Veteran Nigerian rapper and humanitarian Ruggedman has expressed doubts about the longevity of the Afrobeats label currently applied to Nigerian music. Speaking on Channels Television’s Rubbin’ Mind programme on Sunday, the artist whose real name is Michael Ugochukwu Stephens shared concerns about the genre classification.
“I just have a feeling that this whole Afrobeats thing, the tag might end soon,” Ruggedman stated during the interview. While expressing happiness that Nigerian music now occupies a prominent global position, he voiced reservations about quality standards in contemporary production.
“The only change that I don’t fancy much is the quality of the music, and not too many of them are giving me what I really respect,” he explained. The rapper drew clear distinctions between Afrobeat, the genre pioneered by late music legend Fela Kuti, and Afrobeats, the modern African pop sound dominating current airwaves.
Ruggedman also lamented how rap music has diminished in Nigeria’s music landscape, attributing this decline to economic factors. “Unfortunately, rap has kind of taken a backseat, because people want to do something that gives them money quickly. Not too many people are doing rap, and it costs more to push and promote rap than Afrobeats,” he said.
During the discussion, Ruggedman expressed concerns about Nigerian distribution companies and questioned why the industry depends on outsiders while constantly seeking external validation. He found it problematic that legendary artists like Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, King Sunny Ade, and Kwam1 are grouped under the same Afrobeats category despite their distinct musical styles and historical significance.
“I wish they had just left it at Nigerian music,” Ruggedman concluded, suggesting a simpler approach to categorizing the country’s diverse musical output would be more appropriate. The veteran rapper recently released acoustic versions of five songs including Ruggedy Baba, Baraje, Change, Won’t Battle, and One Man, collaborating with guitarist Fiokee.
Speaking about the project, he noted that no Nigerian rapper had previously done acoustic versions featuring just guitar and rap, giving listeners an opportunity to hear the lyrics and feel the emotion behind the words.
