Flavour: I do African music, not Afrobeats

Flavour N’abania, the Nigerian singer, says he does not identify as an Afrobeats artiste.

In an episode of the Afrobeats Podcast, Flavour said he creates “African music”, and his contributions are rooted in a broader representation of African sounds.

The singer said he does not feel slighted when he is not credited for the global success of Afrobeats.

He added that his contributions to music would be recognised more if the focus were on African music as a whole, rather than just one genre.

“I do not feel bad when I am not given credit for the global rise of African music because what the media is talking about is Afrobeats. I am not an Afrobeats artiste,” he said.

“What I am doing is African music. There are guys like Fally Ipupa, Diamond Platinumz who are pushing African music globally that are not Afrobeats artistes.”

He also criticised the media for narrowing the narrative around African music to just Afrobeats and neglecting other genres.

“Most times, the media just talks about Afrobeats. They are not talking about African music. If you talk about African music, of course, you should mention my name,” he added.

Afrobeats has been one of Africa’s biggest exports for years. In 2023, the genre enjoyed massive global recognition, with top Nigerian artistes like Wizkid, Davido and Burna Boy — among others — gracing the stages of some of the biggest events and occasions worldwide.

But in March, Wizkid sparked heated disputes after he asked the public not to label him an “Afrobeats artiste”.

The ‘Essence’ hitmaker said referring to every song as Afrobeats is why Nigerian artistes are only nominated in “African categories” of music awards like the Grammys.

Similarly, Burna Boy, in 2022, said his style of music is called Afrofusion, and not Afrobeats as assumed.

Flavour, who is renowned for his ability to sing fluently in the Igbo language, was born in Enugu and began his music career at the age of 13, playing the drums for his church choir.

In 2005, he released his debut album, ‘N’abania’, through Obaino Music. Since then, he has released eight albums.

He has also established himself as a household name in the music industry.