From Davido, P Square, and D’Banj to Wizkid, we describe the instances in which Afrobeats music has welcomed foreign acts while maintaining its prominence.
One thing that should never in the two realms of creation be over emphasized is, the impact of Afrobeats music on the universe and it’s entirety. With that being inscribed for memorability purposes, we could now minimally digress to some of the most memorable Afrobeats international collaborations from Nigerian music artistes over the last 10 years .
Even before the last decades, iconic collaborations have stemmed a number of times. As far back as the 80s, when the Legendary Juju music maestro King Sunny Ade enlisted the great Rock N Roll hall of famer, Stevie Wonder on his 1984 record ‘Adé‘.
Recollecting the spectacular link of the early 2000s, between 2face Idibia and Beenie Man, a collaboration between the biggest music acts in Nigeria and Jamaica at they time, that birthed the remix to 2face’s club-rocker “Nfanna Ibaga”. FastTrack to more recent eras, evaluating more specifically, the early and mid 2010’s till date.
There have been some international musical collaborations between Nigerian and international artiste’s out of Africa, that were simply iconic. The news of these unexpected collaborations were highly commemorated and would forever linger in the memories of African music, it’s listeners and it’s record books.
Critically selecting out of the number such existing collaborations, we bring you a countdown of some of the most remarkable international collaborations in Afrobeats over the last decade.
8: D’Banj – ‘Mr Endowed‘ Remix Featuring Snoop Dogg
The Koko master served us in 2011, with a strumming Don Jazzy-produced instrumental and a penetrating intro, the song ‘Mr Endowed‘ ruled the early 2010’s and D’banj was at it’s wheels. Just as fans were joyously embracing and getting groovy with this new sound from the defunct’ Mohits frontier, a groundbreaking remix erupted, this time with an assistance from multi-award winning HipHop royalty, Snoop Dogg.
The remix went through every border of Africa and across the continent, with a sort of vibration that appeases to both international and local audience. The collaboration came as a pleasant surprise to fans and was an unskippable record at that point. Snoop’s delivery was effortlessly smooth and recitable, also very much of a perfect blend with D’banj‘s sound, which made the record the decorated classic that it is today.
7: P-Square – ‘Chop My Money‘ Remix Featuring Akon & MayD
Already a monster hit record in the country in the late months of 2011, the monstrosity of the song “Chop My Money” by the legendary Afro-pop duo , upped several steps higher with the early 2012 release of a remix that guest featured multi-platinum selling superstar Akon. ‘Chop my money‘ took over the airwaves all over Africa for close to 3 years, and the unpredictability of the collaboration gave it an even stronger push, going ahead to sit top spots on charts around the continent.
The song originally appeared on P-square‘s fifth studio album, The Invasion (2011). P-Square re-recorded a remix shortly after signing a partnership deal with Akon’s Konvict Muzik.
The song’s music video was directed by Jude Engees Okoye and Ben Marc and has 28 million views thus far.
6: P-square – ‘Beautiful Onyinye‘ Remix Featuring Rick Ross
In an alluring manner, the remix to the very first track off their 2011 album “The Invasion“, an outstanding Afro-Rnb rendition dubbed “Beautiful Onyinye” was released by the iconic Nigerian music duo P-square with an appearance from mainstream HipHop head Rick Ross.
At a time when Ross was in any and every Rap conversation, this outstanding collaboration was scored, and turned out to be a very satisfactory blend between both ends, shaking up the music scene and further spreading out tentacles as regards to international collaborations in the country .
During their time as signed acts on Akon’s Konvict music imprint, the duo blessed fans with unpredictable international collaborations that had a hold on music lovers in the Country and beyond. Beautiful Onyinye was a perfect blend of the Nigerian Afropop/Rnb and Hiphop, synchronizing both cultures to tell a particular tale is as iconic as the word can get.
5: Wizkid: ‘Ojuelelegba‘ Remix Featuring Drake & Skepta
This was one that shook the table of the Afrobeats scene, thanks to an introductory link up by Skepta. Just at a time when Wizkid still basking in the success of his spectacular sophomore release “Ayo“, one of the standout tracks off the project was given a remix treatment by the one of the biggest rap artistes globally, in person of Drake.
When the remix to “Ojuelelegba” was first heard being premiered on the Drake-owned OVO Sound Radio show in 2015, the Afrobeats hemisphere went completely haywire. It was a big win for the culture, fans were in awe as they least expected such joint.
The song which was already a fan favorite, grew even further to becoming an evergreen anthem and one of the most spectacular Afrobeats international collaborations in Wizkid‘s career and in Afobeats as a whole.
