The Global Expansion of Africa's Music Scene & Its Presence in Advertising
Song of the week: Fela Kuti - Water No Get Enemy
I just got up on Fela maybe like a year ago. Always heard the name but never heard any of his music. This is my favorite Fela song and it’s amazing. Triumphant, jazzy, all the vibes.
Let’s set the tone with that. Happy Friday 🙏🏾
The music scene has undergone a dramatic shift in the past few years.
Record labels have signaled that they are opting to sign less rappers, and devote more of their resources to the global music scene, targeting artists in Africa & Latin America.
Moreover, as the U.S. becomes even more diverse, we see the influence of the African diaspora starting to take a more prominent role in culture, from the foods we eat to the the entertainment we consume.
And although you could always find pockets of communities that showed love to Caribbean, African, Afro-Latino, or even UK culture, you now see the influence in major cities — especially in the realms music and in advertising.
That brings us to the crux of what today’s piece is about:
Africa’s influence on U.S. Advertising.
If you’re tapped in culturally, one music genre you’ve probably been hearing about all year is…
Afrobeats.
This genre has reached far beyond Africa into Europe, and can even be heard in places like London, Paris, Rotterdam, and Toronto.
If I wasn’t clear enough, let me say it now: The sound is Global.
In fact, streams of Afrobeat have grown by 550% in just 5 years on Spotify alone.
To date (in the U.S.), 4 stars have emerged as the carriers of the Afrobeats sound:
Wizkid (one of the OGs)
Tems
Burna Boy
Davido
But, What Exactly Is Afrobeats?
A music genre, duh.
Seriously though, Afrobeat(s) is a genre of West African music that incorporates elements from traditional highlife, funk, and hip-hop.
It's characterized by catchy melodies, pulsating rhythms, and often features a mix of traditional African instruments and electronic production.
Fela Kuti is widely recognized as the father of Afrobeats.
He blended jazz, funk, and traditional Nigerian and Ghanaian music in the 1960s and 1970s pioneering an entirely new sound.
**Sidenote: Fela's style is often referred to as "Afrobeat" (singular), while these days the genre is usually said as "Afrobeats" (plural).
Peep the god below.
Wizkid Helped Popularize The Sound In the U.S.
WizKid is a name that many Americans should be familiar with when it comes to Afrobeats.
He’s one of the most award-winning African artists in the mainstream, if not the most decorated.
As far as Afrobeats go…
If Fela Kuti is the father, then no doubt Wizkid is one of the sons who helped the sound reach a new audience.
Since hitting the scene, Wiz has collaborated with artists like Beyoncé, H.E.R., Skepta, and Chris Brown.
He was even featured on the single “One Dance” from Drake’s 5th studio album “Views” & most recently Beyoncé’s album for the Lion King.
With this foundation in mind, let’s dig a little deeper…
African Artists are Now Driving Cultural Branding in the U.S.
Cultural strategy has always more or less been about being dialed into what’s happening in a particular community — the tensions, the human truths, etc. and having deep understanding of its values, customs, and, of course, its influencers.
U.S. brands are slowly recognizing the power of African stars. Brands hoping to make a place in culture are talking a closer look at who they partner with to ensure that they not only speak to the multicultural audiences, but also global ones.
Here are a few artists who are dominating Africa’s music scene, and the brands who’ve taken notice/made some dope work:
I. Tems
A lot of people became familiar with Tems within the past year because of her feature on Future’s song “Wait For You”.
Here music is a huge reason for the globalization of Afrobeats, and she is the first Nigerian female artist to win a grammy (for her record with Future).
With that said, let’s take a look at some of her partnerships with brands:
Reebok
As we saw a few weeks ago, Reebok is gearing up to get back into the cultural spotlight.
They signed Angel Reese to an NIL deal, announced Shaq as the president of the company, and recently they partnered with Tems on the “Life is Classic” collection.
