Akon: I helped create Afrobeats, developed PSquare, Dbanj

Senegalese-American singer, Akon, has credited himself with helping to create Afrobeats as it is today.

The ‘Right Now‘ singer said this while speaking in a recent interview with American actress Sherri Shepherd.

Akon argued that his contribution was key to the rise of Afrobeats to the globally accepted music genre that it is today.

Going down memory lane, Akon said his collaborations with Nigerian artistes in the late 2000s helped shine international spotlight on Afrobeats.

Akon recalled that Wizkid was the first Nigerian artiste he signed, followed by collaboration with Banky W.

He added that he worked on the development of the defunct P-Square and D’banj.

“…I was in Africa and time just flew past. 2008 was my last official album, which was the ‘Freedom’ album,” Akon disclosed.

“And then I was producing the music for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. From there, I went to Nigeria. What we created in Nigeria was what you see and hear now as Afrobeats.”

“Wizkid was the first Nigerian artiste that we signed back in 2008. We went to work with him and Banky W in Nigeria.“

“From there, we just started developing artists like PSquare, Dbanj and others.”

Meanwhile, as recently as August 2024, Jamaican singer, Buju Banton, had claimed that Afrobeats is influenced by reggae and dancehall.

He went on to criticize Afrobeats for not spotlighting pressing socio-political issues or uplift the African people.

Afrobeats has been enjoying rising global recognition since the late 2000s when more Nigerian artistes started delivering more collaboration with international superstars like Kanye West, Rick Ross and others.

More recently, Nigerian artistes like Wizkid, Davido, Rema and Burna Boy have taken things a notch higher on the global scene for Afrobeats with impressive streaming numbers coupled with selling out shows and arenas.

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