4: Davido – “Fans Mi” Featuring Meek Mill
When Davido joined forces with Meek Mill in 2015 to deliver this record, citing it’s HipHop background, the song ‘Fans Mi‘ was never expected to become as huge as it got, a fact that even Davido himself attested to during an interview. The collaboration was a pretty publicized one and listeners didn’t know what to expect when the news popped up.
Alas, a mega international collaborative hit was was brought to life. Both artistes also bonded in real life and even further on the track. The MMG rapper gifted Davido a brand new gold-plated BeatsByDre Headphone and Afrobeats fans were left drooling over the bromance that existed both acts.
Meek Mill who at the point was one of America’s most sort after rap act, graced the Afro-HipHop record impressively with unrivalled lyricism. The record was accompanied by a crispy clean visual which was later met with a bit of criticism due to use of substances presumed to be ‘cocaine’ during the video.
It was later debunked, and clearly stated that the substances displayed were nothing but corn flour, this came after the video had racked up countless amount of views amidst the song’s popularity. I guess all publicity was good publicity in this case.
3: Wizkid – ‘Come Closer ‘ Featuring Drake
The year 2017 came along with some of the most remarkable events in Afrobreats, one of such moments was Wizkid yet again enlisting Drake on a record, but this time as a guest act on an original song.
The chart topping Afrobeats song “Come Closer” was birthed just after another of Wiz’s most celebrated international collaborations between the Duo ‘One Dance‘ reigned as the number one song in the world for months on end. To have Drizzy who without a doubt has been the greatest rapper of this decade on a Wizkid record was a priceless score to be attained in Nigerian music history.
This cross-cultural collaboration was felt not just on the African continent’s borders, but also in Europe and the United States, where the song’s success as a chart-topper and collaboration announcement both made history. This collaboration further solidified Wizkid’s feet atop the Afrobeats chain.
2 :Davido- ‘Blow My Mind‘ Featuring Chris Brown.
Prior to this collaboration, Davido had already worked with worldwide music stars including Meek Mill, Wale, Tinashe, Rae Sremmurd, Young Thug, and more. Davido is an Afrobeats artist who is no stranger to international collaborations. The Nigeria superstar took the music world by storm when he enlisted Chris Brown on the song “Blow My Mind” off his sophomore studio album “A Good Time“.
Co-written by Afro-fusion act Wurld, this collaboration was an exceptional one, whose lyrics remained on the lips of both young and old folks within and outside the country. It was so big that Apple’s Siri declared the song “Blow My Mind” as the most popular song in the world following it’s release.
Undoubtedly one of the most melodious and groovy international Afrobeats collaborations in recent times, the record is also on the list of favorites for Chris Brown himself, whose career has spanned almost two decades and sprouted up a countless number of Awards and records holdings. So Yes, this American/Nigerian collaboration is and would be a memorable and remarkable one in the archives of Afrobeats joints.
1: Wizkid – ‘Essence‘ Remix Featuring Tems & Justin Bieber
Since “One Dance,” Wizkid‘s biggest hit in America has been “Essence,” a duet with Nigerian singer Tems from his 2020 album “Made In Lagos.”. Months after it’s release via the MIL album, the song slowly crept into the airwaves and hearts of music lovers around the United states and the world at large, it then found it’s way to the Billboard hot 100 charts.
The record rapidly took over the summer like a highly contagious virus, the Tems-sung chorus became an anthem emitting from the lips of every person old or young, with almost every single notable entertainer in America endorsing the tune. Wizkid capitalized on the song’s prowess and international success, by putting out a remix to monster Afrobeats tune and bringing in additional vocals from Pop’s treasured voice Justin Bieber, as part of the Album’s deluxe version.
By this time, Wizkid had already cracked the chart as a lead artist, the remix triggered the record to even more skyrocketing heights, moving all the way up into the top 10, with a peak at the ninth place on the United States Billboard hot 100 charts.
This feat has been the most groundbreaking and memorable one in Afrobeats history so far, with a Nigerian song on the US Billboard top 10 charts, bagging numerous awards globally and breaking countless records, the world has now steadily focused it’s gaze on the Music emanating from this part of the world and it is worth every iota of celebration there is.
Honorable Mention: The Grammy-Award winning song “Brown Skin Girl” By Beyonce, Wizkid, SAINt JHN and Blu Ivy, off Beyonce’s iconic 2019 motion picture album Black Is King .
As we continue to champion Afrobeats music towards the very pinnacle of global dominance as duly deserved, it is only right that we reminisce on some of these iconic international works put put by Nigerian artistes who have been in one way or more, instrumental in shining our lights to the world and paving the way for the global success that the genre enjoys today.
