LAGOS, Nigeria(VOICE OF NAIJA) – Veteran music producer and executive ID Cabasa has invalidated Akon’s claims about pioneering the Afrobeats genre.
Recently, Akon stated that his collaborations with Nigerian artists in the late 2000s and early 2010s were instrumental in birthing Afrobeats; a claim ID Cabasa disagreed with, saying that Afrobeats is a culture that can’t be attributed to one person.
According to Cabasa, artists like 2Face, 9ice, and Timaya were already making waves before Akon started working with them. He emphasized that Akon’s involvement with Nigerian artists like Wizkid and P-Square doesn’t equate to being a founder of the genre.
ID Cabasa believes Akon may have felt like he pioneered the Afrobeat business and strategically branded the genre because of the people he associated with in Nigeria, who may have told him he was the biggest person around.
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“Akon for also tok say na he still discovered the likes of 2Face, Timaya, 9ice and Co. Na the people wey he roll with when he come Nigeria, wey tell am say, ‘I’m the biggest person around this place.’ So, he properly feels he pioneered business and branding sides of Afrobeats,” Cabasa said.
Correcting the notion during his interview with Wazobia FM, ID Cabasa clarified that Wizkid was actually signed by Banky W’s Empire Mates Entertainment, which later partnered with Akon’s label.
“Even the way wey he take dey tok about Wizkid, no be wettin the story be be that. We all know say na Banky W dem sign Wizkid,”
“Yes, we collaborate with Akon in terms of distribution but e no mean say he go tok say na he create Afrobeats. Because Afrobeats no be wettin wey one person create, na culture,” Cabasa explained.
