Swizz Beats, a well-known American music producer, revealed the role he and his ex-wife, Alicia Keys, played in exposing Nigerian Afrobeats musicians Wizkid and Burna Boy to American listeners.
He stated this on Amazon Music’s audiovisual podcast Roundtable. Swizz Beats mentioned that he was the first to play Wizkid’s tracks while the genre was not yet established in the United States.
He also stated that he gave Burna Boy the opportunity to perform in front of an audience in the United States before he became well-known.
In his words;
“I introduced Wizkid to America. I was the first person to play his song. Me and my wife [Alicia Keys] were on a trip and we danced to his songs.“I was [also] the first person to bring Burna Boy to the States. I introduced him on the stage. When I was playing Fela Kuti, people thought I was being too African.“And that how ignorant the energy was at that time. But I didn’t let that stop me from moving what I’m moving because it’s what it’s. It’s about education.We [Americans] can’t be scared of the educational journey of something that sounds different or feels different,”
he stated.