Seun Kuti Declares Afrobeats a “Title,” Not a Music Genre

|By Oko-Echem Agnes

Grammy-nominated singer Seun Kuti has stirred conversation in the music industry, insisting that Afrobeats should be seen as a “title” rather than a defined genre.

Speaking in a recent interview on The Beat 99.9 FM Lagos, the maverick Afrobeat star argued that Afrobeats merely serves as a tag to classify sounds coming out of Africa, rather than a structured genre with clear rules and form.

“I think Afrobeats is more of a title than a genre. You can see Amapiano is the new Afrobeats. It’s the new title, it’s the new thing in Afrobeats,” Kuti said, stressing that the term is used broadly to generalize African music.

He further criticized industry gatekeepers and top Afrobeats stars for not treating it like a genre. According to him, many artistes switch styles with ease—experimenting with dancehall, blues, Nigerian pop, and trending Amapiano—without a fixed sound that defines Afrobeats.

Kuti’s remarks have added fuel to the ongoing debate about the identity and global perception of Afrobeats, a movement that has dominated charts and stages worldwide in recent years.