Cabasa, a veteran Nigerian music producer and industry figure, firmly refuted the recent claim made by Senegalese-American artist Akon, who suggested his collaboration with Nigerian musicians to help the Afrobeats genre.
In a recent interview, Akan asserted that his involvement with Nigerian artists in the late 2000s and early 2010s played a key role in creating and shaping Afrobeats as a global movement. However, while chatting with Wazobia FM, ID Cabasa rejected this claim, emphasizing that while Akon was indeed part of early international collaboration, his contribution did not make him a pioneer in Afrobeats.
Cabasa acknowledges Akon with Nigerian stars (e.g. viskid and p squarebut long before Akon entered the Nigerian scene, 2face idibia, 9ice, and Timayer The foundation has been laid for Afrobeats sound and action.
He also corrected Akan’s narrative Wizkid’s Up, clarify that it is actually Banky w He discovered and signed the young star’s signature with Empire Mates Entertainment (EME), and later worked with Akon’s distribution trading record label, a partnership that should not be mistaken for guidance or discovering stories.
ID Cabasa said on his trademark Pidgin: “Akon also said that he still found 2faces, timaya, 9ice and co. So he felt that he brought dey tok to wizkid, he felt like he was like this, we all know that he was in distribution, he refused, so he refused a na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na
Kabasa stressed that Afrobeats is a collective cultural creation and evolution shaped by generations of Nigerian artists, producers and communities, rather than any individual. His remarks provide further context for ongoing debate on ownership and origins of one of Africa’s most influential music genres.
ID Cabasa answered Akon that he created Wizkid and Afrobeats. pic.twitter.com/o2pdxxantd
– 𝐀𝐬𝐚𝐤𝐲𝐆𝐑𝐍 (@asakygrn) May 10, 2025
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