Veteran Nigerian rapper Ruggedman has again shared his reservations about the widespread use of “Afrobeats” as a blanket term for African music, describing it as inaccurate and limiting.
Speaking during an interview with Day Genius, the artist explained that his disagreement with the label dates back years, though his stance was often misinterpreted as jealousy at the time.
He argued that the term fails to capture the diversity of sounds across the continent and unfairly categorises all African artists under one identity.
“I don’t like Afrobeats as an umbrella genre from every music coming out of Africa. That was a mistake. I didn’t liked it from the beginning but when I complained people accused me of being jealous or trying to gatekeep.
“Right now, if I go to the UK to perform, I would be tagged an Afrobeats artistes. It is wrong.”
Ruggedman also pointed fingers at international audiences, particularly in the UK, for popularising the label, adding that Nigerians later embraced it.
“It is the people in the UK who started this thing of tagging every African music Afrobeats. Nigerians love classicism. They just wanted to give it a name.”
Taking his criticism further, he claimed the label has become a convenient cover for some artists who lack depth.
“For me, Afrobeats with an ‘S’ is a name talentless Nigerians hide behind. All you need to make an Afrobeats hit is just to get a good beat and a street slang and repeat it as many times as you like. Then spend a lot of money to promote it. That is the Afrobeats with an ‘S’.”
He also questioned the performance abilities of some artists, suggesting that only a few can truly deliver without relying on autotune, which he said explains why many avoid freestyle sessions and live band performances.
