Afrobeats boom not benefiting Nigeria, says Baba Dee

Veteran musician and cultural advocate Dare Fasasi aka Baba Dee has raised concerns over Nigeria’s ability to benefit meaningfully from the global success of Afrobeats, blaming the situation on poor structure and weak regulation within the country’s creative industry.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Nation, Baba Dee, who is also the elder brother of late music icon Sound Sultan, said despite Afrobeats enjoying unprecedented international attention, the economic returns flowing back to Nigeria remain limited.

According to him, the major issue lies in ownership and control of music publishing, which he said is largely dominated by foreign companies.

“Afrobeats is not paying Nigeria because Nigeria is not structured,” he said. “All these big publishing of big Afrobeats music is owned by international companies. So with everything you are hearing, it is their percentage that is coming to Nigeria instead of the publishing itself.”

He added that the absence of strong regulatory frameworks has left the industry exposed, allowing external interests to take advantage of Nigeria’s creative output.

“The government cannot even regulate an industry like that for us,” Baba Dee said, stressing that without proper policies and enforcement, local stakeholders will continue to lose out financially despite the genre’s global expansion.

Reflecting on the cultural roots of Afrobeats, the musician described Nigerian music as a natural force that was always destined for global recognition, driven by deep cultural expression and talent.

“Nigerian music is a child of destiny that was meant to explode because the talent was there,” he said. “When you talk about black culture, the source is here.”

Baba Dee noted that African sounds continue to resonate strongly across the diaspora, citing countries like Jamaica, where Nigerian music enjoys wide acceptance.

“In Jamaica, they play Nigerian music everywhere because it resonates with something within them that they don’t know,” he said, explaining that cultural connections often draw global audiences back to African roots.

While optimistic about the future growth of Afrobeats, he warned that success alone is not enough if it does not translate into tangible benefits for Nigerians and the country at large.

“Afrobeats is going to be bigger than this,” he said. “But when it does, does it profit the people? Does it profit the nation?”

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