Let’s Protect Afrobeats from Foreign Domination – Samklef

by Idara Inyang — March 24, 2023

Nigerian music producer, Samklef has said that Afrobeat stars need to focus on producing songs that made people love the genre instead of experimenting.

He spoke on the need to do what works and abandon new ideas that are difficult to implement otherwise the international buzz afrobeats enjoys would die or could get hijacked by foreigners.

Samklef gave the suggestion during an interview when asked what could be done to sustain the global momentum of the genre that originated from Nigeria.

He said; “It is important to have sincerity of purpose in whatever one does. With the relevance and momentum afrobeats has now, we (entertainers) need to ask ourselves what we did for it to hit the mainstream. Thereafter, we can do more of what is working, stop what is not working and start what we think can work. Otherwise, we won`t be able to sustain the buzz, or some people could adopt the sound and hijack it from us .If that happens, people will even forget where afrobeats originated from.”

The artiste also raised concerns over the fact that Nigerian acts hardly release evergreen songs, which is why most tracks lose steam after a few months.

Samklef said; “Music is a universal language, and I believe that not all songs can be evergreen. Some songs are made to address situations, while some are solely for entertainment purposes.

Once in a while, some artistes would ”˜catch a vibe` and make music that would last, even after they are no longer alive. However, I do not believe that the days of good music and evergreen songs are gone. Artistes just need to calm down, and not be pressured to churn out trendy songs and make fast money. Some songs don`t even last for more than three months.”

Speaking on the greatest challenge Nigerian music producers have to contend with , he said it was the quest to be heard and seen.

Humans face many challenges, and producers are not left out. Professionally, I would say the quest to be heard and seen is the biggest challenge of producers. Before now, producers were just heard.

Now, many producers are crossing over to make their own music, become stars and get more money. Staying relevant is another major challenge for producers,” he said.