The campaign featured some really dope OOH work (seen below), and championed Reebok’s iconic white shoe with the gum soles.
Tommy Hilfiger
In 2022, Tommy Hilfiger launched their “Play To Progress” campaign, and with Tems at the Wheel, Tommy Jeans featured different artists from Lagos’ Alté Community (pronounced Al-teh).
As seen below, Tems modeled the clothing from the line and included a quote about the inspiration behind the collection:
“THE ALTÉ COMMUNITY FORCES YOU TO STRIVE FOR GREATNESS, GO HARDER, PUSH FURTHER.”
Jameson Whiskey Nigeria
For its 2019 campaign, Jameson Whiskey worked with Tems on a piece called “More than Alté which highlighted the genre she helped popularize. The piece also highlights Lagos, where she is from.
This work is international, but I highlight it because it begs the question:
How long will it be until Jameson’s U.S. agency partners decide to work with Tems?
If they haven’t yet they’re asleep at the wheel - just saying.
II. Burna Boy
The African Giant!
After WizKid, Burna Boy is probably the next breakout artist that many people learning about Afrobeats were introduced to.
According to the New York Times, he’s the first African artist to sell out an American stadium, and his run is only beginning.
Around 2011, Burna started to bubble up internationally, and by 2017, he was beginning to make his presence felt in the U.S.
He recently released his major label effort “Love Triangle”, but even before that album, he’s worked with brands in various capacities:
Beats By Dre
In 2022, the Tokyo based fashion house Ambush, partnered with Beats for special glow in the dark Powerbeats.
To help spread the word they reached out to none other than Burna Boy.
Beats even came out with a short-form content piece featuring Burna as he talked about his new album (simultaneously showing off the new beats headphones).
Ray-Ban
Ray-Ban launched a campaign dubbed “Ray-Ban Stories” with the goal of using storytelling to show off the tech in their new Ray-Ban glasses (the ones they made in partnership with Meta that have cameras in them).
Last year, they partnered with Burna Boy to release the video for his record “Vanilla” - which featured footage shot directly with the smart shades.
BoohooMan
In 2020, Gen Z apparel brand BoohooMan debuted a collaboration with the Afrobeats star.
Burna was fresh off of a new album, and according to Forbes, this was something he worked on with BoohooMan via Zoom because of the pandemic.
The collection has since sold out in their stores & pieces can only be found on re-sell markets.
III. Davido
Lastly, let’s talk about Davido.
If there were a “Big Three” in the world of Afrobeats right now, he’s undoubtedly one of them & he has some pretty massive deals under his belt, as well.
Fun fact: Davido was actually born in Atlanta, but he was raised in Lagos, Nigeria.
Around 2012, he hit the music scene and his record “Dami Duro” is widely credited for being the song that helped him reach the masses.
Pepsi
In 2016, Pepsi added Davido to their roster of brand ambassadors. Since then, he’s been in spots with WizKid for Pepsi Nigeria.
The most prominent spot features the two expressing the Naija Spirit in a spot dubbed “Naija All The Way.”
SIDENOTE…
BEYONCE’S “LION KING: THE GIFT ALBUM” WAS ANOTHER MASSIVE CO-SIGN FOR AFRICAN ARTISTS
Many of the artists above are featured on the soundtrack for the recent Lion King movie.
Most notably, Wizkid is credited on track #15 Brown Skin Girl, and Burna Boy is the sole artist on track #8 JA ARA E.
(Although Tems isn’t featured on this album, she was featured on Renaissance).
WHAT COULD THIS MEAN FOR THE FUTURE?
Personally, I think we’re going to see more artists from the African diaspora become big stars in Western culture. A few new artists are on a run and appearing more in pop culture (more on that soon).
As the major labels continue to expand from Hip-hop, and focus more on the globe advertisers might want to consider how best to engage international talent.
It’s a new day y’all, and it’s filled with good vibes. You gotta love it.
Peace.