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Music & Dance

Afrobeats: How Lagos and Accra Took Over the World's Playlists

Not to be confused with Fela's Afrobeat, Afrobeats is the 21st-century pop sound of Nigeria and Ghana. Here is how it grew, and how it went global.

By Amos Hope Jnr · · 3 min read

A light, bouncing drum pattern; a catchy melody sung in a mix of English, Pidgin and Yoruba; a laid-back groove you can dance to for hours. In the 2010s, this sound spread from the clubs of Lagos and Accra to London, Paris, New York and beyond. By the 2020s, African artists were topping global charts, filling stadiums and winning Grammys. The sound is called Afrobeats — and it has changed the world's idea of African music.

Afrobeat vs Afrobeats

First, a common confusion. Afrobeat (no "s") is the music created by Fela Kuti and his drummer Tony Allen in the 1970s: long, political, horn-driven jams mixing Yoruba rhythms with jazz and funk.

Afrobeats (with an "s") is something different: a broad label for the popular music of West Africa — especially Nigeria and Ghana — that took shape in the 2000s and 2010s, mixing local rhythms with hip hop, R&B, dancehall and electronic pop. The term became widely used around 2011–2012, popularised partly by DJs and promoters in London's African diaspora. Many artists dislike the single label and prefer more specific names for their styles, but "Afrobeats" has stuck.

Afrobeats owes much to Fela's spirit and to Afrobeat, but it is a pop sound, built for radio, clubs and streaming.

The roots

Afrobeats grew from a lively mix of influences:

  • Highlife and jùjú — older Nigerian and Ghanaian guitar dance musics.
  • Hip hop and R&B from the United States.
  • Dancehall and reggae from Jamaica.
  • Hiplife from Ghana, which combined highlife with rap.
  • Coupé-décalé and other West and Central African dance musics.
  • South African house and, more recently, amapiano.

In the 2000s, Nigerian artists such as 2Face Idibia (2Baba), P-Square, D'banj and Don Jazzy built a booming local industry. Their success showed that Nigerians would buy music made at home, in their own languages and slang.

The global breakthrough

The 2010s and 2020s brought a wave of stars:

  • Wizkid — whose song "Essence," featuring Tems (2020), became a major international hit.
  • Davido — known for anthems such as "Fall" and "If."
  • Burna Boy — who calls his sound "Afro-fusion," and whose album Twice as Tall won the Grammy for Best Global Music Album in 2021.
  • Tems — a singer-songwriter who later won a Grammy and an Oscar nomination for songwriting.
  • Rema — whose song "Calm Down" (2022), especially its remix with Selena Gomez, became one of the most-streamed songs in the world.
  • Ghanaian stars such as Sarkodie, Stonebwoy and Black Sherif.

In 2024, the Recording Academy introduced a new Grammy category, Best African Music Performance, a recognition of how big the music had become.

Why it spread

Several things helped Afrobeats go global:

  • The diaspora — Nigerians and Ghanaians in the UK, US and elsewhere played and promoted the music.
  • Streaming and social media — songs spread through YouTube, TikTok dance challenges and streaming playlists.
  • Collaborations — with stars such as Drake, Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran and others.
  • Pidgin and slang — the music's playful language travelled with it, making words like wahala and omo globally recognisable.

Why it matters

Afrobeats has given African artists a global platform on their own terms — singing in their own languages, about their own lives, and setting trends instead of following them. It has turned Lagos and Accra into music capitals and inspired young creatives across the continent. Whatever you call it, the sound of West Africa is now the sound of the world's dance floors.

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