Renowned singer Divine Ikubor, popularly known as Rema, has emphasized the importance of maintaining the unique culture of Afrobeats to ensure Nigeria’s continued dominance in the African music scene.
Recent years have seen a significant infiltration of the South African genre Amapiano into the Nigerian music industry. In an interview with Apple Music, Rema acknowledged Amapiano’s appeal but stressed the need for Nigerian artists to uphold Afrobeats’ influence on the continent.
Rema shared that his recently released sophomore album, ‘HeIs,’ drew substantial inspiration from Afrobeats legends like Don Jazzy and the Mo’hits crew, 2Baba, Olamide, P-Square, and Timaya.
“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,” he said.
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Reflecting on the impact of other artists, he added, “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…”
Rema further highlighted the powerful production quality of Afrobeats, noting, “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.”
