Coming In Hot: These Afrobeats Stars Are Set To Light Up The Summer

Afrobeats stars Rema, Amaarae, Asake and Ayra Starr are coming to Afro Nation Detroit (Credit: X, Facebook, Capital FM Kenya).& If Black life had a soundtrack these days, it would be dominated by the pulsating grooves of Afrobeats, a fusion of Black musical styles burning up parties around the globe—from Lagos to Atlanta.& This African export, whose songs range from sultry to celebratory, combines West African rhythms with dancehall, R&B, pop, and Hip-hop. It’s sonic alchemy. It’s also not to be confused with Afrobeat, the genre pioneered in the 1960s by Fela Kuti, which contains jazz, funk, soul, and highlife elements. Afrobeats with an “s” is a contemporary cultural phenomenon with legions of fans. Throw on “ear-wormy” jams like “Essence,” “Calm Down” or “Peru” and watch dancefloors descend into sweet, joyful chaos.& There’s a reason that, since 2017, streams of Afrobeats songs have exploded.& “It’s our time,” Ayra Starr told BBC News earlier this year. “It’s been a long time coming, and we deserve this.”& & Artists like Burna Boy, Davido, Tems and Wizkid are giants of the genre. Still, there is a constellation of other artists like Starr, Rema, Asake and Amaarae, who have become global sensations in their...