Afrobeat singer Seun Kuti has set off a new conversation in Nigerian music after his bold statement during an interview on Beat 99.9FM.

Seun, the son of the late music legend Fela Kuti, explained that Afrobeat should not be seen as a fixed genre. He believes it is more of a label used to describe different sounds coming out of Africa.

He stressed that Afrobeat is “more of a title than a genre,” saying the name still does not fully capture the diversity of African music.

According to him, the creativity and range of Nigerian artists show that Afrobeat is more of an umbrella name than a strict category. He used amapiano as an example, pointing out that it blends into Afrobeat but also proves the title is just a general tag for African music.

Seun added that even the biggest stars do not treat Afrobeat as a rigid genre. He explained that they can easily release a dancehall track today, a blues song tomorrow, a Nigerian pop record, or even jump on an amapiano beat.

He concluded that the versatility of African musicians shows that Afrobeat works better as a unifying label than as a narrow musical genre.