Rema has advised other musicians to focus on and celebrate Nigeria’s Afrobeat music tradition instead of shifting towards amapiano. He emphasized how Afrobeat has influenced African music significantly, especially with amapiano gaining popularity in Nigeria. In a recent Apple Music interview, Rema recognized amapiano as a good genre but stressed the importance of preserving Afrobeat’s unique sound and cultural importance. He mentioned being inspired by Afrobeat legends like Don Jazzy, the Mo’hits crew, 2Baba, Olamide, P-Square, and Timaya for his album ‘HeIs’.
Rema highlighted Afrobeat’s distinct style of production, noting its potential to dominate African clubs. He encouraged fellow artists to continue making high-quality Afrobeat music, praising its cultural richness and impact on the continent’s music scene.
In his words:
“I had to go back [while creating my new album]. I took a lot of inspiration from Mo’hits. For the first four seconds, when a Mo’hits’ song comes in, you already know it’s a Mo’hits’ song. Don Jazzy just goes crazy on the beat.
“The times when Olamide used to drop crazy songs, he still drops crazy songs. At the time when an Olamide song comes on you still know. P-Square, 2Face, or Timaya. There used to be times when the beat just.
“Amapiano is great, it is fire but there used to be a time when Afrobeats production used to be so insane that nothing can survive it in the clubs in Africa. I’m not saying we’ve lost that but I’m just saying that we need more of that. I don’t want us to go too far away from that. We need to sustain it.”
