Nigeria

Nigeria is the most influential music country in Africa and the home of afrobeats, the genre that conquered global pop in the 2010s and 2020s through stars like Wizkid, Burna Boy, Davido, and Tems. It is also the birthplace of afrobeat, the politically charged sound pioneered by Fela Kuti, and of classic styles like highlife, jùjú, and fújì.

Afrobeat (singular) is the genre created by Fela Kuti in the 1970s, a fusion of Yoruba rhythm, jazz, funk, and highlife built on long hypnotic grooves and political lyrics. Afrobeats (with an s) is the modern Nigerian pop movement that emerged in the 2000s, blending dancehall, hip-hop, R&B, and local rhythms into glossy chart hits. They share roots but are distinct sounds from different eras.

Fela Kuti was the creator of afrobeat and one of the most important African musicians of the twentieth century. He fused Yoruba music with jazz and funk into a revolutionary sound and used it to attack military dictatorship and corruption in Nigeria, often at great personal cost. His influence runs through artists worldwide, and his legacy is carried on by his sons Femi and Seun Kuti.

The leading Nigerian artists driving the global afrobeats wave include Burna Boy, Wizkid, Davido, Tems, Rema, Asake, Tiwa Savage, and Ayra Starr. Burna Boy and Tems have won Grammy Awards, Wizkid's Essence was the first Nigerian song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, and Rema's Calm Down became one of the most successful afrobeats songs in history.

Last reviewed: 2026-06

These are Nigeria's classic genres. Highlife is a horn-and-guitar dance music that dominated the 1950s and 1960s. Jùjú is a Yoruba guitar-band style built on talking drums and call-and-response vocals, popularized worldwide by King Sunny Adé. Fújì is a percussion-driven Yoruba Muslim genre that grew from Ramadan wake-up songs into one of the most popular sounds of southwest Nigeria.