Skepta’s Enormous Contribution To the Success of Afrobeats

While discussing the success of Afrobeats on the international scene, three names that often pop up are Wizkid, Davido, and Burna Boy, the poster boys of Afrobeats responsible for taking beyond the shores of Africa. While these people have no doubt made enormous contributions, those behind and outside the scenes are often forgotten despite how crucial their contributions can be. An example is the UK rapper Skepta, who is no doubt one of the people who made a significant contribution to Wizkid’s success on the international scene.

Skepta has recently made headlines thanks to his recent association with the Nigerian street artist Portable. Several social media reports have shown the two artists linking on the street of London. Videos of the duo attending the British Fashion Award in London, and a practice studio session surfaced online, generating speculation of a possible music collaboration between the two.  A Skepta collaboration will no doubt transform Portable’s music career, possibly introducing him to the international music market.

While this is not the first time Skpeta is doing this, he is however not given as much credit as he is due. For the sake of, posterity we have compiled a timeline of Skepta’s enormous contribution to the success of Afrobeats on the international scene. But before getting there, Who is Skepta

Who is Skepta

Skepta, born Joseph Olaitan Adenuga Jr. is a British grime MC and rapper of Nigerian descent. He is one of the Biggest Grime artists on the UK music scene. His debut studio album Greatest Hits was released in 2007. He since then released several other albums to his name such as  Microphone Champion in 2009 and Doin’ It Again in 2011.

Skepta is globally known for producing and featuring on American rapper ASAP Rocky’s single “Praise the Lord (Da Shine)”, which became both artists’ highest-charting single and a global hit.  Before that, he also had some global critical albums in his discography such as Konnichiwa (2016) and Ignorance Is Bliss (2019)

Skepta has been nominated for three Brit Awards, including the Brit Award for British Male Solo Artist. His influence on contemporary British popular culture as a key figure in the grime scene saw him appear on Debrett’s 2017 list of the most influential people in the UK.

Read More:

• Top 10 Best Afrobeats Albums Released in 2023
• A History of Nigeria Music on the International Scene
• Top 10 Biggest Nigerian Music Concerts Held Overseas.

Skepta’s contribution to Afrobeats

Skepta has always been proud of his Nigerian heritage, and in the past shared a picture to his millions of fans on Instagram of the playground that he helped his parent build in their hometown in Ogun state. He was recently given the chieftaincy title of Amuludun of Odo-Aje in his hometown of Ogun state.

Skepta involvement with Afrobeats began way backSkepta’s15  when he played Wizkid’s Ojuelegba track for Drake while he was out in the UK for the Wireless festival and Drake decided to lay his verse on it.  The song which is now known as “Ojuelegba Remix”  became Skepta first mega collaboration with an Afrobeat Artist

The song debuted on the first episode of OVO Sound Radio. The original which was already a hit, became a favorite of Afrobeat fans worldwide. Speaking in a recent interview, Skepta revealed that being in Wizkid’s records then was more important for him than Drake’s collaboration.

Drake’s appearance on the Ojuelegba remix led to more collaboration between Wizkid and Drake, one of which included the global Afrobeat-influenced song ” One Dance” The song reached number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, a position it kept for 10 non-consecutive weeks. It went on to become an international smash hit, topping charts in 15 countries across the world, Wizkid’s first number-one single as a featured artist in these territories.

“Bromance” with Wizkid

While Ojuelegba pushed Wizkid into the international scene, “One Dance” no doubt established him as a global artist and even Afrobeat has a promising genre with a lot of potential.

Wizkid and Skepta continued their bromance with the release “Energy (Stay Far Away)” The song initially debuted at number 73 on the UK Singles Chart, but reached a peak of number 59 following the release of its music video in September. The song spent a total of 15 weeks on the UK Singles chart. It has been certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

Since the success of “Energy (Stay Far Away)”, Wizkid and Skepta have collaborated on three different tracks such as  “Glow in the Dark”, a hip-hop track that appeared on Skepta’s fifth studio album, Ignorance Is Bliss (2019).  The other tracks include “Longtime” and “WOW” both of which appeared on Wizkid albums “Made In Lagos (2020), and More Love Less Ego (2023) respectively.

Relationship with other Afrobeat stars

Aside from Wizkid, Skepta has also collaborated with other Afrobeats mega stars such as Rema, Davido, and Naira Marley. He collaborated with Davido on the Track U (JUJU), which appeared on Davido’s career-defining album  “Timeless” (2023). Also, he and Rema were guest artists on Jae 5  “Dimension” one of the biggest hits that came out of Nigeria and United Kingdom collaboration

Aside from these features, Skepta has also built solid relationships with upcoming stars such as  Odumodu Blvck and Portable. In March 2023, the Unk Grime Legend co-signed Odumodu Blvck, applauding him for the success of his track “Declan Rice ” and hitting 1 Million subscribers on Spotify.  Videos later resurfaced on the internet of the two acts linking up on the streets of London.

As earlier stated Skepta has recently made headlines thanks to his recent association with with the Nigerian street artist Portable. Videos of the duo attending the British Fashion Award in London, and a practice studio session surfaced online, generating speculation of a possible music collaboration between the two.

With these acts, Skepta keeps serving as a bridge between the Nigerian and British music industry,  opening doors for emerging artists and an even bigger platform for artists in Nigeria and the diaspora to connect more.