4 months ago
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Queen of Dancehall Spice has pushed back against Buju Banton’s claim that Afrobeats is “f-ckery.”
The comment, made by Banton during his appearance on Revolt TV’s Drink Champs, sparked backlash, leading Spice to weigh in during an Instagram Live with Nigerian-Romanian broadcaster Daddy Freeze earlier this week.
“Dancehall has influenced a lot of people, and I don’t think Afrobeats is f-ckery. That’s kinda absurd to say,” the So Mi Like It singer said, expressing her surprise after watching the interview. She further challenged Banton’s claim that Afrobeats artists have failed to address social issues in their music.
“I think he was speaking from a point that Afrobeats don’t do cultural songs and I don’t know that to be true,” she argued. “Because I listen to Burna Boy and I know his songs. I know that Burna Boy did a song about EndSars. He also did ‘Monsters You Made’ which is also a cultural song. There are other afrobeats artists like 2Face and Falz who make songs about political issues in Nigeria. So, I feel like there are Afrobeats artists that do cultural songs.
“The problem with Buju Banton is that he doesn’t understand that artists are different. So, I think it’s harsh to say a genre is f-ckery, especially one that’s doing very well. We can’t deny it. I’m the Queen of Dancehall but Afrobeats is ruling the world now.”
Later in the video, she expressed her desire to collaborate with Afrobeats stars Kizz Daniel and Davido.
Despite praising Afrobeats’ global success, Spice assured DancehallMag, in a separate interview, that Dancehall’s foundation remains solid.
“I feel like Dancehall is an ever-growing genre. Dancehall is the root of a lot of other genres, and it’s unfair for people to say, ‘oh, nutten nah gwaan fi Dancehall’ when Dancehall is really the root,” she said.
The singer, who recently debuted her third studio album, Mirror 25, asserted that Dancehall has shaped other genres like Afrobeats and Hip Hop.
“If yuh tek weh Dancehall it’s like taking away music in its entirety because it’s like taking away music in its entirety because it’s so influential to other genres whether they want to admit it, or not. Dancehall has influenced Afrobeats in some way. It also has influenced Hip Hop, because birthed Hip Hop,” she reasoned.
Spice added: “There’s a time for everything, and right now people are just raving over Afrobeats because it’s new. But, Dancehall nah go nuh weh; it can neva dead. It’s gonna always be a genre that’s alive. There’s always room for growth, and nothing is wrong with that. We just have to remain consistent, and sooner or later, it aguh come full circle again where everybody is just raving over Dancehall.”
The rise of Afrobeats has been a topic of discussion for the past two years. Earlier this year, opposition leader Mark Golding suggested that the genre was overshadowing Jamaican music. However, Len Brown, a senior manager at the Recording Academy, told DancehallMag that there’s room for both genres to thrive.
“We’re always going to have a place in it and I feel like there are more music styles from Africa that haven’t caught on yet. They’re having their time. This is their time to come out of the shadows to really be on that world stage which is fine. We were just on that stage and we could easily come right back it’s just gonna take the musicianship and the right push for it really come back to our side of it,” Brown said.
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