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    Kings of Afrobeats: The versatility of Wizkid, Burna Boy and Davido

    KrystalBy Updated:No Comments4 Mins Read

    There is this underlying rivalry between the three current kings of Nigerian Music industry, Wizkid, Davido, and Burna Boy and there’s a good reason for that.

    Burna Boy Emerges as Most Streamed Artist Ahead of Wizkid and Davido in Sub-Saharan Africa
    Burna Boy Wizkid Davido

    Before the entrance of Wizkid, Davido, and Burna Boy into the music scene, the Music Industry had an ever-changing tide of artist reign. One moment we could have artist A dominating the music scene and another moment we could have Artist B dominating the music scene.

    It was rare to have an artist that whether or not they were dropping hits, they were still dominating the music scene and their presence was constantly being missed by fans.

    Then in came Wizkid with his successful debut song, “Holla at Your Boy” and from that moment, his career is yet to even suffer a declining rate.

    Davido entrance into the music scene with tow successful songs, “Back When” and “Dami Duro” may not have much impact as Wizkid’s but it did its job.

    At first, the question of who was king of Afrobeat was mostly between Wizkid and Davido but then came in Burna Boy with the miraculous success of “Ye” which happened as a result of Kanye West Album of that time also of the same name “Ye”.

    So the main question anyone would ask is, why amongst all of the many artists in Nigeria is Wizkid, Davido, and Burna Boy topping the charts every single time?

    While we won’t delve into basic facts you already know about them, You can check out an Editorial by Mp3bullet.ng on the three kings of Afrobeat in comparison to Late Fela Kuti here.

    Versatility

    According to a search on Google, in terms of genre exploitation, Wizkid beats Davido and Burna Boy to it.

    Wizkid has explored Afrobeat, Dancehall, Reggae, Hip hop, and Pop Music while Burna Boy has explored Dancehall, Reggae, and Afrobeat. As for Davido, it only shows Afrobeat as the genre exploited by him (Though this isn’t correct in a sense).

    Wizkid didn’t come into the music scene singing Afrobeat, in fact, most of his works or features were mostly rooted in Hip Hop and Rap. Even his debut album, “Holla at your boy” is not classified as a true afrobeat song in the Writer’s opinion.

    However, he still managed to carve a niche for himself in Afrobeats as his debut album, “Superstar” gave us songs like “Don’t Dull”, “Tease me”, “Pakurumo”.

    Davido isn’t as Versatility as Wizkid but he has explored other genres like when he released “Coolest Kid in Africa” where he featured South African rapper, Nasty C, or his collaboration with American singer, Tinashe in “How Long”.

    However, the Singer in a recent Billboard interview said that he has a sound with which he trying to promote, his own unique version of Afrobeat.

    Apart from Afrobeat, Burna Boy has always found himself faring better with Dancehall and Reggae as his voice has favored the two genres. Though seeing him do Hip hop or rap, might be interesting to watch from the African Giant.

    Global Impact

    In terms of Global Impact, these three artists are putting Africa on the map. Wizkid and Burna Boy have at different times been nominated for the Grammys. Burna Boy enjoyed massive success after his last album, African Giant was nominated for the World Best Album award.

    Fanbase

    These three artists enjoy a large fanbase. Wizkid has over 10 million followers on Instagram, Davido has over 16 million followers on Instagram while Burna Boy has over 5 million followers on Instagram.

    Meanwhile, on Spotify, Burna Boy has over 7 million monthly listeners, Wizkid has over 3 million monthly listeners and Davido has over 3 Million monthly listeners also.

    Recall that Mp3bullet.ng reported that Burna Boy surpassed both Wizkid and Davido to be the most streamed artist in sub-Saharan Africa according to data collected by Billboard.