As more and more Nigerians are embracing the South African music genre, Amapiano, some have raised concerns that it could pose a challenge to Nigerian homebrewed Afrobeats.But US-based Nigerian music artist known as O2udor, born Edet Otudor Otudor Ene is unfazed and unequivocally convinced that Amapiano doesn’t stand a chance against Afrobeats.
He said, “Amapiano is beautiful but does not stand a chance against Afrobeats. It is obvious Afrobeats is deeply rooted, it goes as far back as the time of legends like Fela Kuti. In addition, so many artists have invested time, efforts, devotion and used their talents to build a very solid foundation for Afrobeats so even though Amapiano is great, it’s just not capable of taking over Afrobeats.”
O2udor, who was born to a Nigerian mother and Cameroonian father is however excited by the incursion of African music on to the world stage, stating that the growth rate is over 70% compared to a few years back
“Africa has been working so hard to export it’s music and culture for many years. Over the years there have been some wins including but limited to featuring our music in international movies, or using them at international festivals and shows. However, it is not until recently that African music got the recognition it deserves. Today, with amazing African artists, like Angelique Kidjo, Burna Boy, Wizkid, Davido, and others Africans are winning international awards like the BET, Grammy etc African music is gaining more recognition and there is more appreciation of our music, culture and heritage,” he noted.
According to O2udor, growing up he was exposed to many different sounds/genres, from Makossa which he heard almost every day on the radio, to ndombolo (Congolese music genre), Afrobeats, Reggae/Dancehall, Hip Hop, R&B, Pop and many other genres. But he loves to blend different genres to show his versatility.
“I just never gravitated towards a particular genre, so when I started creating my own music, I just never limited myself to a particular genre. I create music based on the inspiration I get and I’ve come to realize that most of my songs are created in the moment, depending on what is happening in my environment at that point in time ,” he said.
In 2014 O2udor recorded his first official song titled “Okada” , a song jhe dedicated to commercial motorcyclists and their contribution to the community in terms of transportation.
He cemented his presence on the music scene with another single in 2015 titled ‘Fo Ma Katier”.
In 2016 and 2017, he had a number of features in some of the song titles which include; Gimme Ya Luv, I know, U bad.
2018 appeared to be his best year as he released his first Extension Play titled “Incarnation of Love EP having released three singles, namely; Best Friend, My Girl and Run Dat .
In 2019 he released another single titled “Black Queen”.
