Mp3Bullet carefully reviews Nigeria’s and the United States’ most successful music partnership.
Nigeria is one of the most vibrant music markets in sub-Saharan Africa, attracting the world to its music market globally as well as the United States.
While you marinate on the aforementioned, you should know that Nigerian artists, like their Asian counterparts (South Koreans), have tried very hard to gain access into mainstream American culture/music fans.
One method they have used and continue to use is collaborations (collabos) with American artists.
Origin
Afrobeats has a bigger history than K Pop but guess which genre is bigger now? From PSY monster hit song “Gangnam Style” to BTS dominance, K Pop music took a huge turn in the US market and the whole world caught the virus.
For the past few years, afrobeat has steadily infiltrated the airwaves in the United States.
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You might have heard British DJ, singer, and songwriter Afro B’s “Drogba (Joanna)” influence heavily from Nigeria sound thumping out of someone’s car speakers in the last summer, providing the uplifting vibe you need when the sun comes out.
The term afrobeat has been used to describe a collective campaign of different musical styles stemming from Africa, not to get mixed up with Afrobeat, which is a West African music genre-blending fuji and highlife music with American jazz and funk, pioneered by Fela Kuti.
Afrobeat to the world
Afrobeats is a word that’s used to bring awareness to African-influenced music from collectives like the Flight Club, artists like Davido, Burna Boy, and Wizkid, and producers like P2J.
The sound of afrobeat has heavily influenced new albums like GoldLink’s Diaspora and Beyoncé’s The Gift, both released this summer.
America is a bit late on the afrobeat wave, but now that the sound has started to crack the seal, it’s in high demand, giving producers like P2J time to shine.
Pro2Jay, also known as P2J, is a Nigerian, London-based producer who has been making afro-pop, afro-house, afro-rap, and afro-jazz since the beginning of his career.
Mp3Bullet gather that After shooting his shot and traveling to the United States with his manager seven years ago, he experienced an influx of mainstream US artists reaching out in attempts to collaborate and make afrobeats possible
Once P2J earned placement on Chris Brown’s Heartbreak on a Full Moon, he become one of the go-to producers for artists looking to add the afrobeats flavor to their music.
P2J spoke with Complex about what we need to know about afrobeats, what it was like working with GoldLink and Beyoncé, and how the Flight Club has been breaking barriers and infiltrating American pop music.
Beyoncé, never shy of jumping on popular directions, brought together Nigerian stars such as Tiwa Savage, Mr Eazi, Tekno, Yemi Alade, Wizkid, and Nigerian super-producer P2J, as well as other African artists, on her companion album to The Lion King movie.
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- RELATED: Most streamed UK-Nigerian collaborations on Spotify so far
Many of these Nigerian acts are making the US festival circuit their new home
In show business, artists are the product, and you often need to fill a pipeline of hits for the majors to be interested.
Slowly but surely, big media corporations are identifying – and fighting for – Nigeria and Africa’s top talent.
A year after the grab-bag album “Changes,” Justin Bieber has delivered a definitive new era on “Justice” and he also features the Grammy-award winner, Burna Boy in the song “Loved by You”.
The Song with Burna Boy is titled “Loved by You” the song captures a feeling of deep love for an unknown lover.
On the surface, this is a song about longing to feel desired, then despising yourself for needing to be needed.
However, Artist and music business partnerships turn brand moments into cultural moments, and the USA has bagged a viable relationship with music collaboration.