Afrobeats (with an 's') is the umbrella term for the modern popular music coming out of West Africa, primarily Nigeria and Ghana. It fuses West African musical traditions with global influences including dancehall, hip-hop, R&B, and electronic music.
Key characteristics: syncopated drum patterns, log drum bass lines, call-and-response vocal melodies, and lyrics often mixing English with Pidgin, Yoruba, Twi, or other local languages.
Afrobeats is distinct from Afrobeat (no 's') — the genre pioneered by Fela Kuti in the 1970s, which blends jazz, funk, and Yoruba music with political messaging. Modern Afrobeats is pop-oriented and has become one of the fastest-growing genres globally.