“I saw Burna Boy having a conversation with Elton John recently,” he says.<\/p>\n
Once upon a time, it might have been surprising to see the West African genre’s breakout star chatting to British pop royalty.<\/p>\n
But Eddie, who’s been hosting the UK’s first Official Afrobeats Chart Show for the past 12 months, isn’t so shocked.<\/p>\n
“It’s a year that’s been really significant for Afrobeats,” he says. “The growth, the sound that’s penetrated around the world.”<\/p>\n
The genre – a mix of African and Western influences – has seen a massive rise in popularity over recent years, with songs regularly crossing over into the mainstream.<\/p>\n
Burna Boy and Wizkid, two of Nigeria’s biggest stars, have headlined some of the world’s major music festivals and both took home Grammys in 2021.<\/p>\n
And some of the premier names in music, like Beyonce and Drake, have also featured Afrobeats artists on their albums.<\/p>\n
Burna Boy, who has dominated the Afrobeats chart since it launched, has been its poster child.<\/p>\n
His recent hit Last Last spent a whopping 13 consecutive weeks at number one – the longest time permitted before a track is retired from the top spot.<\/p>\n
He’s also worked with top names including Ed Sheeran, Stormzy, Jorja Smith and rapper Dave.<\/p>\n
“Everyone has seen Burna’s rise transcend the west African Nigerian sound into the UK sound,” says Eddie.<\/p>\n
“And more importantly he’s been able to just go around the world waving the flag of Afrobeats.”<\/p>\n
Last Last is among 11 tracks to have crossed over into the UK’s Official Singles Chart Top 100 and Top 40, both peaking in the top 5.<\/p>\n
It was pipped to the overall top slot by Fireboy DML’s Peru featuring Ed Sheeran, the best-performing track based on streams and sales in the UK.<\/p>\n
“Whether it’s new or established artists breaking new barriers around the world, selling out venues, stadiums, collaborating with other artists, it’s just been beautiful to see the growth,” says Eddie.<\/p>\n
“Especially here in the UK where we have at least four Afrobeats songs in the official charts as well.”<\/p>\n
Eddie is preparing to celebrate the Official Afrobeats Chart Show’s one-year anniversary later on BBC Radio 1Xtra.<\/p>\n
And he’s hoping year two is going to be even more exciting.<\/p>\n
“For me the collaborations are going to get crazier and crazier,” says Eddie, thinking back to Burna Boy’s chat with Elton John.<\/p>\n
“Wouldn’t we want to see that sort of collaboration as well?<\/p>\n
“I see it getting wider and wider and a new generation taking on to it.<\/p>\n
“I’ve always felt the music was going to get here – it’s been about people having the privilege of being able to catch up with this music.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you needed proof that Afrobeats has found its way firmly into western pop culture, Eddie Kadi reckons he’s got it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":18895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,31],"tags":[7,14,32],"class_list":{"0":"post-18898","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"category-music","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-music"},"yoast_head":"\n