“Jerusalema.”
For African immigrants, no matter the generation, this song title alone brings back memories of people posting dances to this song on the internet, or even memories of family members recording a video of their outfits to this song to be shared with friends. Whatever the case, this song quickly flourished from its popularity in South Africa in 2019 and became well-known worldwide in years to come.
During 2020, Wizkid’s “Essence (ft. Tems)” took the world by storm with its relaxing rhythm and loving lyrics. It became a common background song to cooking, makeup and lifestyle TikToks.
These songs are among recent Afrobeat hits, a musical genre that began in the 1960s as Western African tunes blended with African American music. One major genre pioneer was Africa 70, a Nigerian-Ghanaian band that mixed Western African rhythm with American funk, jazz and soul. Fela Kuti was a Nigerian musician and activist, as well as the creator of Africa 70, and he used his music to bring attention to the corruption of his country’s government.
In the 2000s, the music genre had evolved into multiple subcategories: Afrobeats, Afro-pop, Afro-fusion and more. Afrobeats is a genre created by West Africans and its worldwide diaspora, with most of its origins consisting of Nigerian “Naija” and Ghanaian “hiplife” music. Famous musician Davido once said in a 2017 interview, “there’s so much going on in Africa, the last thing people want to hear is sad music.” Many other artists of today are straying away from the terms Afrobeat and Afrobeats to preserve the essence that Kuti brought to the original genre.
In the early 2000s, artists such as P-square and Tiwa Savage were staples in every West African’s playlist. No matter the occasion — parties, weddings, birthdays, barbecues, graduations — their music would make people rise to their feet and dance. These artists would sing in a mix of English and their native language. However, with music being a universal language, the barrier did not stop artists from different countries from charting outside of Africa.
In the households of francophone Africans, Makossa is a genre that is not heard often anymore but holds memories to those in their late teens or early twenties. Makossa is a music genre originating from Douala, Cameroon in the 1940s, known for its heavy use of electric guitar accompanying lead vocalists with choirs following them. A leading pioneer is Emmanuel N’Djoké “Manu” Dibango, a Cameroonian musician who became famous with his song “Soul Makossa.”
Many American pop artists have even taken inspiration from his lyrics, facing legal trouble for not having attributed the inspiration to Dibango. Dibango sings, “Mama ko mama sa maka makosa” in his “Soul Makossa” refrain. In Michael Jackson’s 1982 hit “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” he sings “Ma-ma-se, ma-ma-sa, ma-ma-coo-sa.” Rihanna sampled Jackson’s song and re-phrasing of Dibango’s lyrics in her song “Don’t Stop the Music,” released in 2008.
Artists such as Petit Pays and Charlotte Mbango, both Cameroonian Makossa singers, are names those born in the 1970s-1990s may recognize. Similar to the evolution of Afrobeats, Makossa now uses more international languages such as French and English. The music genre is slowly losing its popularity, but artists such as Mani Bella and Locko led a new rise in Cameroonian urban music in the 2010s.
When asked what the music genre means to her, Nigerian student Anita Olele, second-year CS, called it the “heartbeat of our current generation,” referring to the current generation of the African Diaspora.
When asked about her preference between older African music and the newer generation, Olele shared she does not have an opinion. Older Nigerian music is “ageless” as she grew up listening to these tunes, but the modern take on the genre has been exciting for her to discover and watch evolve. For anyone interested in listening to African music, she recommends “Bloody Samaritan” by Arya Starr.
“It is more than just music,” she adds. “The instruments and beats are very distinctive and are usually meant to induce automatic feelings of joy and celebration and bring people together.” She feels “proud and happy” to see different African countries such as Nigeria and South Africa releasing music and seeing their fame reach the rest of the world.