Right now, the world is paying attention to Afrobeats and Amapiano. New audiences, new markets, new opportunities. But alongside that growth, a familiar conversation is resurfacing: what constitutes “authentic” African music?

It’s not a new question, but it’s one that often forgets history.

African music didn’t become global overnight; it has been travelling for centuries. Take Highlife, for example. It originated from a blend of local rhythms and Western instruments during the colonial era, and that blend is what gave it identity. During the Transatlantic Slave Trade, African rhythms crossed the ocean and found new homes. In the Caribbean, these rhythms became the foundation of both religious and secular music, while in the United States, they evolved into genres such as Jazz and Blues. In Central Africa, Congolese Rumba and Soukous drew from Cuban sounds, which already had African roots. In Tanzania, Bongo Flava built on American hip-hop and R&B, fused with local elements. Meanwhile, across North Africa and Spain, musical exchange led to Andalusian classical music.

This is the pattern. Movement. Exchange. Reinvention.

When people talk about gatekeeping, it often comes from a place of wanting to protect culture. That intention is valid. However, protection can easily turn into restriction. Questions like “Is Afrobeats too global?”, “Is Amapiano too influenced by house and jazz?” or “Is Bongo Flava too Western?” highlight this tension. If we’re honest, these same questions could have been asked at every stage of African music history, and each time, they would have been misguided.

There’s a tendency to separate “traditional” from “modern,” as if one is more authentic than the other. But African music has always been built through influence and adaptation, allowing genres to evolve and thrive. Take Semba as an example. It originated from Massemba and was later influenced by genres like Kizomba, Kuduro, and Samba from Brazil.

There is also a challenge in claiming that African music is not evolving. Over time, we have seen clear patterns of influence and transformation. For instance, Ghanaian highlife music shaped sounds in Lagos during the 1970s and 1980s, which contributed to the rise of Igbo Highlife, now a distinct genre in its own right.

Maybe the position should not be gatekeeping. Instead, the focus should be on documenting and preserving original sounds, while allowing African music to do what it has always done, move.

Gatekeeping doesn’t protect African music. Documentation does. Credit does. Let the sound travel.

Gatekeeping African Music

Gatekeeping doesn’t protect African music. Documentation does. Credit does. Let the sound travel.

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