AfroFusion is also known as Afro-pop or Afrobeats (different from Afrobeat without the s), which describes the music from West Africa and the diaspora developed in the 2000s and 2010 in Nigeria, Ghana, and the Uk.
The name became famous thanks to DJ Abrantee Boateng in London. Afrofusion is primarily produced in Accra, London, and Lagos – therefore, it is a mix of sounds such as hiplife, Naija beats, jùjù music, and highlife from Ghana and Nigeria.
As we may know, the prominent artists that highlighted Afrofusion & dances outside Ghana, Nigeria, and Uk from 2010 are:
Fuse ODG with Azonto dance and Antenna, Sarkodie with U go kill me, won the best hip hop at MTV Africa Awards in 2014 and the MOBO Awards – Nigerian artists Iyanya with Kukere and the Etighi dance, Davido with Skelewu, Wizkid, Mr. Eazi and more.
The popularity of the new music movement became so hype that in the late 2010s, big record labels like Universal and Warner Music began to invest in Afrobeats artists, which brought to the public eye new artists: Bruna Boy, Aya Nakamura, Tiwa Savage, Yami Alade, Shatta wale, Kidi and many more.
Moreover, the massive success drove American artists to collaborate with Afrobeats artists. The most famous ones are the collaboration between Beyoncè ft. Shatta Wale and the Wizkid ft. Drake.
But Afrofusion also has sub-genres like:
Azonto – A Ghanaian music genre and dance.
Banku music – A mix of Ghanaian highlife bounce and Nigerian chord progression – was pioneered by Mr. Eazi.
Pon-pon – It is used to describe sonfìgs by dancehall and highlife. Also, a prominent sound in the mid-2010s of Nigerian Afropop songs, like Mad over you by Runtown.
An infusion with:
Afrosoca – is famous in Trinidad & Tobacco by Nigerian and Trinidadian artists such as Timaya, Stonebwoy, and Olatunji’s song Ola. Afrosoca is a fusion of Afrobeats and soca music and additional influence of dancehall
Afroswing – A mix of British R&B, trap, hip hop, grime, dancehall, and Afrobeats.
Bakosò – Famous in Santiago de Cuba thanks to the influence of African students living in Cuba.
Afro trap – This genre became famous in the mid-2010s by MHD, a french rapper of West African descent. The genre incorporates West African culture composed of traditional music and language such as Fula and Wolof.
Alté – The ultimate definition of freedom of expression, The Alternative; introduced by DRB LasGidi (members TeeZee and Boj on their song “Paper” of 2014), introduced in the late 2010s as a new Nigerian genre that fused a wide range of Afrobeats.
