Veteran rapper Michael Ugochukwu Stephen, popularly known as Ruggedman, has questioned the use of Afrobeats as a general label for African music, describing it as a cover for talentless Nigerians.
Speaking in an interview with Day Genius, he explained why he has consistently disagreed with the term despite being accused of being jealous of Afrobeats artists.
Addressing how the label affects musicians, Ruggedman noted that African artists are often grouped under one category, especially outside the continent.
“I don’t like Afrobeats as an umbrella genre for every music coming out of Africa. That was a mistake. I didn’t like it from the beginning, but when I complained, people accused me of being jealous or trying to gatekeep.
“Right now, if I go to the UK to perform, I would be tagged as an Afrobeats artist. It is wrong.
“It was people in the UK who started tagging every African music as Afrobeats. Nigerians love classifications; they just wanted to give it a name.
“For me, Afrobeats with an ‘S’ is a name talentless Nigerians hide behind. All you need to make an Afrobeats hit is to get a good beat, add street slang, and repeat it as many times as you like. Then spend a lot of money promoting it. That is Afrobeats with an ‘S’,” he said.
Ruggedman added that only a few Afrobeats artists can sing without autotune, describing this as the reason many avoid freestyling and live performances.
