Ghanaian singer Amaarae has called for changes in Afrobeats and African music, stating the genre has stalled because many artistes are too focused on profits and afraid to try new sounds.
In an interview with Nigerian-British media personality Madame Joyce, aired on July 2, 2025, the S.M.O singer expressed concern about how African music has stopped evolving.
She believes the sound needs to move in a fearless and creative direction, but most artistes are holding back due to financial comfort with the current style of music.
“Afrobeats and African music need to evolve. It needs to evolve in a direction that’s fearless. And I think right now artistes have made so much money from a certain type of sound, that they are afraid to step out of the boundaries because they’re probably more focused on the financial aspect of it. As a result, I think Afrobeat has stalled,” she said.
To support her point, Amaarae cited Nigerian artiste, Rema’s 2024 album as an example of how the Afrobeat sound can grow when artistes take creative risks.
She praised the album for pushing the boundaries of Afrobeats while also helping Rema grow in his career.
“One of my favourite albums was Rema’s album last year, which is what I consider the evolution of Afrobeats. You see how it moved the genre and the culture forward and you see how it moved his career forward,” she stated.
She also criticised some artistes who, despite having hit songs, are unwilling to challenge themselves creatively.
“There have been a lot of people who have had big hits or whatever that aren’t willing to push the boundaries of the music and as a result, Afrobeats is in a bit of a rut,” Amaarae noted.
Amaarae urged her fellow African musicians to take risks and experiment with new ideas to help the sound grow and stay fresh. She feels that Afrobeats no longer excites listeners the way it did in 2019.
“I think Africans need to get it together, get on and start to experiment. Music needs to evolve and it needs to excite people again. I just feel like right now Afrobeats or African music isn’t in an exciting space the way it was in like 2019,” she added.
@madamejoyce AFRICAN MUSIC NEEDS TO EVOLVE #madamejoyce #amaarae #afrobeats #rema #heis @Amaarae ♬ original sound – THE MAD/AME
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