Asake, 2Baba, and Wizkid Shine on Grammy’s Top 10 Afrobeats Evolution Songs — Davido and Burna Boy Surprisingly Missing.
The Recording Academy, the group that gives out the Grammy Awards, just shared a list of the top 10 “Afrobeats evolution songs.” These songs helped make Afrobeats very popular worldwide and led to the Grammys adding a new award for Best African Music Performance.
But some big names like D’banj, Davido, and Burna Boy are not on the list. Instead, artists like Asake, 2Baba, and Wizkid are there because they helped build the Afrobeats sound from the start.
The Academy also explained that “Afrobeats” (with an “s”) is different from “Afrobeat” (without the “s”). Afrobeat is a style made by Fela Kuti in the 1970s with jazz and highlife music. Afrobeats is newer and mixes lots of different sounds. It became popular in the 2010s thanks to DJ Abrantee from the UK, who used the word to describe the fresh African pop music at the time.
But the music behind Afrobeats started much earlier. Artists like 2Baba (before he changed his name from 2Face Idibia), Styl-Plus, and Daddy Showkey mixed reggae, R&B, and hip-hop to create the sounds that Afrobeats uses today.
The Grammy group says Afrobeats keeps changing by adding music styles from all over the world, like Angolan kuduro, South African house music, and Caribbean soca. Because of how popular and important this music is, the Grammys made a new award for Best African Music Performance starting in 2024.
Here are the 10 Afrobeats songs the Grammys picked as the most important:
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African Queen – 2Baba (2004)
This song made 2Baba famous and showed the world how great African music could be. -
Do Me – P-Square (2007)
This hit helped Nigerian pop music become popular worldwide, with cool music videos and dance beats. -
Bumper 2 Bumper – Wande Coal (2009)
A big pop hit that showed off Wande Coal’s singing and helped shape Afrobeats sound. -
Pon Pon Pon – Dagrin (2009)
This song used native languages in rap and inspired a new style called “streetpop.” -
Azonto – Fuse ODG feat. Tiffany Owusu (2014)
This track helped Afrobeats break into the UK music scene and brought Ghanaian dance to the world. -
Ojuelegba – Wizkid (2014)
Called the “master key” to Afrobeats going global, it was remixed by famous artists like Drake and Skepta. -
Mad Over You – Runtown (2016)
A huge hit that mixed Ghanaian highlife and Alkayida beats, influencing many other songs. -
Maradona – Niniola (2017)
Started the Afro-house style and got noticed worldwide, even by Beyoncé. -
Sungba – Asake (2022)
With a cool amapiano beat, this song made Asake a big star and got a remix with Burna Boy. -
Ozeba – Rema (2024)
Rema’s song shows a new style called “mara,” moving Afrobeats into fresh sounds beyond amapiano.
This list shows how Afrobeats has grown and changed, with many artists adding their own styles to make the music loved everywhere.
