In recent years, the loping, gently uptempo sound of Afrobeats has given the Hip-Hop/R&B format much of its tempo, while becoming a surprisingly strong presence at Adult R&B radio. Last year, its biggest worldwide hit, Rema’s “Calm Down” (featuring Selena Gomez in the U.S.), became the biggest Top 40 radio hit of the year, and one of its most durable.
With crossover stars like Tyla, Wizkid, and Burna Boy, Afrobeats occupies a similar place to reggae and other Caribbean genres in the early 2000s in its wide appeal. “People ask me what the age group is, and I say it’s everybody. It’s the go-to sound in every club and every restaurant,” says Sheila Okoni-Ashinze, host of Superadio’s newly syndicated AfroZons as “Sheila O.” “When you hear it at Walmart and Target, you know it’s serious.”
The Lagos, Nigeria-born host went to school in England and had radio experience there. When she came to America, she became a booking agent, but was also determined “to bring this sound to mainstream radio.” She launched the show at Hip-Hop/R&B WPWX (Power 92) Chicago in 2017. “I had heard that they were the station that … took chances. They knew Afrobeats because the clubs were playing it.”
In the U.S., Drake f/Wizkid & Kyla’s “One Dance” had established a beachhead for the sound a year earlier, but breakthroughs for the genre’s own stars were more gradual. Davido’s “Fall,” one of the genre’s cornerstone records, was released in 2017 and became the No. 1 song of the year on WWPR (Power 105) New York in 2019, ultimately amassing 6,600 spins there. But when she launched the show, “None of the big names [of the genre] were known,” says Sheila O.
The success of Afrobeats shows that “the world is closer together than it used to be,” says AfroZons producer Emmanuel Ashinze. Despite this, “We’re still talking about it here like it’s a novelty. In Europe, it’s just like any other pop music.” Part of the show’s goal, Ashinze says, is to “help create an alignment with the rest of the world.” AfroZons announced its partnership with Superadio and Sheila Eldridge’s Miles Ahead Broadcasting in June.
AfroZons is positioned as “where Hip-Hop meets Afrobeats.” The hour I heard of the Power 92 show combined the genre with everything from the early-’00s Caribbean crossover hits to Central Cee & Lil Baby’s current “Band4Band,” a breakthrough for UK rap in the U.S. (I didn’t hear it but Sheila O. also teased Tommy Richman coming up.) Here’s AfroZons as heard just after 3 p.m. on flagship Power 92 on July 28:
- Chris Brown f/Davido, “Hmmm” — the duo’s “Sensational” is a former No. 1 Hip-Hop/R&B and Rhythmic Top 40 single and currently top 10 at Adult R&B. It almost cracked Mainstream Top 40 this spring.
- YG Marley, “Praise Jah in the Moonlight”
- Wizkid f/Buju, “Mood” — top 30 Hip-Hop/R&B in 2022 for the one of the genre’s breakthrough acts, who had been to No. 1 at Hip-Hop R&B, Rhythmic, and Adult R&B, and to No. 21 at Top 40 with “Essence”
- Central Cee & Lil Baby, “Band4Band”
- Rema, “Yayo” — from a new album by the “Calm Down” hitmaker
- Rupee, “Tempted to Touch” — the 2004 soca crossover smash
- Jidenna, “Sou Sou” — by the “Classic Man” artist; opens with a Dells sample, giving it extra resonance in Chicago.
- Tyla, Gunna & Skillibeng, “Jump” — the Top 15 Rhythmic and Top 20 R&B follow-up to the multi-format crossover “Water”
- Drake f/Rihanna, “Too Good” — 2016 multi-format hit that came on the heels of the Drake/Wizkid collaboration on “One Dance”
- Burna Boy, “Kilometre” — from another of the genre’s multi-format superstars
- Asake & Central Cee, “Wave”
I also listened to The Beat 99.9 FM Lagos, AfroZons’ Nigerian affiliate with its own mix of Afrobeats and western music. The Beat has interesting English language imaging, including:
- “The radio station you need in your life”
- “It flows. It flows. Big beat and premium music … the Heartbeat of Lagos.”
- “If music is life itself, we are the heartbeats.”
One notable facet of The Beat: It’s almost all-current, with only one six-month-old title. Based on the dates that songs were made available on Spotify, most of the songs heard here were, incredibly, 4-7 weeks old, something impossible to imagine on the recurrent/throwback-dominated chart formats here, and a testament to the current strength of the music. (As of last fall, Beat FM was No. 8 in a 40-plus station market.)
Here’s Beat FM at 2 p.m. on July 23:
- Qing Madi f/Kizz Daniel, “YBIL (You Believe in Love)”
- Camila Cabello f/Drake, “Hot Uptown”
- KSS f/Zichy, “Criminal”
- Sabrina Carpenter, “Please Please Please”
- Asake, “Only Me” — the oldest song on the station, having come out in January.
- Lil Kesh, “Lifestyle”
- Asake & Central Cee, “Wave”
- Darkoo f/Dess Dior, “Favourite Girl”
- DJ Neptune f/Savage & Erigga, “Ou La La”
- oShamo, “Osha-Piano”
- Djames & Crayon, “Avalay”
- Byron Messia, Lil Baby & Rvssian, “Choppa”