Afrobeats The Beginning Of A Larger Movement For Nigeria; Jidenna Speaks

The Classic Man is currently in Nigeria and has continued to breed excitement from fans and Jidenna himself. The Nigerian-American born singer seeks to drop his Long Live The Chief album in grand style as he documents his journey back home and his birth place, Enugu State.

In a recent interview he held in Lagos, the Wondaland act expressed his love for Nigeria and also the love he gets from the fans. He also mentioned how he enjoyed working with the likes of Wizkid and others and how anxious he has been for the AfroBeats genre to explode.

In his words; “I have been waiting for it my whole life. Afrobeats didn’t exist in this form when I was younger. But just to have a sound that comes from the African continent, especially Nigeria, and now the whole world says that’s cool now. I’ve said this before, being teased for being African when you are little. I came with a very thick accent. Even my sisters were saying ‘you are bush. The way you talk is so bush. The way I pronounced all my words. So I will change how I spoke. Now, the people that get teased, have become the cool people that everybody want to be.

That’s what this Afrobeats movement is showing. It’s the beginning of a larger movement for Nigeria, for Africa to move into the world’s spotlight, be respected, be more understood, be appreciated for what we bring. It’s starting with music and dance, but it’s gonna expand to everything. To me, that’s what this signifies; it’s the beginning of a turning point.”

Speaking on his Long Live The Chief Album, he extensively gave an insight on what he envisaged the album to be like while expressing the joy he had after adding a bit of Pidgin to a couple of songs. Take for example “Little Bit More” where the singer said “Wahala She No Dey Give Me“.