Nigerian Afrobeats singer, Omah Didia, popularly known as Omah Lay, has expressed concern over what he described as a decline in the quality of Nigerian music and the Afrobeats genre in recent years.

The “Soso” hitmaker said many musicians seem to be prioritising quick financial success and notoriety over originality and depth in music composition.

In an interview with the ViewsFrance podcast, the singer claimed that the trend has an impact on both the worldwide impression of African music and culture as well as the standard of Afrobeats.

Omah Lay emphasised the need to create music that resonates beyond commercial appeal and challenged his colleagues in the industry to place a higher value on craftsmanship.

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He emphasised that a fresh dedication to excellence and uniqueness will support Afrobeats’ expansion and serve as an inspiration to the upcoming generation of musicians.

Omah Lay said, “Nigerian Music is drifting towards a place where artists are not putting so much effort into the art anymore.

“And that is also hurting my culture. Most artists are just playing with music these days and really aren’t trying to improve the sound or the whole creative process around it.

“It is just quick money, and it is really dipping the audience and the new generation, that level of music is what they are growing to, and they are even doing worse.

“I don’t want to blame the globalisation of Afrobeats for that, but that could also be one of the reasons.

Generally, it is a good thing that Afrobeats is happening in the world, and people are getting to know us from our music. But I just wish we could strive to raise the bar a little more with the craft.”