Tiwa Savage has opened up about a deeply personal part of her journey, her early struggle with identity while growing up in London as a Black African girl.

Speaking at the Unstoppable Africans event, the Afrobeats queen reflected on how much has changed for African music and culture, especially in the global spotlight.
She recalled how, as a young girl living abroad, she often felt disconnected from her roots because being African wasn’t something people celebrated back then.
“Afrobeats is the fastest-growing genre in the world. We kind of created it with nothing; no support, no infrastructure, no real belief even from our own people initially. I remember growing up in London, and I was not happy being African. But now I’m so proud because of how big Afrobeats is growing,” she said.
Tiwa’s words carried both pride and gratitude as she highlighted how far the genre and Africans at large have come.
For her, Afrobeats isn’t just music; it’s a movement that defied every odd and reshaped global pop culture.
Addressing critics who once dismissed Afrobeats as a temporary craze, the “Somebody’s Son” singer was firm in her response.
“There was a conversation at one point that Afrobeats is going to have its 15 minutes of fame and then fade away. But we are still here. We are not slowing down. In fact, we are filling out stadiums, and we are getting the biggest songs on the charts right now.”
She rounded off her speech with a bold declaration of African pride, a reminder of the unbreakable spirit driving the continent’s creative rise.
“I don’t know how true this is, but apparently, one in every four black persons is a Nigerian or an African. So, we are not going anywhere. As much as they are trying to quiet us down, the music is not going anywhere. We are Africans and we are unstoppable.”
For Tiwa Savage, her story of going from once feeling uncertain about her African identity to now standing as one of the global faces of Afrobeats is living proof that embracing one’s roots can be the ultimate power move.
“The music is not going anywhere. We are Africans and we are unstoppable…”
Tiwa Savage makes a case for Afrobeats. pic.twitter.com/FHJgZA8nO8
— @𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗷𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗯𝗼𝘆 (@OneJoblessBoy) October 29, 2025
