The global rise of Afrobeats has been a source of immense pride for Angélique Kidjo, but the veteran artist is not ready to hand out congratulations without a serious caveat. The five-time Grammy winner has issued a stern warning to the current wave of Afrobeats talent: the current trend risks becoming stagnant if artists become complacent, failing to challenge their listeners.
“It’s a trend now, Afrobeats. Everybody likes it. But how do we renew it every time around?” Kidjo asks pointedly during a conversation with Netng. She identifies “repetitive things and doing the same thing over and over again” as the greatest danger to the genre’s long-term relevance. She stresses that true success is not about making a lot of money in the short term, but about building a career that is “fluid, to be flexible, to be agile.”
For African music to maintain its relevance for generations to come, she insists on “seriousness, commitment, quality of work, and unquestionable attitude of professionalism.” She reminds young stars that success in one’s home country does not guarantee global longevity. “Because you’re such and such in your country doesn’t mean you’re such and such everywhere else,” she cautions.
The key to lasting impact, she argues, is to constantly challenge listeners and keep their ears “challenged to hear what is new, and what is new is coming from Africa,” ensuring the Afrobeats phenomenon transforms from a fleeting trend into a permanent, evolving force in global music.
