Joeboy weighs in after Burna Boy went viral for describing Afrobeats as music with no substance.
He went against Burna Boy publicly on the latest episode of the Zero Conditions podcast. Opposing the Grammy-winning singer’s claim, the younger artist stated that anything that is created is valid and worth something.
In his words, “I feel everybody has substance. It’s just based on what people relate to… I understand that you can’t connect to every form of music that you come across. But I promise you, anybody that has the ability to create something out of thin air, it is substance.”
To back his claim, Joeboy shared the reactions to different kinds of music, maintaining that anything that connects with the audience holds substance.
He said, “Sometimes when you make a high tempo song that is danceable, people feel like you are just vibing… And when someone sings in Pidgin, they [fans] would be like, ‘Ah! This one dey do lamba.’ It’s not lamba. It’s actually still connecting.”
Joeboy’s opinion comes after Burna Boy stated that most Nigerian artists make music “without substance” in a recent interview with Apple Music‘s Zane Lowe.
Afrobeats, as you people call it, is mostly about nothing. There’s no substance to it, and nobody is talking about anything. It’s just about having a great time,” he said. “For me, I feel like music should be the essence of an artist, and an artist is a person who has good days, bad days, great days, and worst days.”
Burna Boy made his comment ahead of the release of his seventh album,I Told Them. He has since been dragged online for his take on the state of Nigerian music.
Enock Mugabi aka iWitness is a Journalist, Seasoned Writer and Music Analyst with a passion for sports.
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