Nigerian singer Jaywon has asserted that both gospel and Afrobeats musicians are still drawing inspiration from the template of his 2012 hit, ‘This Year.’
The artist made this claim while criticizing Billboard for leaving out his track from its list of the Best Afrobeats Songs of All-Time.
According to him, none of the songs featured on the list can rival the cultural influence of ‘This Year.’
Taking to his X handle, Jaywon wrote:
“‘This Year’ by Jaywon had more viral moments and cultural impact than some tracks Billboard decided to rank.”
“Trending since 2012 and still going strong. Tell me, who else has pulled that off? ♂️ Hate is inevitable. Year after year, both gospel and Afrobeats acts copy the same vibe, yet we remain unshaken. Cry harder, I said it before, and I’ll say it again…. No song on that list has more cultural impact than #Thisyear by Jaywon!!”
Meanwhile, NAIJALOG reported that Billboard’s Top 50 Best Afrobeats Songs of All-Time was topped by ‘African Queen’ by 2Face, followed by Wizkid’s ‘Ojuelegba,’ Flavour’s ‘Nwa Baby,’ Rema’s ‘Calm Down,’ and CKay’s ‘Love Nwantiti’ rounding up the top five.