Afrobeats
All Afrobeats Articles
Why Ed Sheeran Keeps Coming Back to Nigeria and What He Has Learned From Afrobeats
Few mainstream British pop stars have leaned into Afrobeats with the persistence of Ed Sheeran. The Suffolk songwriter who built a career on acoustic loop pedals and stadium-sized choruses has … Read more»
What Is the "Burna Boy Effect"? How One Artist's Global Success Changed Nigerian Music Forever
Somewhere between a half-empty afternoon slot at Coachella 2019 and a sold-out London Stadium in June 2023, the math of Nigerian music quietly broke. The old ceiling capped African artists … Read more»
How Afrobeats Artists Fund Their Own Albums Without Major Label Support
Walk into any Lekki studio at 2am and you will find a young Afrobeats artist signing off on a wire transfer they personally funded. The session musician needs paying. The … Read more»
The Business of Afrobeats Merchandise: From T-Shirts to NFTs
Walk past the merch table at any Afrobeats arena show and you see a quiet truth: the t-shirt rack is doing work that streaming royalties cannot. A black hoodie with … Read more»
How Afrobeats Artists Make Money From Samples and Music Licensing
Every time a Burna Boy song plays under a fight scene on HBO, a check gets cut. Every time someone in Atlanta uploads a TikTok using the "Last Last" hook, … Read more»
The Role of the "Hype Man" in Afrobeats: Who They Are and Why They Matter
Walk into any major Afrobeats concert in Lagos, London, or Houston, and a strange thing becomes obvious within the first three minutes. The headliner is not actually alone on that … Read more»
How Afrobeats Tours Are Structured: Venues, Ticket Splits and Profit Margins
Behind every sold-out Burna Boy stadium night or Asake O2 run sits a financial machine most fans never see. The poster has one name on it. The deal underneath has … Read more»
The AFRIMA Awards Explained: What They Are, Who Has Won and Why They Deserve More Attention
Ask a casual music fan in Lagos or Accra to name the biggest African music awards and the answers will almost always cluster around the same two or three names. … Read more»
How Drake's Obsession With Afrobeats Changed the Sound of Hip-Hop Forever
Spring 2016. A song crawls out of nowhere and refuses to leave the top of the charts. The bassline lopes at a tempo that doesn't quite belong to rap, doesn't … Read more»