Rising Afrobeat Stars – African music is for sure exploding onto the world stage. Neither before has African artists been on-demand as they are now. Afrobeats is making its influence felt across the globe as the continent’s musicians start reaching a new international audience. 

Afrobeats music is a high-energy, auto-tune heavy genre with a steady rhythmic beat and an electro-hip-hop feel that originated in Lagos, Nigeria. But, in all reality, Afrobeats encompasses a lot more than this description.

Afrobeats is the story of a people, a sound, and a technology revolution that changed the world of pop music. It’s a story about Africa’s growing cultural influence and its rising music industry. It’s the story of how African music became popular around the world. Before we get into the rising stars, let’s clarify that Afrobeats is not the same as Afrobeat. The letter S is important.

Now without much ado let’s dive into the rising Afrobeat stars in no particular order.

Omah Lay

Omah Lay is Nigeria’s rapidly rising superstar and artist who has achieved a lot in a short time frame. His debut single “ Do not disturb” acted as a curtain-raiser to the industry and since then he has done collabos with prominent names in the music industry like Wizkid, Adekunle Gold, Olamide, and DJ Spinall. His greatest hits, “Godly” is still vibing!

Ckay

Ckay was born Chukwuka Ekweani and refers to himself as the future of Afrobeat music as most of his music has futuristic elements in them. Ckay has a voice that is good enough and one that makes him step on stage and face off with any other artist. The rapidly growing singer has positioned himself as one to watch with his beautiful voice and well-defined sound over a mix of Afrobeats, Afrofusion, and soul.

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Rema

Rema is arguably the fastest Nigerian rising artist in the Nigerian music industry and has made a tremendous impact in less than one year in the game. Rema was born in 2000.  From launching his first single to becoming the only Nigerian artist to feature on Barrack Obama’s Summer Playlist in 2019, and to staging concerts in major cities of the world.

Rema also became the first Nigerian artist to charge a million naira for his show. Rema is for sure a brilliant artist who has managed to gather all his achievements in a period of 11 months only.

Some people perceive Rema as a lucky champ born with a silver spoon who paid to be at the top of the industry. For sure, Rema has rich-kid looks but in reality, Rema is far from those speculations and has worked his way to the top. Rema was a poor kid with no father and who grew up on the streets of Benin. He began taking care of his ailing mother at the age of 11 years. His song “Dumebi” was widely accepted and brought him to the limelight.

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Peruzzi

2018 was a year of blessings for Perruzi as it was the year he rose to stardom. With his Majesty single, he gifted himself a global audience. He later signed for Davido Music Worldwide that gave him his befitting global recognition.

Perruzi got interested in music when his father bought him a piano when he was 7 years. To some people it may sound suicidal to forego education for music but can you imagine Perruzi quit studying medicine for a career in music. Sometimes it is better to go where your heart is!

Fireboy

Fireboy is not only turning heads in Nigeria but also globally. “ Jealous” was the song that made him shoot from obscurity to fame. When the visuals of the song were released in 2019 the song was a force to reckon with.

He was recently signed by YBNL, a musical label for Olamide and since then Fireboy has aptly lived to his name releasing “fire” after “fire.” Some of his greatest hits include “Vibration,” “What if I Say” among others.

Ezi Emela

The Afro-pop industry is for sure dominated by males. This list will be incomplete without the mention of Ezi Emela- one female artist who is for sure doing well in the game. Ezi Emela is one artist who has no worries about putting her best foot forward, as evidenced by her song “Chineke Meh.” She is well-positioned to reach the heights of renowned artists like Yemi Alade, Tiwa Savage, and the rest. 

Jovial

Juliet Miriam Ayub aka  Jovial is a Swahili singer from Kenya and who believes she was born to sing. She has great vocals. Her musical style is Afro-Fusion with a Zouk and R&B touch. Jovial’s recent hit “ Such Kind of Love” featuring Otile Brown is one track that is a club banger and one that DJs love playing twice. 

There you have it fam, who from the list do you think is going to reach the heights Wizkid has or even better? Who do you think deserves also to be on this list but was not included? Throw me names of whom you think is doing well in the game, and the rising star to watch for.  Please let me know in the comment section below.