Afrobeats now sounding more like R&B

Nigerian music producer Olumide Ogunlade, popularly known as ID Cabasa, has warned about the West’s growing influence on Afrobeats.

The man behind the late-2000s monster hit, Gongo Aso, while appearing on the Sunday edition of Channels TV‘s Rubbin’ Minds, expressed concern that Nigerian artistes are starting to lose their cultural identity in a bid to appeal to international audiences.

While he admitted that there are some positives to the attention Afrobeats is getting from the West, he said he’s scared we have already lost part of the Afrobeats sound.

Expressing his concern more pointedly, Cabasa made it bold to say that Afrobeats now sounds more like R&B.

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He said, “There’s a good part to the diaspora effect. Many young Nigerian producers are learning new sounds and improving the quality of production. But I’m worried about the identity we’re losing.

“The West is now sounding more like Afrobeats, while we’re sounding more like R&B. That’s the real concern. It’s scary. I almost think we’ve already lost part of it.”

Cabasa didn’t hold back when he bemoaned the growing trend of Afrobeats stars residing abroad and charging in foreign currencies.

The 49-year-old legendary producer noted that he decided to start making reimagined versions of classic Afrobeats hits because of the concerns he raised.

“That’s why I keep doing what I’m doing — reimagining classics — to remind this new generation of artistes not to lose themselves. Don’t abandon who you are just to fit in,” he said.

So far, Cabasa has released his reimagined version of Styl-Plus’s hit, ‘Olufunmi’ and 9ice’s ‘Photocopy’.

Cabasa credited rapper Olamide as the inspiration behind his decision to reimagine classic Afrobeats songs.

He said, “It all started from a conversation with Olamide. We were talking about how people abroad are trying to hijack the Afrobeats narrative — saying they named it, shaped it.

“That’s when Olamide said, ‘Maybe we should bring back the sounds that shaped this thing.’ That idea resonated with me, and I created an entire body of work around it.”

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He praised contemporary artists like Tems for reintroducing classics to a new audience and noted that sampling old sounds preserves our culture.

“Tems winning with ‘Love Me Jeje’ (originally by Seyi Sodimu in 1999) — that’s cultural. It’s storytelling. Sampling brings familiarity and emotional connection. Instead of sampling foreign music, why not revive our rich catalogue?” Cabasa noted.

Lately, a number of top Nigerian artists have reimagined Afrobeats classics like Tems with Seyi Sodimu’s ‘Love Me Jeje,’ Rema with Sade’s ‘Is It a Crime’, Burna Boy with Soul II Soul’s ‘Back to Life’, and Joeboy with Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller.’