What's Going on with Billboard’s Top Afrobeats Song Category?

Three of the five songsnominated for Top Afrobeats Song at the upcoming Billboard Music Awards (BBMAs) are by Tyla –“Water,”“Truth or Dare,” and“Jump” with Gunna and Skillibeng. The South African singer remains a constant fixture in Afrobeats categories, despite her fairly recent remarks about Western awards organizers lumping and conflating everything related to African music as simply Afrobeats. Tems’ gospel-informed“Me & U” is also nominated.

Perhaps what stands out most from the nominees for Top Afrobeats Song is the inclusion of “Move” by Adam Port and Stryv, respectively, German and American producers/DJs. The song features vocals from American singer Malachiii, and its October-released remix includes a guest appearance by Camilla Cabello, the American singer of Cuban and Mexican descent. With no African artist involved in the song, it’s puzzling that it’s been nominated for Billboard's Top Afrobeats Song award.

Described as an “irresistible, lilting Afrobeats meets melodic house” fare, “Move” is a breezy listen, clearly informed by the South African house music of producers and DJs like Black Coffee, Caiiro, and Shimza. Malachiii’s melodic intonations consist of a vague Afrobeats flavor.

First gaining traction as a leak due to being a crowd favorite at sets Adam Port played worldwide, “Move” has been successful since its official June drop, withover 40 million plays on YouTube and more than360 million streams on Spotify. It's currentlythe No. 1 song on the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart, a position held for five weeks.

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The nomination of “Move” and its general association with Afrobeats brings back the conversation on the criteria of what artists and songs should be considered for Afrobeats-related awards. When the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart launched, there were concerns about how it would impact the perception of African music. While many worried that it would only represent Nigerian music, primarily because of its stateside popularity compared to music from other African countries, the categorization of “Move” as Afrobeats is concerning.Not all African music is Afrobeats, but it was expected that music made by African artists would be the sole priority for the chart.

This nomination continues a worrying trend of non-African artists being considered for Afrobeats and African music-related awards. At the MTV VMAs, R&B icon Usher wasnominated for Best Afrobeats for his Pheelz-assisted single “Ruin.” Chris Brown's “Sensational,” featuring Davido and Lojay, will compete for Best African Music Performance at next year’s Grammys. At least those songs have Nigerian collaborators.

The fact that the U.S. Afrobeats chart informs the Top Afrobeats Song category, and “Move" has been on the chart for 23 weeks, gives it a solid chance to win the award on December 12, when the ceremony will be held. Tyla’s “Water” is arguably the favorite to win, though, with the global smash topping the U.S. afrobeats chart forover 50 weeks, and was only deposed by “Move” recently.

Tyla is also the most nominated African artist at this year’s Billboard Awards. The South African singer is up for Top Afrobeats Artist, Top R&B Artist, and Top Female R&B Artist, while “Water” is nominated for Top R&B Song, and her self-titled debut album is competing in the Top R&B Album category.

Joining Tyla in the Top Afrobeats Artist category is the all-Nigerian cast of Rema, Burna Boy, Asake, and Tems.

American Nigerian breakout artistShaboozey is up for awards, including Top New Artist and Top Song Sales Artist. His Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single, “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” is nominated for Top Hot 100 Song, Top Streaming Song, Top Selling Song, and Top Country Song. Tyla and Shaboozey are two of the most nominated first-timers at this year’s BBMAs; the former has eight nominations, and the latter is up for six awards. Tems is the only other African artist with multiple nods — in both Afrobeats categories.