MUTIAT LAWORE 
Nonso Temisan Ajufo, popularly known as DJ Big N, has expressed concern over what he described as the worst decline in Afrobeats’ global influence in two decades.
DJ Big N urged Nigerian artistes to re-evaluate their creative direction and pricing models, warning that without a shift in approach, Afrobeats risks losing its hard-won global prominence.
“Afrobeats right now is at its worst position in the last 20 years. And everyone, from musicians to music executives, has a part to play. You have to understand that the quality of the product is important in every way.
Speaking in a recent interview with Echo Room, DJ-Big N blamed both artists and music executives for compromising the genre’s quality in their quest to appeal to international audiences.
He criticised the increasing dilution of Afrobeats’ original sound, saying that it has resulted in less authentic and lower-quality music that fails to connect with global listeners.
“The uniqueness of Afrobeats is what made the world fall in love with it,” he said, stressing the need to preserve the genre’s authenticity. He also highlighted the issue of rising performance fees among Afrobeats artistes, which he said have made many acts unaffordable even within Nigeria.
