- Omah Lay, a renowned singer, has expressed concern that the afrobeats genre is facing a threat.
- The genre is being diluted to appeal to foreign audiences and becoming overly commercial, causing him to express his dissatisfaction.
- Omah Lay, during a conversation on the Zach Sang Show, emphasized that the afrobeats genre is no longer in safe hands.
- The lucrative nature of the genre has led many artists to sing for money rather than passion.
Singer Omah Lay has stated that the afrobeats genre is under jeopardy.
He expressed concern that the genre was becoming diluted to cater to foreign audiences and becoming unduly commercial.
On the Zach Sang Show, Omah Lay declared that the afrobeats genre is no longer in good hands.
He claimed that the genre’s profitable nature causes many musicians to sing for money rather than passion.
“There is too much money in Afrobeats. Afrobeats artists are just trying to grab the money,” he said.
“I believe people are messing Afrobeats up. I also believe it is becoming very commercial. Right now, I don’t believe Afrobeats is in safe hands.”
The afrobeats genre has recently come under fire, with renowned Jamaican reggae performer Buju Banton calling it “f*ckery.”
In his divisive interview, he said that afrobeats lacked depth and would vanish over time.
Meanwhile, Omah Lay described his first earthquake experience as frightening.
The earthquake struck while the singer was in Los Angeles, California, for an interview on the Zach Sang Show. During the broadcast, the artist discussed his career, upbringing in Nigeria, and creative process. The singer even admitted that a colleague stole his sound, forcing him to create a new one.
Omah Lay went on to discuss the Afrobeats music genre as a whole, as well as the impact of Fela Kuti.
He explained, “Afrobeats precisely is music; it’s elements of a lot of sounds, local and traditional sounds. If you’re talking about Afrobeats, you have to mention Fela Kuti and everything he stood for, and…”
At that very moment, the interview was abruptly interrupted as the building began to shake, frightening both the host and Omah Lay.
The host was stunned, remarking, “Oh wow, that’s an earthquake. Oh wow. That’s a strong one.”
Omah Lay, who has spent his entire life in Nigeria, was taken aback: “That is so weird; I have never seen or witnessed an earthquake.”
“Usually you can’t feel them in this building because it’s so secure; that’s wild,” Zach explained.”That is crazy; something must have happened,” said the singer in astonishment, looking around the room. “It was scary; that was scary,” he added.
Zach replied, “It’s an earthquake, and you can still feel it rumbling. That was a big one.” He then checked in on the welfare of everyone in the studio, making sure that they were unharmed.
Despite his initial fear of the earthquake, Omah Lay remained calm and continued with the interview.