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Award-winning Producer Swizz Beatz Swizz Beats Boasts He Made Wizkid, and Burna Boy popular in America.
In a recent interview, American record producer Kasseem Daoud Dean, known professionally as Swizz Beatz, discussed how he introduced Wizkid and Burna Boy to America.
In a recent podcast ’roundtable’ on Amazon Prime, legendary producer Swizz Beatz revealed how he and his wife Alicia Keys were the first to bring two of the greatest Afrobeats singers, Big Wiz and African Giant, to America.
According to the renowned DJ, they introduced American audiences to Afrobeats by sharing a video of themselves dancing to Wizkid’s songs when the genre was not yet known to US music lovers.
During the conversation, he added that before Burna Boy gained widespread recognition, he offered him a stage to play for an audience in the US.
He said, “I introduced Wizkid to America. I was the first person to play his song. Me and my wife [Alicia Keys] were on a trip and we danced to his songs.
“I was [also] the first person to bring Burna Boy to the States. I introduced him on the stage. When I was playing Fela Kuti, people thought I was being too African. And that how ignorant the energy was at that time.
“But I didn’t let that stop me from moving what I’m moving because it’s what it’s. It’s about education. We [Americans] can’t be scared of the educational journey of something that sounds different or feels different.”
“Alicia Keys and I were the first people that introduced Wizkid to American audiences and I was also the first person to bring Burna Boy to the States.”
– Swizz Beats on Afrobeats pic.twitter.com/yjRMR155QX
— BASITO (@itzbasito) April 30, 2023