Nigerian singer Divine Ikubor, known professionally as Rema, recently discussed his decision to evolve his musical style in his sophomore album, ‘HeIs.’
In an interview with Apple Music, the ‘Calm Down’ hitmaker explained that he felt compelled to “switch it up” because Afrobeats was becoming monotonous.
Rema showed that the Nigerian music scene has seen a significant influx of the South African genre, Amapiano, in recent years.
This trend, according to him, risks diluting the unique essence of Afrobeats if Nigerian artists do not actively work to preserve its distinctiveness.
“Afrobeats was getting boring, so I had to switch it up,” Rema stated.
“We cannot afford to keep watering it down until we start losing our grip on it. If we continue on this path, we might see others winning our Afrobeats awards.”
Rema expressed concern that the global success of Afrobeats has led to Nigerian artists paying too much attention to international trends and feedback.
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“With the success that has come to Afrobeats, I feel like we are listening to the voices of the world too much, ignoring the voices back home,” he said.
