Afro B and His Afrobeats
Written by wdkxwp on February 25, 2019
When asked how to describe the UK Afrobeats sound, artist, producer, songwriter and DJ, Afro B, had this to say:
“I call it Afrowave but to be honest I would just call it fusion coz it’s a mix of every sound… a fusion of Hip-Hop, elements of Dancehall, Afrobeats melodies from the vocalist, Dancehall melodies, references from R’n’B tracks. It’s just everything fused into one – it’s just a vibe.”
A vibe indeed. Afro B’s passion for music began in his local church in Greenwich, South London, where he played the piano. From the piano, he graduated to DJing and then to the Afrowave artist we know today.
A descendant of the Ivory Coast, Afro B uses his music as an outlet to show pride in where he is from. Many of his tracks include some French lyrics or are spoken entirely in French, his native language. In fact, the 2018 hit, ‘Drogba (Joanna)’, was actually inspired by another source of Ivory Coast pride, Ivorian football icon Didier Drogba.
Before the video was dropped, the song had already gone viral on social media with the #DrogbaChallenge. The challenge, where fans posted videos of themselves dancing to the record, even reached Didier Drogba himself, who also participated in the challenge. When the video was finally released last August, it racked up more than 8 million views on YouTube!
A pioneer of the UK Afrobeats sound from the jump, Afro B’s influence in it’s rising popularity can be seen and heard throughout mainstream media. With co-signs from A-listers like Drake and Beyonce, you can trust that fans will be riding their surfboardts all over this Afrowave for a minute!
