CKay, the Nigerian singer, has critiqued the term “Afrobeats,” describing it as a “convenient” but “overgeneralised” label for the diverse sounds emerging from Africa.

In a recent interview with CNN, the ‘Love Nwantiti’ hitmaker admitted he does not “love the term,” arguing that it lumps together a vast array of musical styles from across the continent under one convenient banner.

“Afrobeats is a convenient term. I won’t say I love the term… I think over time I started to see the effects of that overgeneralisation. It’s kind of like the way you can’t just call Western music white music or American beats or European beats, you know?” he said.

“There’s rock, there’s jazz, there’s dancehall, there’s all kinds of stuff, all kinds of sounds. So that’s the same way I feel about African music.”

The singer emphasised that Africa’s rich cultural and musical diversity makes it nearly impossible to capture its essence with one catch-all phrase.

He noted that the continent’s numerous countries, cultures, and traditional instruments give rise to a wide spectrum of unique musical expressions.

“I feel Africa has over 50 countries, more than 50 cultures. Nigeria alone has over 36 ethnic groups with different languages, food, music, rhythm. With the music, they also have their own instruments. So, coming to a whole continent and just calling everything Afrobeats, you know, if you think about that, it’s not the most apt,” he added.

“I think for the Western world, it’s a start, to help them understand African music and obviously, when people learn more, they’ll probably learn about the different subgenres.”

CKay is not alone in challenging the blanket use of “Afrobeats” to describe African music.

In 2022, Burna Boy revealed that he prefers to identify as an Afrofusion artiste, explaining that just because a genre originates from Africa does not automatically make it Afrobeats.

He warned that using the term to generalise all African music does a “disservice to other artists” working in different genres.

Similarly, Wizkid pushed back against the label in 2014, declaring that he refuses to be boxed in as an Afrobeats artiste.

While acknowledging his African identity, he emphasised that his music transcends simple categorisation, stating simply: “I make all sorts of music”.