It is not uncommon for two or more entities to seek out a temporary collaboration or permanent union in a bid to harness the best of both worlds, and music is a major benefactor of this trend.
Collaborative music projects between many great artistes have recorded huge success, and such projects have laid down the blueprint for what is now regarded by many music enthusiasts as a sure formula for success.
However, these projects do not only center on the musicians who seek to either tap into each other’s fanbase or musical talents, it simultaneously brings to the fore their unique music styles and genres.
To many musicians, the appeal of making songs in some music genres can be attributed to its popularity among music fans during certain periods, or a personal admiration for the sound coupled with the ability to flow with it.
Afrobeats has similarly benefited from this trend. It rose to the top of African music exports not only because of its peculiar sound but also due to the ease with which artistes who sang different music genres could work with it.
It wasn’t so surprising that musicians around the world noticed the sound and recorded songs with some of the biggest Afrobeats acts.
Off the continent of Africa, international hip-hop acts like Snoop Dogg and Akon featured on Afrobeats tracks with D’banj and Psquare, while on the continent of Africa there were numerous hit collaborations with fellow African music stars.
As much as the music projects between African musicians is a positive development, doing same with musicians from entirely different genres off the African continent made noticeable gains for Afrobeats.
Now it has become normal to hear of international Hip-hop, Reggae/Dancehall, or Grime music stars featuring Afrobeats musicians on their albums or singles.
There is a wide gap – a gap as big as the oceans physically separating the continents – between the music culture of African and non-African music genres, and the gap is bridged with these intercontinental music connections.
This music culture also ties into the national identity of the non-African musicians and listeners, so, the union of intercontinental music genres does not only sync music cultures but also some parts of the identities they represent like language and dance.
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Among these intercontinental connection of music genres facilitated by the artistes, there is a noticeable reoccurrence between Grime, Reggae/Dancehall, and Afrobeats.
Some of the Grime and Reggae/Dancehall artistes who have repeatedly linked up with Afrobeats artistes on music projects are heavyweights in their different genres, artistes like Skepta, Stormzy, and Popcaan among many others.
Further cooperation between musicians drawn from these different genres will eventually lead to a blend in sounds and style if the trend is sustained well into the future.
A multiplier effect of this will be an increase in the number of listeners who had previously heard little or none of these music genres but will then most likely listen when this union of music genres is solidified.
So, it is without doubt that the end goal of these collaborations between artistes of different music genres is to gain access to a wider audience, which in turn makes the genre more popular, and trendy.
In a few years’ time, it will be evident if the recent strides to connect music across continents turned out successful or not, as right now it cannot be said that there is a total acceptance of these music genres by the different listeners.
