Davido’s manager Asa Asika has dragged Western radio into the old fight over what African music is allowed to be called, saying Tems should not be filed under Afrobeats simply because she is Nigerian.
Speaking on The Manager’s Playbook podcast, the Plug co-founder said he keeps having the same argument with RCA and its radio team.
“There’s an argument I have with RCA and the radio team almost all the time. I’m like, do you guys realize that even though you guys think this record is amazing, any sensible person is going to go back and do their research to see if the song on the playlist is popping in Lagos,” Asika said.
In his view, a record that looks hot on American radio almost always had its first life at home.
“There’s never really been a time when a song is doing well on radio in the US that it hasn’t had its moments in Nigeria already.”
He used Davido’s own catalogue as proof.
“For example, when Fall was going off in the US, it was two years after the song was a monster hit in Nigeria.”
Rema’s “Calm Down” followed the same path. Even when that record was exploding abroad, Asika said, “it had had its moments in Nigeria ages before.” Then he drew the line that is now travelling.
“The only artiste whose music is popping off here first where it doesn’t matter what they’re doing in Nigeria is probably Tems but she is not an Afrobeats artiste.”
He did not soften the next sentence.
“Everybody is so lazy, if you’re from Africa, so you do Afrobeats. Tems is a full-fledged R&B artiste.”
Tems has already said much the same herself. In a late August interview, the Grammy-winning singer told Hot 97 she is not an Afrobeats artist and that she files her releases as R&B, only for blogs to drag them back under the continental label.