Highlife Icon Flavour Disses Afrobeats, Says Genre is Superficial

Nigerian highlife singer Chinedu Okoli, widely known as Flavour, has aligned himself with Jamaican reggae legend Buju Banton’s criticism of Afrobeats music. Banton recently stirred up controversy by stating in an interview that Afrobeats lacks substance and will eventually fade away.

During a recent podcast episode, Flavour supported Banton’s viewpoint, agreeing that many of today’s Afrobeats artists are complacent, focusing more on creating a vibe rather than producing meaningful content. Flavour remarked that Buju Banton’s comments were meant to “awaken our spirit,” urging artists to strive for more depth in their music.

Furthermore, Flavour made it clear that he does not identify with the Afrobeats genre. He emphasized his identity as a highlife artist and criticized the tendency of Western media to categorize all African musicians under the Afrobeats label, thereby oversimplifying the rich diversity of African music genres.