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African music has long been the world's foremost repository of movement-inducing beats. In a part of the world that's as diverse and brimming with talent as Africa is, you can expect to find some of the most exciting music there. And once every so often, the world's spotlight shines on a gem of a local scene that steals and hijacks the hips of everyone who hears the music.
Right now, that spotlight is on Afrobeats. Coming from the West African region and the country of Nigeria, it's taken the world by storm, led by artists such as Davido, Wizkid and Burna Boy. Oluwaseun Lloyd, also known as Banko in the music scene, has been a key participant in the genre's development for the past decade. With extensive experience in the music industry, Lloyd executive produced Davido's Timeless album, which has garnered three Grammy nominations this year.
Lloyd explains that the success of artists from the scene, such as Davido, was grounded in the culture they all came from.
"We all come from a fusion background because, before Afrobeats became the top music genre locally, it was hip hop and R&B. A lot of artists grew up listening to that," Lloyd explains. "So what is happening now is the fusion, and that's why sometimes, a musician from the West could pick up an Afrobeats song and easily love it."
But even though the groundwork was there, it took a lot of work from local talent for Afrobeats to flourish the way it does today. And the local talent involved weren't only the artists — they were producers, too, as well as music executives such as Oluwaseun Lloyd.
His journey in the industry was closely related to that of Davido, one of the most notable Afrobeats artists at home and abroad. The two met when Davido was still a teenage music producer, and Lloyd was finishing college and managing his brother, who wanted to become an artist.
When Davido decided to quit producing and start working on his artistic expression for himself, Lloyd was among the first people he told. "We met in London and recorded a few songs. We recorded a song with my brother," Lloyd recalls. "We recorded Davido's first-ever single. I had to return to Canada for graduation, and he said he was going to Nigeria to try to blow up in the music space."
Success never comes easily, but thanks to his talent and willingness to do the work, Davido was on his way to becoming a real star. When the two reunited in Nigeria, Lloyd was offered the position of road manager for Davido, which he held between 2012 and 2016. During that time, the producer-turned-artist started to turn heads, eventually leading to talks about Davido signing for a major label.
"He would get signed to a major record label, Sony Music. And at that time, we were independently distributing music ourselves," Lloyd explains. "But when he got on to Sony Music, we decided to open up an independent record label in Nigeria. That was DMW, Davido Music Worldwide. And then I became the president, the head of the independent label."
Davido and Oluwaseun Lloyd continued to develop the Afrobeats musical scene through their work with the DMW label, which they also co-owned. Even though Davido wasn't on it, his name attracted enough fresh talent to make DMW a place where talent wanted to come to make it.
As Davido's stardom became global and major labels paid more attention to what was happening in West Africa's music scene, locals who knew the scenes and the talent became a valuable asset. When Sony first approached Lloyd to work with them, he turned the offer down.
The second time Sony came calling, he had a different answer, and in 2019, Oluwaseun Lloyd became Sony Music West Africa's general manager. From his position, he was able to use some of the strategies West African artists that made a breakthrough abroad perfected. The primary method was and still is organizing collaborations and remixes to gain entry into the American and European markets. Lloyd is acknowledged as a bridge between this field and the Western world, known for his ability to make things happen.
"I'm also the artists and business development director for Sony Music West Africa. So pretty much our main businesses, artists and music, both local and international," he says. "So recording music, signing artists, collaborating with internationals."
Davido's breakthrough in the global music scene was a significant shift for every artist creating music in the Afrobeats. And as the world's awareness of the scene changed, so did the music, taking on more Western influences with every new collaboration. Thanks to the interest of major labels and people like Oluwaseun Lloyd, Afrobeats will be around for a long while, giving it enough time to continue evolving as its artists grow.