Anyone who missed out on the most recent editions of the multi-day Afro Nation festival in Miami and Portim\u00e3o, Portugal \u2014 the premiere global event for West African-inspired Afrobeats music that attracts up to 40,000 people \u2014 could have experienced a neatly condensed version Friday night at Houston\u2019s Toyota Center.<\/p>\n
The main draw was Nigerian American singer Davido, fresh from his headlining date at Portugal\u2019s Afro Nation and one of the key pioneers of a seductive style that has seeped into mainstream pop thanks to the likes of Drake and Ed Sheeran. He capped a four-hour night that included a parade of singers and DJs before him as well as a terrific, 15-minute set from his backing band, The Compozers, that begged for more. He even turned over part of his time to Mayorkun, an up-and-coming singer with whom he\u2019s working.<\/p>\n
DAVIDO AND BEYOND: The six Afrobeats performers you need to know.<\/p>\n
The result was a concert experience that took awhile to get going \u2014 he might have been better off giving The Compozers a full set and foregoing everyone else \u2014 but the fractured, improvised sensibility also gave it the feel of both a reunion of old friends and a group celebration of Afrobeats’ success. Even the city of Houston got into the act with Councilman Edward Pollard coming on stage to award Davido a proclamation.<\/p>\n
Afrobeats band The Compozers
\nAfrobeats band The Compozers<\/p>\n
Cary Darling
\nOnce Davido finally hit the stage, his 90-minute set underscored both Afrobeats’ promise and growing pains. At their best, Davido\u2019s songs, such as \u201cFeel,\u201d \u201cElectricity\u201d and \u201cFall,\u201d have a sweet and soulful lilt that is introducing Western pop ears to an African melodic groove that is absolutely captivating. But those qualities sometimes got lost in the great expanse of a sports arena like the Toyota Center. On top of that, his five-piece band \u2014 supplemented by two singers, a squad of dancers, and a hype man sprawled across a sleekly modernist set design \u2014 toughened up his songs, making them more suitable for an arena but robbing them of some of their subtlety.<\/p>\n
SOUTH AFRICAN AFRO-POP: Amapiano and other styles are also gaining attention.<\/p>\n
Still, the raucous energy of both Davido and the enthusiastic crowd \u2014 singing and dancing along to such tracks as \u201cRisky\u201d and \u201cFor the Road\u201d \u2014 ultimately proved infectious. And by the time they ended with a sweaty, funky \u201cUnavailable,\u201d just about everyone was cruising on an Afrobeats high.<\/p>\n
It was almost enough to make you want to book a ticket to the next Afro Nation festival Aug. 19-20 in Detroit where Davido is headlining the second night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Nigerian American singer who’s helping bring African music to the global charts got off to an uneven start but ended with a rousing finish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":30821,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,31],"tags":[7,14,32],"class_list":{"0":"post-30824","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