swae Lee and Shabba with Chris Brown, Trey Songz and French Montana. On the local scene, we had hits like Kana, Soco, Nowo, Fever, Immediately, Fake Love, and more. 2018 was definitely Wizkid’s year.
2019
2019 had a lot on Individuality. This is the year the superstars we have overflogged with the Next Gen tag were platformed. Acts like Rema, Fireboy, Joeboy, and Oxlade debuted this year, and they each had their hits and successes that contributed to the entirety of the genre. We had Naira Marley disturb the entire country in 2019. We had one of the best guest verses years from any artist with Zlatan.
We had Burna Boy take the international stage with his African Giant album. Davido’s A Good Time was also present, as songs like If, Fall, Blow My Mind with Chris Brown had a really strong presence in the US market. The highlight of 2019 was Burna Boy, and a close second spot would be shared by Rema and Naira Marley.
2020
2020, the year of the lockdown. The turning point of the genre in my personal opinion. This is the year COVID forced the sound of the genre to slow down.
There were no more parties and nightclubs to rave at, and no more social functions to dance in. Everybody was inside. Artists couldn’t organize camps like before, and there were no shows to perform at or preview music for the audience. A reset was imminent. Music became fully digital. And that was where Omah Lay, the soul storyteller was born.
Omah knew how to make music that made people stop and listen, and people were already stopped. His job was made easier and he connected like the Bluetooth device that’s ready to pell. Individuality became clearer and Omah lay owned 2020.
2021
2021 was amazing. 2021’s music felt alive. Everyone was out to show their worth in 2021. 2021 gave to us Peru. It gave us Essence. A song termed by Kanye West as one of the best songs ever made by man.
It gave us Ayra Starr, one of our biggest exports rn. But the most interesting thing about 2021 was Mr Buju Bnxn. Buju owned 2021, and he did so immensely. At almost every point through the year, Buju had about three hit songs. Singles, collaborations, it really didn’t matter. He was on top of 2021, and rightly so.
2022
2022 was special to me. Firstly because it’s the year we started moving like we had a genre for the world at our hands, and also because it gave us Boy Alone. 2022 gave us Soweto. 2022 gave us Last Last. 2022 gave us Calm Down, arguably our biggest global hit yet.
Yet again, individuality stood out, and the biggest revelation of 2022 in the midst of one of the best and most cohesive Afrobeats albums in Boy Alone and arguably the top 3 biggest songs in the world in the form of Calm Down was Asake. Asake owned 2022 like it was his primary school food flask.
2023
2023 was active. Ayra Starr started entering global conversations. We had superstars performing and winning awards around the world. Asake dropped a classic sophomore album. Burna had everyone stomping their foot to City Boys. Davido returned to the top of the game with a classic album in Timeless.
Stars broke out like pimples. Once again, individuality would stand out, and the biggest acts from 2023 would be Odumodu and Shallipopi. One can argue that most of the conversations around music this year found a way to involve Seyi Vibez. Maybe not necessarily because of his music, but because of his Individuality.
2024
2024? Fun. It’s too early to call. From what we can see, everyone took the guy who said “no gree for anybody” too seriously. Everyone is dropping good music, and nobody is dropping from a place of love. You can feel the vile. The hate.
The need to show the next guy that I’m better than him. A need to show the industry and the fans that you’re worth all that they say you are. People are stealing album ideas in 2024. Everyone seems to have subscribed to the tantrum rollout package this year. Shots are being fired and good music ( mostly ) is being served. I do not mind, at all I do not.
2024 has been the year of albums. For the past 7 years, we’ve had artists own the years. Davido 2017, Wizkid 2018, Burna 2019, Omah 2020, Buju and Ckay 2021, Asake 2022, Shallipopi 2023, but nobody can lay claim to 2024.
Tems dropped a fire album. Same as Fireboy, Rema, Asake, Victony, Llona, Ayra Starr, Young Jonn, and Boj, all deserving of Album of the Year conversations. We’re awaiting Omah Lay, and Lojay, and Oxlade, and many more.
Everyone seems to be able to go album for album, hit song for hit song, chart for chart in 2024 and while it’s amazing to see, it makes one wonder. What does this mean for individuality? What does this mean for the growth of our genre?
Where does this take us? These are deep questions, and I’m a little more concerned about the shallow ones. The ones that are more fun to argue. For example, who has the album of the year?