Rema: We have to own, protect Afrobeats so it’s not taken away from us

Rema, the Nigerian singer, has opened up on his concerns about what he claimed to be the growing decline of Afrobeats.

Afrobeats has been one of Africa’s biggest exports in the past years. In 2023, Afrobeats 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.

Speaking on the latest episode of The Code with French media personality Mehdi Maïzi, the 24-year-old said the success of Afrobeats is “slowly changing the perception of the sound”.

The ‘Hehehe’ hitmaker argued that Afrobeats is losing its African roots due to his colleagues’ desire to chase globally appealing hits.

“With the success that has come to Afrobeats, I feel like it is slowly changing our perception of the sound. Not to shade anyone but everyone is chasing something that the whole world can enjoy as much as they are doing what they love,” he said.

“With the success that has come, I feel like we are listening to the voice of the world too much but we have to listen to the voices back home to just keep our roots. Our roots are very important, Afrobeats for what it is very important and I feel like this project (‘Heis’, his recent album) is helping me bring back that essence.

“Bring back that energy, not just for the fans but for the creators. It is also quite difficult because it is a reset to the fanbase’s ears and it might not be my music, it might be what they have been digesting for a long time.”

Reiterating his stance at his album launch party, Rema added that African artistes have to “own Afrobeats” so that it is not eventually “taken away from us”.

“We have to take our sh*t back, own it and protect it. You know I was speaking on an interview today and I was like the softer we get this sh*t for international pleasure, we water it down for them to be able to create it,” he said.

“We know that there are top dogs in the industry that are coming. It is good, they would applaud you and we are watering it down and they keep applauding. Until some people start winning Afrobeats awards we’ll then realize we’ve indirectly sold ourselves. So we have to own it.”