Nigerian singer Tunde Akinsanmi, who used to be part of the Styl Plus group, recently expressed his thoughts on how they are overlooked in discussions about Afrobeats.
He appeared on the Afrobeats Podcast with UK-based media figure Adesola ‘Shopsydoo’ Olajide and shared his concerns about Styl Plus not getting recognition. Tunde mentioned that he is often surprised when people discuss Afrobeats and fail to mention Styl Plus group. He pointed out that while groups like Plantashun Boiz are recognized for their RnB, Styl Plus’ popular song, Olufunmi, is actually an Afrobeats track.
He emphasized that listeners should focus on the music’s beat and sound to understand its Afrobeats roots.
In his words:
“Before I even talk about where Styl Plus group is going, it quite shocks me when they talk about Afrobeats and they skip our name because before then, we had people…Plantashun Boiz wasn’t Afrobeats, it was more of RnB, and then we came with Olufunmi which is not RnB, that’s Afrobeats! Check the beat itself, it’s not RnB, it’s Afrobeats. And then they start talking about pioneers of Afrobeats, yeah people actually paved the way for us as well just like we paved for others.”
Tunde of the Styl Plus group mentioned that they were the first music group to create an independent record label and to credit producers in their songs. He expressed gratitude for making music that has lasted over time.
He said:
“We were the first independent record label that broke into the market in Nigeria because everyone was under someone’s pay. Is it Dove Records?, Premier?Ebony? Ivory Music? Kennis Music? all of them, but we came as independent artists. We were the first crew that even had the ‘crew’ idea before Mo Hitz came. We were the first crew that started giving credits to our producers. Did you hear anybody mentioning their producers in the songs before us? So these things have to be said, so if you don’t know where you’re coming from, you don’t know where you’re going and you don’t know where we are. I’m thankful that we did songs that can stand test of time because the truth is a lot of people want us away but the songs will never go away. So when you want us away, the songs will remind you that we’re still here and we’re going to be here. Nobody knows tomorrow, I believe if we all come back together to do something, it’s going to resonate with the hardcore fans out there.”
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