Afro B fuses hip hop, dancehall and Afrobeat - South Londoner credits Kartel for his sound
Published:Thursday | November 28, 2019 | 12:00 AMKimberley Small/Staff Reporter
Closing in on two years since its release, recording artiste Afro B’s breakout afrobeats hit, Joanna (Drogba), is still making its way around the world.
The ‘afrobeats’ sound is undeniably the wave. But in the Internet era when attention spans are short, the song defies modern expectation, remaining in constant rotation, as one of the top selections for local disc jockeys. And as it develops, afrobeats’ relationship to the dancehall goes beyond inclusion into influence.
Born in London to parents from the Ivory Coast, Afro B expertly exploits the multicultural surroundings. In a truly millennial approach, the young disc jockey-turned-artiste is adding to the rapidly expanding afrobeats library with his own combination of elements, and coining his own phrase.
“I call it Afrowave. It’s a sort of fusion of hip hop, dancehall and afrobeat melodies, all in one. The lyrics make it a UK sound but the actual beat and the melodies expand out to Africa,” Afro B told The Gleaner.
Featuring simple lyrics and a dancehall-resonant vibe, with harmonies and melodies out of Africa, this new danceable music that Jamaicans have also taken a liking to is a wave that he will ride until it crashes to shore.
In Afro B’s experience, the Jamaican community is vibrant and engaged.
“The Jamaican community is very loud. Them and the Africans get along. There are a lot of Jamaicans based in Brixton, whereas the Africans are just down the road in Peckham. But we all mingle together and share our culture. They’ve always played a big part in music and culture, especially when it comes to events,” he said.
Dancehall is loud as well. The island-indigenous genre’s influence has made it as far as Afro B’s debut album, Afrowave 3. Released last month, the album features popular American entertainers Slim Jxmmi (Rae Sremmurds) and T-Pain, as well as Jamaican dancehall stars Busy Signal and Vybz Kartel ( Shape Nice).
“The connection with me and Kartel was through the producer Dre Skull. He made some magic happen after I sent him the track. It was actually a track I was already sitting on. Then months later is when I received the Vybz Kartel vocals. I grew up listening to Vybz Kartel. He’s played a big part in my sound today, and to UK sound in general. He’s like the top guy when it comes to the dancehall,” Afro B said.
As many embrace ‘afrobeats’, it is still not a wholly established genre, which leaves Afro B open to carrying his career on his so-called ‘afrowave’. He said: “When I first started playing the sound, it was mainly called Afrobeats. There wasn’t really the fusion that’s happening right now – it was more authentic sounds from artistes from Africa. It’s hard to come up with a name, because there’s UK Afrobeats, and then there’s the sort of music that the likes of J Hus, Kojo Funds and myself are doing.”
Ugandan recording artiste Bright-D, whose vocal delivery is heavily influenced by hip hop, also decided to move with the tide.
ORIGIN OF AFROBEAT
“Afrobeat history starts from a guy called Fela Kuti. But I grew up with dancehall, then this afrobeats thing came in, like what is this? I just started rolling with it,” he told The Gleaner.
Afro B added: “I actually think African audiences enjoy the more rap-led thing more, because it’s so different to what they’re used to hearing. Afrobeat is more traditional. That’s the Fela Kuti kind of sound, that’s closer to the jazz kind of sound. In terms of tempo, afrobeats and dancehall are similar, and the instruments that are used and the vibe you get from it,” Afro B said.