In 2023, Afrobeats became the first African-originated genre to dominate global streaming charts. Burna Boy sold out Madison Square Garden. Wizkid collaborated with Beyoncé. Davido performed at the FIFA World Cup. The music that powered all of this — rhythmically complex, melodically infectious, unapologetically joyful — came from one city: Lagos, Nigeria.
The Fela Foundation
Modern Afrobeats traces its lineage to Fela Kuti, the Lagos-born musician and activist who created Afrobeat (note: singular, not plural) in the 1970s. Fela's music fused jazz, funk and traditional Yoruba music with fiercely political lyrics aimed at Nigeria's military governments. His compound, the Kalakuta Republic, was a community, a recording studio and a refuge — until soldiers burnt it to the ground in 1977.
Fela's legacy gave Lagos music a political and cultural seriousness that underpins even the most commercially oriented contemporary Afrobeats. There is an awareness, even in pop songs about celebration and pleasure, of the struggles that preceded them.
"Music is the weapon of the future." — Fela Kuti
The Digital Generation
Contemporary Afrobeats — the plural, pop-inflected version — emerged in the 2000s and 2010s, driven by the democratisation of music production technology and the spread of social media. Young producers in Lagos could now make internationally competitive music on laptops, without major label infrastructure.
Artists like Wizkid, Davido and Burna Boy built their audiences organically through social media before signing major label deals — a reversal of the traditional industry model that reflected the specific realities of the African music market. Their music incorporated influences from R&B, reggae, dancehall and hip-hop, creating a hybrid that felt simultaneously local and global.
The World is Listening
Lagos today is one of the world's great music cities — a megalopolis of twenty million people generating a constant stream of new artists, new sounds and new ideas. The city's energy, its chaos, its density, its absolute refusal to be anything other than itself — all of this feeds into its music.
Key Artists from Lagos
- Fela Kuti — the godfather, whose shadow still falls across all Nigerian music
- Burna Boy — Grammy winner, the most internationally acclaimed Afrobeats artist
- Wizkid — popularised Afrobeats globally, "One Dance" with Drake was a watershed
- Davido — prolific hitmaker, one of the genre's great melodists
- Tems — the most compelling new voice of the current generation
Explore all bands from Lagos on our interactive world music map.
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