Exploring the Rise of Afrobeats in Latin America

Afrobeats has gone from Lagos to Lima! The genre and its artists have found an audience with Latin American listeners, boosted by prominent collaborations between Latin and African musicians.

Afrobeats in Latin America

by Alejandra Arevalo of Chartmetric Blog

If you’re on “LatinTok,” there is no way of escaping the song “Santa” by Puerto Rican reggaeton artist Rauw Alejandro, Jamaican producer Rvssian, and Nigerian Afrobeats artist Ayra Starr. The track joins a growing list of successful Latin-African collaborations including some of the biggest names in both markets. 

Released on April 4, “Santa” has racked up more than a million TikTok videos in just over two months, thanks to its catchy beat and simple dance trend. Prominent Latin artists and content creators have danced to it, including Puerto Rican rapper Young Miko and Mexican influencer Domelipa, who is the ninth most followed account on TikTok. The track has gotten over 310 million Spotify streams and 82 million YouTube views, peaking at No. 36 in the global YouTube charts a month after its release.

It makes sense that African artists are looking towards Latin America to expand their global reach. Not only are Latin artists some of the most popular in the world, but Latin music fans already have an innate affinity for African sounds. Despite being geographically distant, Latin America and Africa have a shared musical history dating back to European colonization which brought Africans to the Americas. African instruments and rhythms are the foundation of Latin genres like salsa, reggaeton, and samba, among others. Now, younger Latin American listeners are reconnecting with this history through Latin-Afrobeats tracks that resonate with their cultural heritage while also mixing modern sounds and lyrics.

Thanks to the success of “Santa,” Starr’s Spotify audience is now mostly located in Latin American cities, including Santiago, Lima, and Bogotá. However, this listenership hasn’t yet turned into a following, as no Latin American cities appear in her top cities by Instagram followers. Breaking into a new market is no easy feat, but Starr is actively trying to connect with her new Spanish-speaking audience by making content in their language.

Starr is following in the footsteps of fellow Nigerian Afrobeats star Rema, who released a chart-topping collaboration with Colombian artist Feid late last year. “Bubalu” is currently Rema’s third most streamed song (beaten out by the two different versions of “Calm Down”) and marked his first time singing in Spanish as well as his first appearance on Billboard’s Latin chart. Thanks to this collaboration, cities like Bogotá and Santiago are also in his top audience locations, home to 354k and 277k Spotify monthly listeners respectively. 

The growing popularity of this musical fusion can also be seen in Spotify’s decision to create an editorial playlist dedicated exclusively to Latin-African collaborations. “Afro Ritmo” has seen a steady follower increase in the past year, reaching 117k followers this July. 

One of the playlist’s most recent additions is “Low Key” by Colombian artist Beéle, Argentine artist Maria Becerra, and Nigerian artist Joeboy, brought together by Colombian producer Humby. The music video, which has 3.6 million views, features the artists singing in the streets of Colombia, Nigeria, and Argentina and highlighting the diversity of their cultures and hometowns. “‘Low Key’ is historic; it is the first song that unites Colombian and Nigerian coastal culture in the most authentic way,” Humby said in an interview with Remezcla this June. Just like Starr and Rema, Joeboy also has Bogotá among his top audience locations following the growing popularity of his recent collaboration.

Additionally, there are dozens of non-editorial playlists on Spotify that exclusively include reggaeton and Afrobeats songs, showing the growing overlap between the two fanbases. Some of them include “Latin & Afro New Sounds” with 32k followers, “Afrobeat Latin Believers” with 31k followers, and “Afro & Latina Play Forever” with 38k followers. 

Going back to their roots

While one-off Latin-African tracks are on the rise, some Latin artists are tapping into their personal backgrounds to make Afro-inspired projects as well. A year ago, Puerto Rican Afro-Latino artist Ozuna released his seven-track EP, Afro, which diverges from the reggaeton sounds he is known for to instead lean into Afrobeats. “Right now, all the music coming from different countries such as Mexico, Chile, and Argentina is betting on a similar rhythm, but I’ve decided to bet on this,” he said in an interview when asked if he doubted himself about releasing an Afrobeats project. “If it works, it works and if it doesn’t, we just keep going.”

Ozuna has publicly shared that he is a huge fan of Afrobeats so it makes sense that he tapped African artists for the EP. The project’s most popular track is “Eva Longoria” featuring Afrobeats golden boy Davido. The track now has 54 million Spotify streams and 12.5 million YouTube views worldwide, but was particularly popular in Spain, where it reached the top 10 songs on the Spotify charts in Spain a couple of months after its release. 

Another prominent feature in the EP is a Spanglish remix of “Soso,” Nigerian artist Omah Lay’smost famous track. The track has over 20 million Spotify streams, nearly 14 million YouTube views, and dozens of positive comments praising the duo. “Reggaeton × Afrobeats is a combo the world might not be able to stand. Y’all better be ready,” reads one of the top comments. 

Brazilian artist Anitta also showcased her African background on her most recent album Funk Generation. The music video for her track “Aceita” shows several religious images of Umbanda and Camdomble–Brazilian religions that stem from West African religious practices. With nearly 3.2 million YouTube views, the video sparked immediate controversy due to the religious rituals it showed. Anitta was quick to call out this behavior on Instagram as “religious racism” and went on to share more about her cultural practices. “Yoruba comes from African culture and its main characteristic is highlighting nature, not making rituals to find a boyfriend,” she wrote. “These people were taken out of their country by force as slaves and died and were tortured for expressing their faith.”

Besides “Aceita,” the whole album is a nod to Afro-Brazilian culture as it is focused on funk carioca, a music style born from samba, hip-hop, and afrobeat. “My new project is very special because it signifies my intention to create an international funk album, something I’ve always dreamed of,” Anitta told Billboard. “It’s fulfilling to see that funk is now a source of inspiration and art in the global music scene—a genre with value, awards, and admiration.”

Recently, the Brazilian artist also jumped onto the Afrobeats train by collaborating with Starr and Coco Jones on “Woman Commando” for Starr’s new album, The Year I Turned 21. With over 3.1 million Spotify streams since its release, the track is at the top of “Afro Ritmo” playlist and has made it onto the Apple Music charts in over 121 countries around the world.

Recently, the Brazilian artist also jumped onto the Afrobeats train by collaborating with Starr and Coco Jones on “Woman Commando” for Starr’s new album, The Year I Turned 21. With over 3.1 million Spotify streams since its release, the track is at the top of “Afro Ritmo” playlist and has made it onto the Apple Music charts in over 121 countries around the world.

What’s next for Latin-African beats

Thanks to the increasing popularity of African music worldwide, we can expect more Latin artists with African roots to create projects highlighting this musical and cultural heritage. At the same time, the success of Latin-Afrobeats tracks will hopefully lead to more collaborations between these two genres — leading to a new wave of musical cross-pollination with the right ingredients to become a global success. 

Based on current trends, Latin America’s interest in Afrobeats is growing, but it’s still at an early stage. Despite fans’ interest in the genre, they are still in the discovery stage of the fan journey, where they are listening to the music but not yet subscribing or buying concert tickets. As one of the largest music consumer groups in the world, Latin American fans have played a crucial role in the rise of local genres to global domination, like K-pop and regional Mexican music. Earning Latin America’s support would further cement Afrobeats’ path to mainstream. Releasing feature tracks is a first step, but more targeted strategies have to be put in place to turn these passionate new listeners into loyal fans.

Visualizations by Nicki Camberg and Crasianne Tirado, and cover image by Crasianne Tirado. Data as of July 24, 2024.