American rapper Fat Joe has stirred reactions online after asserting that Afrobeats music has its roots in Jamaica.
The rapper made the statement during a recent episode of the Joe and Jada podcast, which featured Jamaican dancehall star Buju Banton as a guest.
“Jamaica started Afrobeats. Even though everything comes from Africa,” he claimed.
Buju Banton did not challenge the remark during the conversation. Instead, he shifted focus to discussing the influence of Panamanian artist El General, whom he credited as a pioneer of reggaeton and its impact on global music styles.
Fat Joe’s claim has, however, drawn criticism, as Afrobeats is widely recognised as a genre that emerged from West Africa. It is also heavily inspired by Afrobeat, a sound developed by Nigerian legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.
The conversation has also reignited past comments by Buju Banton, who previously accused Afrobeats artistes of borrowing heavily from Jamaican reggae and dancehall without proper acknowledgment.
In a 2024 interview on the Drink Champs podcast, the reggae icon argued that Afrobeats lacks depth and predicted that the genre’s popularity would eventually decline.
