With the industry awash with money, global notoriety, bold Afrobeats producers are buying early Afrobeats records, channelling them to an audience seeking its slice of the musical memory pie.
Sixteen years after the release of 9ice's sophomore album, his song Photocopy was reimagined. ID Cabasa's and Vector's Photocopy Reimagined is an interpolation and sample of the original. Unknown to its creators, this song, released in December 2023, foretold a new trend in the Nigerian music industry.
Although music sampling is as old as time, hearing newly released songs giving a nod to several tunes that offset the new age of afrobeats in Nigeria is a novelty. The usual spin is a reinvention of Fela Kuti's sound, Angelique Kidjo's tunes, and other African artists. Growing up in the 80s meant you heard the original and appreciated the samples.
However, until recently, there were no sampled songs that millennials or Gen Z could relate to their childhood or lived experiences. This also meant that people who were born in the nineties and early 200os could only understand the reference in Burna Boy's Ye, Olamide's Anifowose, Flavour's Nwa Baby or Yemi Alade's Shekere, but were more likely to be disconnected from its nostalgic effect.
"Nostalgia is a reminder that old records exist. More musicians are sampling records because there's increased knowledge about the value of samples," music journalist, Joey Akan says, "These [sample] records give an opportunity to the old folks to get new money. Listeners will listen to the new song, remember the old one and listen to it too. Everyone makes money out of this."
Five months after Photocopy Reimagined was released, Tems' Love Me Jeje, an interpolation of the 1999 original song of the same name, began filling the airwaves. It not only served as a reminder of the song, but it also introduced an international audience to a song considered a modern classic in Nigeria.
Nigerian music producer, ID Cabasa, was glad to hear Tems' version of Love Me Jeje. It caught his attention mostly because he had planned to sample the same record in his ongoing project of creating "reimaginations" of old Nigerian songs.
"Love Me Jeje was one of the songs on my list when I started this project before COVID-19 [lockdown], but I couldn't get an artist on it [so] I trashed it," he says, "So when I heard Tems' Love Me Jeje, I was applauding her. Because that, for me, was a classic that I think is really worth it."
ID Cabasa plans to release two EPs of interpolated and sampled songs. So far, he has released two "reimaginations" of old music featuring new artists. Olufunmi Reimagined, the second song on a soon-to-be-released EP, features Fireboy, Joeboy, BOJ, and Odudmodublvk. Although it received mixed reactions from audiences over Odudmodublvk's controversial verse, the song is still listened to favourably by people who loved the throwback it accorded them to Styl Plus' 2003 Olufunmi.
"I'm trying to use these reimaginations to tell the afrobeat story of where it's coming from, where it is, and to also project the near future," he explains, "Because sometimes people will tell you that Nigerian music does not carry any essence, but I'm picking the ones that carry it, that has an essence we can still look at. Photocopy, for instance, talks about identity and authenticity. Olufunmi is a love song. Music is storytelling so we have been intentional about these things."
The turning point in Nigerian Afrobeats began with global recognition. From the early 2000s to the 2010s, international collaborations were hard to come by but record labels and artists did their best to foster the growth of Afrobeats to the world. Labels like the now-defunct Mo'Hits Records signed international deals. Empire Mates Entertainment [EME] churned out musicians like Wizkid. And subgenres of Afrobeats were created. Now, we're witnessing a time when Nigerian artists sample their counterparts who contributed largely to what the industry is today.
"The reason why a lot of [Nigerian artists] weren't able to step off from sampling foreign musicians or other African artists is that the earlier generations of this postmodern version of our music industry grew up listening to songs not owned by Nigerian companies," Akan says, "These songs were tied up in Europe, and America. Tied up with people who came here in the seventies and did deals with content. But time has passed. Records have aged and gotten into their very own realm of being Nigerian-owned. I'm happy that it's happening. We now have more control and more money to turn around."
Although several artists and their fans have overcome the misguided belief that sampling songs signifies a lack of talent or originality, there's still some difficulty in clearing samples, making some artists wary about creating new songs with old records. ID Cabasa, who is soon releasing 13 samples out of the many options available, says the availability and willingness of artists to agree to their songs being sampled is vital to the success of these records.
Publicist and music executive, Gracey Mae claims that there are sampled songs that never get released because of these difficulties. "There are loads of songs that I've heard that never come out because either the artist team haven't signed it off, they're not contactable, or the artist label is requesting crazy fees," she says, "We can even liken that to Burna Boy saying Tony Braxton asked for 60% of the royalties for Last Last. To the common artists, that might be too much."
This begs the question of whether sampling is experiencing a resurgence or whether artists have had the idea to do it before but weren't able to. Now with the backing of a larger fanbase and management team, more inclusive international award categories, and access to more revenue, the new crop of Nigerian music stars are more willing to produce samples that reflect the early days of Nigerian Afrobeats.
"We're now at a point where the artists that are making music are young or old enough to reference artists from this millennia. Someone like Ayra Starr sampling Wande Coal's You Bad [in Jazzy's Song] for instance. She grew up on that song. We all did. That's a soundtrack to her childhood, she connects with it, same as us," Mae says, "It's also a thing of access, which is why it's easy for them to reference it in the music that they're making today."
Ayra Starr, Tems and ID Cabasa are not the only Nigerian artists sampling their colleagues. Ruger's Asiwaju from two years ago was a nod to Sound Sultan's Area. More recently, Johnny Drille's Palava samples Original Stereoman's Sample Ekwe.
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These recently released songs are not just an homage to the Nigerian music industry by younger artists, they are an acknowledgement that these musicians share a bond with their Gen Z and millennial listeners, growing up together with the same cultural experiences.
Starr's twelfth song in her sophomore album, The Year I Turned 21 (TYIT21) - released on May 31 - is also an homage to Mavin Records' CEO, Don Jazzy and his old record label, Mo'Hits where Wande Coal was formerly signed to.
Jazzy Song also signals a running sentiment that these young artists are here to stay for good; so long to the oldies. "Last year I made money but this year I want a billion more... See evidences all around," Ayra Starr says in her song.
For them, these accolades and global recognition may seem like a run of the mill, but that wasn't the case for their predecessors. They understand this and are drawing attention back home even as they grow in foreign lands.
"I'm just happy that it's happening now and this generation is moving closer," Akan says, "The Nigerian music industry has matured to this level where we can sample our songs and keep everything within, while continually growing at a large scale globally."
Gabriella Opara is a Lagos-based culture journalist featured in The Guardian UK, OkayAfrica, Quartz, Mail & Guardian, BellaNaija, and more. She writes news, culture, and lifestyle features.
