hi, everyone and welcome back. So today I want to move a bit into the world of Afrobeat. Over the past few years, the West African genre has exploded into the mainstream. We've seen this with the rise of Afrobeat artists like kids David Oh boy who recently sold out the Madison Square Garden in New York. And now, more than ever, we're seeing a trend of American and British artists jumping on some of these songs. Justin Bieber with Kids Essence and Cheering on Fire Boys, Peru and, more recently, Chris Brown on the MonaLisa. The latter actually sparked a conversation on Twitter this weekend, which was very similar to the response when Justin Bieber collaborated with this kid last year. While some were really happy about the future, others added that not every Afrobeat song needs a remix with a non Afrobeat artist. To be fair, I totally get it, but it's a tricky one. Afrobeat is such a massive genre across the diaspora, and it's finally getting much deserved attention outside of the space. And when a non Afrobeat artist who doesn't have much experience with the sound jumped on a song, it can often shift the genre, if not water down the sound, However, I must admit that these Western artists do give the more exposure to audiences that aren't familiar with the sound. If anything, it's up to us who know the sound as with any natural drama like hip hop, for example, to continue to champion and support the artist so they can make their music without feeling the pressure to sound more mainstream.

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