Nasty C also asserted that some rappers switched from hip-hop to the Afrobeats genre after the song made the rounds.
By Kehinde Okeowo
South African rapper and songwriter Nsikayesizwe David Junior Ngcobo, better known as Nasty C, has traced the global reception of African music back to ace Nigerian singer Ayodeji Balogun, alias Wizkid.
The ‘Strings and Bling’ crooner made this known recently during an appearance as a guest on a podcast.
According to him, Wizkid’s 2016 collaborative hit with Canadian superstar Drake, ‘One Dance’, opened doors internationally for modern artists from the African continent.
He further noted that after the song made waves, Afrobeats became so lucrative that some rappers even switched from hip-hop to the genre.
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Speaking during the interview, Nasty C said: “Wizkid and Drake’s collaboration on ‘One Dance’ opened the door for African artists.
“After the collaboration, African music received a significant boost. During some of my interviews in Nigeria and Ghana, the hosts told me that some rappers were even switching to Afrobeats because of how lucrative it had become after Wizkid’s collaboration with Drake.”
Meanwhile, Drake’s ‘One Dance’, which featured Wizkid and British singer Kyla, holds the Guinness World Record as the first song to reach the one-billion-streams mark on Spotify.
The song, which incorporates elements of Afrobeats, dancehall, and pop, is widely regarded as one of the tracks that brought global attention to the Afrobeats genre.
Wizkid is credited as a co-writer, co-producer, and performer on the track.
