Is K-pop Afrobeats here to stay?
A deep dive into K-pop's latest fixation and the industry's complicated relationship with Africa
LE SSERAFIM's "Smart" is a prime example of a K-pop Afrobeats song.
Still frame from LE SSERAFIM's "Smart" music video
Words by Natalia Kabenge
Since 2023, music from the African continent has been making its way to every corner of the world, and Afrobeats has become a global sensation. Today, Afrobeats is the K-pop industry’s newest fixation. While I had initially believed it to be a one-off occurrence—a sound some groups were simply experimenting with—more and more groups began releasing their own take on the genre, and I began to witness my worlds collide in a manner I couldn’t have predicted.
If you were to ask a 14-year-old me what my interests were, I would’ve told you that I wasn’t the fangirl type in the slightest. But circa 2017, K-pop just so happened to sink its unsuspecting claws into me, and ever since, I’ve found myself immersed in an environment vastly different from the one of my childhood.
My identity, like many children of immigrants, was one that I struggled with growing up, but nowadays when people ask, I tell them I’m Ugandan American. My grandparents emigrated with their children from Uganda in the 1970s, and while I was born and raised on American soil, I grew up knowing and loving every aspect of my heritage. Music was, and is, an integral part of it—as soon as I could walk, I began to learn our traditional dances, and was taught to play Ugandan drums. My family's musical affinity was a gift I never took for granted, and it was only natural I listened to just about anything I could get my hands on. My love for music has always transcended language, and there was no particular genre I gravitated towards, instead favoring melodies and basslines over phonemes and accents. But once I discovered K-pop, I found it to be particularly fascinating—it was the culmination of incredible production, a rigorous trainee system, and an innovative approach to marketing that created a global phenomenon people couldn’t get enough of.
Oftentimes, the goal of K-pop is to make a statement, whether it be through an unconventional sound (think NCT 127’s “Sticker”) or toying with taboo themes (see: Taemin’s “Sexy In The Air”). And, until about 2023, Afrobeats were largely uncharted territory—save for soloist PENOMECO, who was among the first Korean artists to explore the genre with his single ORGANIC in 2021. While I quite enjoyed the release, I was initially skeptical of his endeavor; however, upon hearing him speak about the project, it seemed he had good intentions, and it proved to be something promising. “I think I might be the first to use Nigerian in my lyrics,” the singer shared in an interview with NAVER. Having spoken about his admiration for the culture, and going so far as to include Yoruba lyrics in his song, it was clear to me that he had done his research and seemed to genuinely appreciate the culture. A little more than three years later, K-pop Afrobeats, or K-Afrobeats, has become a sensation in the industry—sparking some interesting conversations.
A closer look at Black fans’ relationship with K-pop
As a Black fan experiencing the genre, I find navigating my relationship with K-pop a bit paradoxical at times. It has provided me with an avenue through which I’ve met some of my best friends and discovered many of my passions. But in my years of interacting with fans and groups alike, the elephant in the room has yet to disappear—that is, the anti-Black racism that permeates the space. While K-pop’s international success is admirable, it’s been important for me as a Ugandan American to remain critical of my own consumption.
It feels as though every few weeks, an idol goes viral for making a racially insensitive comment, doing blackface, or using the N-word, and cohorts of fans would rush to defend them, leaving many Black K-pop fans, including myself, feeling isolated. Unfortunately, I have also seen anti-Asian prejudice from my own community. Many failed to understand my interest, and I can recall countless offhanded comments that were, simply put, racist toward Asian people, from Black people. From dismissing groups as all looking alike, to crudely mimicking Asian languages with complete gibberish, these experiences proved to me that anti-Asian racism in the Black community remains prevalent. So, as Afrobeats in K-pop started to gain traction, I felt conflicted.
As K-Afrobeats has started to make appearances across different artists’ discographies—most notably LE SSERAFIM, SEVENTEEN, and TXT, among others—it’s been generally well-received by fans. But I found myself a bit discontented with these releases, and I had to take a step back and wonder why.
While they had managed to capture the bare essence of the sound, it took some research to confirm what I had suspected to be true—not a single one of these tracks features an African producer, writer, or artist.
