Sadly, Nigerian musicians think their primary audience, the Nigerians in the inner creeks of Rumuola in Port Harcourt, Ajegunle, Abeokuta, and other parts of the country, no longer deserve quality Afrobeats music. Nigerian musicians believe they have outgrown their initial target market, Nigeria and Nigerians.

The objective of taking Afrobeats to the international market has enabled musicians to starve their audience back home. While they want to appeal to their fans abroad, they no longer make music that appeals to those in the grassroots. People in the streets who genuinely love their music and want to gyrate to them.

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The Ripple Effect of ‘Afrobeats to the World’

In 2019, Afrobeats, as a music genre and cultural exportation, reached a peak. Nigerian musicians such as Burna Boy, Wizkid, and Davido were beginning to make headlines internationally. 2019 was the first time the term ‘Detty December’ was coined; it was due to the prominence of Afrobeats across Africa, the United States of America, and some parts of Europe, such as the United Kingdom.

Aside from the aforementioned A-list superstars, burgeoning musicians such as Fireboy, Rema, and Joeboy were carving their respective careers; meanwhile, controversial rapper Naira Marley was instigating a conundrum with his infamous Marlians Movement. 2019 in the music industry can simply be described as the golden era of modern Nigerian music history.

It was during this timeframe that the mantra, ‘Afrobeats to the world,’ commenced. Every single performer was delivering smash hits, breaking records both at home and abroad. Falz released the socio-political concept album, Moral Instruction, and various musicians such as Yemi Alade, Wizkid, Mr Eazi, and Burna Boy all featured on the international music project, Lion King: The Album.

This development disclosed that the Nigerian music industry has simply exceeded the Nigerian market, and it is global now. It was on a different scale, and it is only ideal to join the bandwagon.

Further, Burna Boy performed at Coachella and christened himself, ‘African Giant’, which would go on to be the title of his 4th studio album.

The album was nominated for Best World Music Album at the 2020 Grammy Awards. Although Burna didn’t emerge successful at this particular Grammy award ceremony, he would eventually collect an award for the follow-up project, Twice As Tall.

Dishearteningly, everything wouldn’t be the same forever. Whatever has a beginning must eventually hit a decline.

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Disregard For Nigerian Audience

From stomping on fans at concerts to no-showing events, Nigerian musicians simply made it known to their fans that they genuinely care about them. Time and again, Grammy award winner Burna Boy has made it apparent that he doesn’t want to deal with his fellow countrymen. He has demeaned the Nigerian community both virtually and verbally, and he isn’t apologetic about it.

While Davido seems to be the only one among the Big 3 artistes who seems to care about his fellow countrymen, Wizkid and Burna want to distance themselves from the Nigerian community.

Nigerian musicians attend events late and fail to give most fans their money’s worth.

Ticket Prices

Ticket prices are too high for the Nigerian audience.

Nigerian musicians usually do not consider the financial well-being of their fans and predominantly just want to empty the pockets of those who want to simply have a good time.

Concert organizers demand so much from fans and underdeliver to them. They make it apparent that Nigerian fans no longer deserve fun and good music at an affordable rate.

Underwhelming New Releases

In 2024, eelive.ng gathered that there were no breakout musicians. Singers such as Mavo, Fida, Bayanni, and several other burgeoning artists have not had a breakthrough hit since their emergence.

So far, there have been no significant songs that have instigated a cultural shift or coerced music lovers to care. Due to the lack of new releases or underwhelming songs, fans are coerced to go back to the familiar and realign with the famous Big 3.

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Conclusion: Accept, Adjust, and Advance

The last Nigerian musician who attained mainstream prominence was Asake in 2022. He took music to a whole new level, coercing his colleagues to try and catch up and carve a niche for themselves. There won’t be many ‘Asakes’ as he is a generational musician who is simply destined for greatness; for others, they need to keep creating music and see if it would instigate pandemonium amongst the Nigerian populace.

Music is a universal language; therefore, Nigerians should accept that their faves might no longer be interested in only creating music for the grassroots, and they want to take it mainstream, to a broader audience who also want to enjoy Afrobeats and its varieties.