In today’s music landscape, award-winning artist Fireboy recently revealed his unique musical identity during an interview with BET. He introduced his own musical genre, Afro-Life, where he combines the essence of Afrobeats with artistic depth and lyrical soul.
Fireboy expressed that although Afrobeats music was always captivating, according to him it lacked soul and lyricism, aspects which he decided to reintroduce into the Nigerian pop music scene with his Afro-Life genre.
“Before my arrival, the Afrobeats scene was already splendid, based on vibes, energy, percussion and instruments. However, I noticed that something was missing, namely a real soul and poetry in our music. That’s what I brought and I thought a new approach needed a new name. That’s why I called it Afro-Life: it’s Afrobeats with added depth .”
Fireboy’s comments are reminiscent of those of Burna Boy during an interview with Zane Lowe in 2023, where he criticized the lack of substance and soul in the majority of Afrobeats tracks.
This tendency to distance itself from the Afrobeats label is also found in the creation of personal musical genres by many Nigerian artists.
During the interview, Fireboy also discussed his fourth album due out later this year. He describes this album as the result of his experiences over the past few years, where he wants to share in a more personal way what success means to him.
This new angle introduced by Fireboy unveils a deeper dimension of Afro-Life, offering listeners a musical experience skillfully merging the roots of Afrobeats with a new emotional and artistic depth.