Celebrated Nigerian music producer and artist Pheelz, known as Phillip Kayode Moses, has openly expressed his admiration and support for Afrobeats, describing it as the distinctive soul of the Nigerian people.
Pheelz’s declaration comes amidst a growing trend of musicians in the industry disassociating themselves from the Afrobeats genre over a perceived lack of meaning and relevance.
In an exclusive interview on the Afrobeats Podcast hosted by Adesope, Pheelz shared his views on the recent wave of musicians denouncing the Afrobeats label.
The top music producer with hit songs such as “Finesse” featuring BNXN and “Electricity ” featuring Davido, stated his commitment to Afrobeats as a cultural and musical identity.
According to him, Afrobeats represents the Nigerian heritage and musical creativity.
“For me, I feel like it’s a tag for how we make our music. It’s a form of identifying what we do and where we are from. To some degree, it’s a form of collective decision by us Africans or Nigerians or the culture that let us move with this.
“So I choose to respect that collective decision and be part of that consciousness and boldly and proudly wave this flag,” he said.
Addressing concerns about artists feeling confined by the Afrobeats categorisation, Pheelz argued that embracing Afrobeats doesn’t limit artistic exploration but rather serves as a platform to showcase diverse talents within the genre.
He said artists have a responsibility to educate the global audience about the richness and versatility of Afrobeats.
“Now is the time to even educate the world on what we have and what light we bring because the whole attention is on us.”
“This is the time to teach, collaborate, and come together to save this light,” he remarked.
News Central reported last year that Burna Boy, born Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu, distanced himself from Afrobeats over claims that the genre lacked meaningful content.
This move prompted other artists to follow suit, denouncing Afrobeats.
Most recently in his social media outbursts, Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, better known as Wizkid, claimed that the Afrobeats label confines artists within a predetermined box.