Arewa might just be the new direction for Afrobeats

Afrobeats over time has proven to be a genre that borrows to make its own. Our superstars are borrowed from the church, and our sound is borrowed from different sources. In fact, the root definition of the genre is an expression of music that borrows from many sources like hip hop, R&B, Fuji and Highlife and combines it with African elements to give a new sound.

Over time, the sound has borrowed from different sources to churn out hit songs, with the latest being Amapiano from South Africa and most recently Worro from the Nigerian gospel scene. The Amapiano pandemic seems to be wearing off slowly and this has put our superstars in a state of confusion. Nobody knows where to turn to and only the authentic ones are making music and expressing themselves as they see fit.

It’s a major reason why Afrobeats has struggled to do well for itself this year. The money is there, the global platform is present and the super star status is available to propel the music. There is however no substance. It’s also why it has turned out to be a year of albums, because everyone is putting out material in quantity, hoping to get a few hit singles to monetize and take to the road and in the process find a sound that’s acceptable and leverage on.

As Afrobeats seeks a new direction, the answer to our problems might just lie in our backyard. Recently, we have seen a surge in the attention paid to the northern music influences. While Rema is speeding up the tempo and heavily taping into the worro sound from the gospel scene and the ‘Umbele’ street sound pioneered by Dj YK and Flex B, it doesn’t look like it is sustainable. The entire genre can’t bite off this sound.

Some acts have tried, as we’ve seen Khaid find a pocket for himself with his latest release Orobo and Shallipopi with Order, many are still looking for a way forward.

A short-term solution to our problems might just be the heavily ignored Arewa sound. First Klaz, a fast-rising artist on the local scene dropped a song early in the year titled Gen Z Fuji and it gathered a lot of attention and put him in the spotlight. Kizz Daniel was the first of the mainstream acts to pay attention to it and execute with Marhaba and it became a commercial success. First Klaz’s recent release titled Gen Z Arewa samples the Arewa sound and its creative a massive wave on TikTok. Zerry DL, recently sampled another Arewa sound going viral on TikTok and dropped a song titled HausaPiano with KingVinci.

The Arewa scene and Northern creative space has been massively under researched in the past, and we’ve always looked to Ghana and South Africa for our music influences. This worked out quite well, as Ghana gave us the Banku sound and South Africa gave us Amapiano. It just might be time to look back home for the solution to our issues.

The North has provided us with some fantastic acts in recent times like Bloody Civillian, Magnito, First Klaz, Gambi, Classiq, Skales and more. Maybe it’s time for the North to shine.

Underground producers seem to be aware of this and are studying the soundscape of the North. Quick research on the underground scene shows producers tapping into the sound. Acts like Nimarr and Gbots have mastered the science of diversification and are currently owning the sound direction coming.

Afrobeats has had a dull year creatively in 2024. Albums (bar a few) are a massive reproduction of what we already expect creatively from superstars. The Arewa sound is not foreign to the ears of the local consumers, and can even break into foreign markets easily due to the similarities between it and the Latin and Arabian sound. What’s the way forward? More importantly, when are we going to start researching and executing properly on our gems at home?