Former Brother Naija All Stars contestant, Kiddwaya has presented himself as an advocate for the preservation of the genre, Afrobeats.
Kiddwaya, who appeared as a guest on MTV Base Africa’s programme, Official Naija Top 10, stated that his goal is to protect Afrobeats from white culture vultures.
The reality TV star and clothier stressed that Afrobeats which originated in Nigeria, needs to be protected from white capitalists’ dominance.
He said; “I want us [Nigerians] to really be able to maintain our grip on afrobeats. Because I fear that we do all these hard works; the music and it [the masters] will be completely owned by the white person.
“I feel like we need to do more to own our stuff. So, my goal is to promote afrobeats music outside of the country and bring in the right partners so that the ownership is shared. Because there are some vultures out there who just want to come and take everything; they own the artists, they own the labels, they own everything.
“One of my biggest fears is Nigeria losing its identity. What does a Nigerian look like? Yes, they put on agbada. But the younger Nigerian looks American. We are losing it. We need to be mindful of that.”
Meanwhile in related news…
Nigerian producer, Samuel Oguachuba, aka Samklef has claimed that he and superstar singer, Ayodeji ”Wizkid” Balogun created Afrobeats.
The 36-year-old ”Molowo Noni” crooner made this claim through his official Twitter (X) account on Monday, September 11, 2023.
Samklef shared a throwback video of himself with Wizkid and wrote: “Meet the Nigerian two kids that created the afrobeats sound of today. As of 2009, Nigerian music had no title! Until these two created magic! 2010!”
Even the award categories in Nigeria were Best Hip Hop, Best R and B, Best Alternative Music and Best Reggae! There was nothing like Best Afrobeats! It was Wizkidayo who named it afrobeats! Know this and know peace! Fela created Afrobeat!”
