What's a King to a God? - The Afrobeats Big 3
Will Burna Boy, Davido and Wizkid continue their reign, or will a new generation of Afrobeats gods emerge?
What is the ‘Big 3?’
No, I am not talking about the US-rap triumvirate of Drake, J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar, who are locked in the most boring rap beef known to man.
The ‘Big 3’ refers to the Afrobeats (is this still a thing?) Burna Boy, Davido and Wizkid triad. They are the pop deities who reside on Mount Olympus.
These three acts have ruled the Nigerian pop scene since 2018, with Damini Ogulu being the last to take his throne after the international success of his runaway hit single ‘Ye.’
It must be noted these three acts are bundled together because of their international success.
Don Jazzy once called them the most stubborn set of Afrobeats acts ever because they have refused to budge from their premier positions.
Think about it, Wizkid, the Star Boy, opened the door for a new-gen of pop acts with the release of his classic debut album ‘Superstar’ in 2011. Davido was quickly on his heels, releasing his first album ‘O.B.O - The Genesis,’ a year later.
Burna Boy’s first two mixtapes dropped in 2011; however, his ascendancy wasn’t as linear as his two contemporaries/rivals until he attained international success with the ‘Outside’ album.
Today, the ‘Big 3’ has monopolized the culture of contemporary Nigerian pop music. The trio's music not only stretches across Africa but the globe.
They have shaped narratives, started trends, broken records, set new records and shifted culture many times.
How Do You Get Into the ‘Big 3?’
The first iteration of the Afrobeats triumvirate was D’banj, P-Square and 2Baba. 9ice tried to expand this ‘Big 3’ to the ‘Big 4,’ but lacked consistency and intensity after his seminal sophomore album ‘Gongo Aso,’ in 2008.
The first ‘Big 3’ achieved their god-like status by sticking to a formula, releasing mammoth albums in 2-3 year intervals. These albums (a few are classics) were backed by smash hit singles.
They ran the scene from 2003, when 2Baba released his first album, till 2011-2012, just when the new set came in.
They were sparing with their offerings. The new guys, however, turned the studio into their trap house. They favoured flooding the market with singles, freestyles, leaks and collaborations. They came in with bazookas and machine guns, shooting up the music business.
By 2013/2014, it was clear that the ‘Big 3’ was now Davido, Olamide and Wizkid.
While 2Baba and co; would drop an album and take a 2-3 year break, Wizkid, Davido, and Olamide would have released at least 10-15 songs each. Their unwritten rule must have been to drop at least two hits per quarter.
With this strategy, they cornered the market and gave little wriggle room to the old-timers.
It is also crucial to state that their ascendancy came when a new set of young Nigerians were coming of age and wanted their heroes.
Burna Boy and Tiwa Savage also got in on the act of pushing out songs at a fast pace, but new-school ‘Big 3’ released so much music that it’s a miracle they didn’t burn out.
If you look at Wizkid’s discography, you would see he took a three-year gap between his first album and his sophomore (Ayo ‘Joy’). Within that gap, he made sure he never went M.I.A, constantly releasing singles.
After 2012, Davido did not release an album until 7 years later. The fact that he achieved arguably the best run of contemporary pop music in 2017 makes the gap between both albums more remarkable.
Olamide went gung-ho by dropping albums every year from 2011-2017. He also jumped on numerous remixes and dropped songs that never made it to his annual albums.
Burna Boy regularly dropped albums, but despite the controversies that rocked the early stage of his career, he consistently dropped hits. This was a period when his albums were not cultural statements like his post-2018 repertoire.
It was clear what these acts did, pump the market with ‘bangers’. They clearly understood that the genre now favoured hits (especially the elusive club hits or dance hits ) over albums. They were relentless. Their intensity was robotic.
By 2018, as Olamide was perfecting his YBNL imprint to make it into a proper shop, and focusing on being a huncho than an artist, Burna Boy began to make moves into the three-man collective.
His ‘Outside’ album kick-started the second era of his career, and with the success of ‘Ye’, he began to morph into the African Giant.
This year was also when a new generation of pop acts would start to emerge. After the brief alte interlude, Nigeria had a fresh crop of acts, who had the spirit, grace and talent to handle mainstream pressure and demands.
2018/2019 witnessed the rise of Fireboy, Joeboy and Rema. In the pandemic year, Omah Lay came out of the woodwork. Other acts soon followed.
The modus operandi for the new cats is in tandem with the Afrobeats ancestors. They are not in a rush to assert themselves, favouring more lyrically driven singles and albums over the constant release of club bangers.
This approach has suited Burna Boy also. His are now landmarks, and there isn’t a frenzy for him to feed the machine with a new banger every month.
Davido and Wizkid have also adjusted to the new clime. Wizkid dropped 'Made In Lagos' in 2020, adored by critics and his rabid fanbase. Davido's 2023 album 'Timeless' was the album of the year. The Big 3 now strike with efficiency.
Here comes the question, who is the new ‘Big 3’ or should it be expanded to the 'Big 5' to accommodate the newbies?
Only God knows how long Burna Boy, Davido and Wizkid will continue their reign. These guys have been counted out many times in their careers only to bounce back with new vigour. At least two of them are planning to drop an album this year.
My new names to make up the new triad are Asake, Omah Lay and Rema.
Asake borrowed the template for his boss, Olamide, and flooded the game in 2022 by releasing hit single after hit single, forcing his way to the top of the charts with his neo-fuji style. The climax was an epic debut album that turned dance halls into a fever dream of log drums and laser lights.
Omah Lay broke a new dimension in Afrobeats, by choosing to sing about the internal struggles of dealing with fame and mental health, rather than composing fast food music.
Rema - is the wildcard, the enigma who can produce lamba today, trap tomorrow and pop the next day. He is a shapeshifter.
I believe these three have the right credentials to be the next three-headed monster.
Wizkid is adorned by millions. Davido is loved by many, and Burna Boy - love him or hate him - you need him.
To be a pop-god and cultural colossus, an artist must be able to insert himself into Nigerian pop culture and assert his presence in the lives of millions of Nigerians.
His personality must mean something to the everyday person. It requires being a true star, a rock star in the classic sense. He must be a god, worshipped by people who find meaning in their songs and their existence.
You must be culture. You must be afrobeats. You must be colossal. You must have that ‘je ne sais quoi.’
And there is also a question of consistency. You must drop hit after hit until when your brief absence creates a gulp in space and time.
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Very well written 👏🏾
Brilliant piece AOT2! I think FireboyDML may have something to say about your prediction of the future 'Big 3'. I give him an edge over Omah Lay