Puffy Tee Explains Reason Burna Boy, Wizkid, Davido, Others Are Distancing Themselves From Afrobeats

• Davido made headlines in April 2024 when he joined Wizkid and Burna Boy on the list of singers who distanced themselves from Afrobeats
• Like Wizkid, the DMW label owner lamented the 'boxing' of African artists into a single genre irrespective of their musical styles
• During an interview with Legit.ng, Puffy Tee gave his opinion on why the top three were attempting to step away from Afrobeats

Nigeria's top three Afrobeats stars, Damini Ogulu 'Burna Boy,' Ayo Balogun 'Wizkid,' and David Adeleke 'Davido', stirred concerns from music lovers in the country after they had, on different occasions, attempted to distance themselves from the popular music genre.

Burna Boy and Davido had come to describe their kind of music as Afro-fusion, while Wizkid stated he didn't want to be described as an Afrobeats singer.

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Temidayo Babatope Joseph, known as Puffy Tee, a veteran singer-songwriter and record producer, in an interview with Legit.ng shared some insights into the reasons behind the action of the top three.

Puffy Tee explains Afrobeats genre

The producer explained that any genre that included African drums is Afrobeats. He also stated that Afrobeats is not limited to Nigeria but Africa at large.

"So Afrobeats is beats not Afrobeat. So when you say Afro beats it means the African beats, the African beats are generally what we play. We have our drums. As long as you sing a song and you put your mother's tongue in it. It is Afrobeats."

Why the big three are distancing themselves from Afrobeats

The Yahooze producer, who described the music industry as a deep black hole, insinuated that the big three were distancing themselves from Afrobeats because they wanted to gain access to certain doors.

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He said:

"They did same to Michael Jackson, he was black and was doing well. But there are some doors that cannot be opened to him because he's black. He had to go white for those doors to be open. I think they want to gain access to some doors and they will tell them if Afrobeats is the only thing they have, they can't get in. See the industry is a deep black hole out there. They will give you conditions. So imagine denouncing what brought you out. I'm saying what you promoted you now have to deny it and say you're not, you're not an Afro artist, you're an Afro Fusion artist. Just like when you want to get a new citizenship, you denounce your country and pledge your allegiance to another country and they will let you in that. That's why it is."

Puffy Tee's message to Burna Boy, Wizkid, Davido

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The music producer said the younger generation was getting confused as he urged Wizkid, Davido and Burna Boy not to bring Afrobeats down even if they want to follow a different path.

"They are confusing the younger generation. We just want to build this up. We understand you can do anything but don't bring Afrobeats down," he said.

Attempts to divide Afrobeats

The producer claimed there were attempts to divide Afrobeats the same way reggae was broken into different sub-genres.

"So look at reggae. When it came out, reggae was so strong, but it broke into so many parts. They broke reggae into pieces, and you see the reggae is down. So that's what they want. They want to break Afrobeats. Those guys are at the top, at the head of Afros. They're the ones pushing Afrobeats. If they cut off the head, then everybody will be like, I'm Afro this and that."

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Puffy Tee added that irrespective of the different stances the big three take, they know within themselves that they are African artistes.

What Puffy Tee said about music producer

In a previous report via Legit.ng, the veteran producer revealed his colleagues don't get the credit they deserve in the music industry.

He stated that it was the reason the likes of Pheelz and Young Jonn switched from being producers to singers.

"Some of these producers are better than this artist," he said.

Proofreading by Nkem Ikeke, journalist and copy editor at Legit.ng.

Source: Legit.ng