Talentless Artists Use ‘Afrobeats’ To Hide Their Lack Of Skill – Ruggedman

Veteran rapper Michael Ugochukwu Stephens, popularly known as Ruggedman, has criticised the use of “Afrobeats” as a catchall term for all African music, calling it misleading.

In a recent interview with Day Genius, the rapper argued that the term is often used to group artistes who lack real talent and rely only on catchy beats.

Ruggedman expressed his dislike for the “Afrobeats” tag, noting that it was a mistake from the beginning to put every sound from the continent under one umbrella.

“For me, Afrobeats with an ‘S’ is a name talentless Nigerians hide behind. All you need to make a hit is just a good beat and street slang. Then you repeat it many times and spend money to promote it,” he said.

The rapper also claimed that many artists in this category struggle with live performances and freestyling because they depend too much on autotune and studio effects.

He noted that the trend of tagging every African song as Afrobeats started in the UK.

Ruggedman added that when he first complained about the name, people accused him of jealousy, but he insists it misrepresents the diversity of African music.