Having grown up listening to some of Africa’s biggest names—P-Square, Koffi Olomide, and Eddy Kenzo to name a few—I struggled to really connect with the Afrobeats that K-pop artists had begun to release. While they had managed to capture the bare essence of the sound, it took some research to confirm what I had suspected to be true—not a single one of these tracks features an African producer, writer, or artist.
Upon realizing this I decided to take a closer look at the K-pop industry’s relationship with the African continent, and unfortunately, my research fell a little short. In listening to many of the releases that have been labeled “Afrobeats,” I came to understand that many people believe that all music from the African continent can be labeled as such. In reality, some of these songs aren’t Afrobeats—a genre whose origins can be traced specifically to Nigeria and Ghana—at all, but rather South Africa’s Amapiano; the latter is characterized by its lighter, jazzy sound, while Afrobeats is grounded by its heavy percussion and complex, rhythmic bass.
K-pop and the African continent
The African market has remained largely unacknowledged by the K-pop industry as a whole. Despite the touring sector becoming increasingly popular in K-pop, no group has properly toured the African continent. According to Spotify’s 2022 Wrapped data, Sub-Saharan Africa saw a “93 percent year-on-year increase in K-pop streams,” accounting for more than three billion hours of streaming from the continent. This alone proves that there’s incredible potential for the industry to expand into a market that holds not only the world’s youngest population, but a deep-seeded love and understanding for music as a whole.
Including the recent emergence of a Nigerian K-drama, the cultural exchange is ostensibly rough around the edges but feels so close to being promising. While there are often debates about the value of authenticity within the industry, it is my belief that the K-pop sector should strive for authenticity when releasing Afrobeats, especially because it markets itself as an international industry and should be willing to educate itself on the cultures it chooses to interact with.
On September 19th, 2024, I saw this sentiment beautifully illustrated upon attending C-pop soloist Vinida Weng’s concert in New York City. Being new to her music, I was pleasantly surprised by her discography, which was unquestionably influenced by sounds from West Africa. During the show, I had the privilege of being introduced to her team, and to my delight, her producer was Black. I was then told that she’d spent time previously traveling the African continent to work with different producers and experiment with her sound—and, for the remainder of the show, I couldn’t help but think, “What if the K-pop industry replicated this?”
In the era of artists like Tyla and Davido charting on Billboard’s Hot 100, it’s clear that African artists are just as ready to face the world stage, and if the K-pop industry can meet them in the middle, the outcome may be fruitful. Should the K-Afrobeats phenomenon continue, there remains room for growth—artists and their teams should be on the ground, seeking to collaborate with African creatives. Working with African artists and producers would not only provide African artists with a platform through which they can share their culture and talent, but would allow the K-pop sector to explore African music in an authentic manner. Not only is this a beneficial situation for both sides, but it’s clear to me that K-pop holds the potential to act as an avenue through which both sides can become better educated.
Where do we go from here?
Beginning with cultural exchange, musical collaborations can and should encourage conversations to expand outwards, and allow both parties to fully assess their own biases and prejudice. This is my call to action—should the K-pop industry begin to reevaluate its relationship with the African continent, therein lies a step in the right direction. Ignorance is the hurdle both sides must first overcome, and having witnessed it from my own community, I believe that each and every one of us carries the responsibility of educating those around us.
So just to be clear—no, I don’t always understand the lyrics to the K-pop songs I listen to; no, not every group gets plastic surgery; and for the love of God, do not spout gibberish at me and expect me to “translate.” There are people who want nothing more than to enjoy interacting with K-pop as a hobby, and there is absolutely no place for anti-Asian or anti-Black racism within these spaces.
The responsibility falls on all of us: on the companies and idols who have perpetuated negative stereotypes by making an ignorant comment, and on the fans who continue to consume their content regardless of the fact. I look forward to the day a K-pop group releases the industry’s first-ever collaboration with an Afrobeats artist—until then, I’ll keep my hopes high!
Published on November 11, 2024
Words by Natalia Kabenge
Natalia Kabenge is a music and culture writer and concert photographer based in New York City. As a first-generation Ugandan-American, her musical interests extend to every corner of the world—some of her favorite genres are RnB, Afrobeats, Metal, and K-Pop. She is currently pursuing a major in Journalism and a minor in Japanese studies at The New School, and has had the opportunity to cover talent such as ATEEZ, Pink Sweat$, P1Harmony, and Travis Japan. Instagram: @nataliakabenge, Twitter/X: @talia__michelle