An increase in global recognition through enhanced online music platforms has placed African artists, including the astoundingly talented Ghanaian singer, King Promise, into the global limelight. A unique blend of languages, superior storytelling, and a trans-continental groove mark this epoch of African music. Yet, many African artists, including King Promise, resist the label of Afrobeats, the influential genre that has swept the global music scene. The reason for this resistance lies not in rejecting their African roots, but rather in advocating for a more nuanced understanding of the continent’s vast musical diversity.
Firstly, to understand why artists like King Promise are wary of the Afrobeats label, it’s essential to examine the structure and influence of Afrobeats itself. Originating from Nigeria, Afrobeats is a blend of diverse African musical elements with Western pop and hip-hop. It is characterized by a rhythmic and melodic fusion, a mainstay in clubs and parties across the globe. However, as influential as Afrobeats is, to state every African artist as an Afrobeats musician oversimplifies the diversity and creativity prevalent in the African music scene.
King Promise, born Gregory Bortey Newman, has showered the music industry with an exquisite array of works combining several genres, including highlife, hiplife, R&B, and soul. Classifying him strictly as an Afrobeats artist would dismiss his multifaceted style and his individuality. It’s the binding of musical freedom and the desire to show his range without conforming to one genre that King Promise and other African artists de-emphasize Afrobeats as the common denominator for their music.
The classification also brushes over the cultural, regional, and creative differences among African artists. Africa’s music landscape is as diverse as its cultures and languages. For instance, Ghanaian highlife takes a different shape and form compared to South African house music or Congolese rumba. Fusing these diverse music cultures under a single umbrella disregards their individuality and uniqueness, effectively muzzling the uniqueness each region brings to the continental sound.
Moreover, pressing African artists into the Afrobeats mold could lead to dangerous stereotyping. Unfortunately, the tendency to categorize all African music as Afrobeats has led to an explosion of global music platforms replicating artists’ music in playlists categorized specifically as Afrobeats. This stereotyping not only minimizes the artists’ eclectic influences but also occasionally feeds into a larger narrative that African music is monolithic.
Furthermore, artists like King Promise are vocal about their Western influences and their aspiration to appeal to a global audience. To place these artists strictly within the Afrobeats category would be to underestimate their potential cross-over appeal and minimize the global influences that have shaped their music.
In summary, while they are proud of their African heritage and recognize the cultural elements embedded in their music, King Promise and other African artists resist being contained to Afrobeats. Their aversion to this classification denotes a desire for the world not merely to classify their music in the context of geography or a genre but to appreciate the rich, diverse, and multifaceted nature of African music. By so doing, they provoke a global audience to listen to African music not merely as an expression of Africanness but as art – dynamic, diverse, and continuously evolving.
