Musician Rema has urged his fellow music industry members to uphold and honor the Afrobeat tradition of the country, rather than embracing amapiano.
Emphasizing the continuing influence of Afrobeat on African music, Rema highlighted the growing impact of amapiano within the Nigerian music industry.
In a recent interview with Apple Music, Rema acknowledged amapiano as a great genre but stressed the importance of preserving the distinctive sound and influence of Afrobeat.
For his sophomore album “HeIs,” Rema drew inspiration from prominent Afrobeat artists including Don Jazzy, Mo’hits crew, 2Baba, Olamide, P-Square, and Timaya.
As a Nigerian artist, Rema praised the unique production style of Afrobeat, believing it can dominate African clubs, and encouraged fellow artists to continue creating high-quality Afrobeat music.
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.”