Nigerian singer Tunde Akinsanmi, who used to be part of the Styl Plus group, recently expressed his thoughts on how they are overlooked in discussions about Afrobeats.
He appeared on the Afrobeats Podcast with UK-based media figure Adesola ‘Shopsydoo’ Olajide and shared his concerns about Styl Plus not getting recognition. Tunde mentioned that he is often surprised when people discuss Afrobeats and fail to mention Styl Plus group. He pointed out that while groups like Plantashun Boiz are recognized for their RnB, Styl Plus’ popular song, Olufunmi, is actually an Afrobeats track.
He emphasized that listeners should focus on the music’s beat and sound to understand its Afrobeats roots.
In his words:
“Before I even talk about where Styl Plus group is going, it quite shocks me when they talk about Afrobeats and they skip our name because before then, we had people…Plantashun Boiz wasn’t Afrobeats, it was more of RnB, and then we came with Olufunmi which is not RnB, that’s Afrobeats! Check the beat itself, it’s not RnB, it’s Afrobeats. And then they start talking about pioneers of Afrobeats, yeah people actually paved the way for us as well just like we paved for others.”
Tunde of the Styl Plus group mentioned that they were the first music group to create an independent record label and to credit producers in their songs. He expressed gratitude for making music that has lasted over time.
He said:
“We were the first independent record label that broke into the market in Nigeria because everyone was under someone’s pay. Is it Dove Records?, Premier?Ebony? Ivory Music? Kennis Music? all of them, but we came as independent artists. We were the first crew that even had the ‘crew’ idea before Mo Hitz came. We were the first crew that started giving credits to our producers. Did you hear anybody mentioning their producers in the songs before us? So these things have to be said, so if you don’t know where you’re coming from, you don’t know where you’re going and you don’t know where we are. I’m thankful that we did songs that can stand test of time because the truth is a lot of people want us away but the songs will never go away. So when you want us away, the songs will remind you that we’re still here and we’re going to be here. Nobody knows tomorrow, I believe if we all come back together to do something, it’s going to resonate with the hardcore fans out there.”
Watch the video below:
See some comments below:
@obaksolo:
“What a coincidence ??Tunde you are talking to one of the dudes that Skip your Names.” Kingnebo5: “
@sylviateyei:
“Grab your flowers yourself sir, nobody gives anybody nowadays.”
@Darkest_level:
“Respect bro but I’m this country you have to take ur flowers no body Dey give o.”
@demi_semi_god’:
“Sope’s reaction when he said olufunmi wasn’t rnb just says it all. You know dam well that’s an rnb song.”
@nomanlykjojo:
“Dem fit mention everybody name ? Una too like worship.”
@Oyepompin:
“Tunde lied about the part where artiste didn’t mentioned producers name till they came on board . Plantashun boiz used to mention nelson brown on there songs before you even dreamt of being in a group . So get that facts right, even the first all out famous group without being under any label and also doing independently ,setting up lots of group is Trybes men and Trybes record.”
@dandybanny:
“Na Afro Rnb una do Tunde not AfroBeats.”
@Hdemil:
“I have to disagree with him here. I enjoy styl plus group music, but Afrobeats was already well-established before they came on the scene. By then, DJs, TV channels, and radio stations had already shifted to supporting homegrown sounds over foreign music.Stylplus definitely benefited from the groundwork laid by the true pioneers. If we’re calling Stylplus pioneers, where do we draw the line? We might as well call Asake a pioneer at this point.”
@tfabmac:
“You people didn’t associate with Afrobeats at all, you were western music wannabes, however the music was enjoyable.”
@spectafular:
“You were doing RnB not Afrobeat. Don’t you know your Genre? That you had a few african sounding tracks don’t mean you are an Afrobeat artist. Michael Jackson sang rock and RnB don’t change the fact that he is a Pop artist.”
