afrobeats
/ˈæfrəʊbiːts/
Very CommonA contemporary West African pop music genre blending highlife, hip-hop, dancehall, and R&B, defined by infectious rhythms and global commercial crossover.
Often confused with Fela Kuti's 'Afrobeat' (no 's'), which is older, politically charged, and stylistically distinct. The two are related historically but are not the same genre.
| # | Example | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Burna Boy performing at Coachella is proof that afrobeats is fully global now. | A Nigerian artist headlining one of the world's biggest festivals signals mainstream international arrival. | x, 2023 |
| 02 | I have been on an afrobeats playlist for three weeks straight. Cannot go back. | The genre has become a consistent listening habit. | x, 2024 |
| 03 | Every summer playlist needs at least five afrobeats tracks or it is incomplete. | The genre's feel-good energy fits summer listening. | reddit, 2023 |
| 04 | Just to clarify since it keeps coming up: Afrobeats with an 's' is Wizkid. Afrobeat without the 's' is Fela. Different genres. | Explaining the naming distinction between the modern genre and Fela Kuti's original. | reddit, 2022 |
| 05 | Amapiano and afrobeats are two different sounds but they both have that rhythm that gets you. | Both genres share an infectious rhythmic quality even though they come from different traditions. | tiktok, 2023 |
Use it when
- Referring to the contemporary West African pop genre.
- Describing a song, playlist, or event with that characteristic rhythmic sound.
- Discussing global music crossover from Nigeria and Ghana.
Do not use it when
- You mean Fela Kuti's original Afrobeat genre from the 1970s.Use “Afrobeat” instead.
- You mean all African music as a monolithic category.
Afrobeats vs Afrobeat
afrobeats
Afrobeats (with 's') is the modern West African pop genre from Nigeria and Ghana.
afrobeat
Afrobeat (no 's') is Fela Kuti's 1970s Nigerian jazz-funk-political hybrid.
Origin and context
Term coined in the UK Nigerian diaspora community around the early 2000s to describe the new fusion sound coming from Lagos. Distinct from Fela Kuti's 1970s Afrobeat. Global mainstream crossover accelerated through the 2010s and exploded in the early 2020s with Burna Boy, Wizkid, and Davido achieving major international audiences.
- First seen
- early-2000s
- Confidence
- high
Cite this page
Use this stable URL to reference the entry.
https://slang.fyi/afrobeats