Wizkid Accused Of Chasing Clout With Comments On Afrobeats

On March 16, 2024, Wizkid  announced the completion of his next album, ‘Morayo’ named after his late mother who passed in 2023.
The Tide Entertainment reports that  Wizkid has said in a series of post that those who loved the type of Afrobeats music he made like ‘Pakurumo’ should not bother listening to his next album. He also stated that he was not an Afrobeats artiste before asking Nigerian blogs not to post his next album in a rant that sent social media agog.
Speaking on  Wizkid’s claim of not being an Afrobeats artiste, Obong Roviel tagged it as a clout-chasing endeavour meant to rile up Nigerians just like Burna Boy did with “Afrobeats lacked substance” statement ahead of the release of his last album, ‘I Told Them’.
“When an Artiste is trying to put out a project in Nigeria, you just know because they do things to chase clout,” Obong Roviel says about Wizkid’s rant.
Obong Roviel stated that contrary to what people claim, Afrobeats do not box Artistes.
“Drake is a rapper yet he makes pop music. Hip hop did not box Drake, so Wizkid can not claim that Afrobeats boxed him,” Roviel said.
Basito who is a popular Wizkid’s fan held a contrary view that the Afrobeats tag has limited the opportunities African artistes are afforded in international awards.
“When it comes to international awards, they put every artistes coming out of Africa in one category whether they make Afrobeats or not. This is what Wizkid is fighting against because he wants Nigerian artistes to compete in other categories,” Basito argued.
The claims of the Afrobeats tagged boxing up Artistes remain unsubstantiated as it does not stop them from making music across other genres.
Commentators in the Afrobeats space have pointed out that Wizkid won an R&B category at the BET with his song, ‘Essence’ while Burna Boy was nominated in the Best Melodious Hip Hop category for his song, ‘Sittin’ On Top of The World’ feat 21 Savage at the 66th Grammys.
This goes to show that when Nigerian Artistes make other genres that are stripped of Afrobeats markers, they stand a chance to be recognised in other categories. Hence, the Afrobeats tag is not the problem since the artistes have refused to make the type of music that can compete in the main categories