Longevity in the music industry manifests in different ways. Some artists have maintained their commercial prowess, selling just as much as they did at their peak, as they continue their careers for decades. However, others have continued to have a cultural impact and influence that can outpace their commercial dominance. One way this happens is when an artist spawns a musical dynasty that keeps their name or musical style alive in the game, and those artists from that dynasty go on to influence culture thanks to their musical forebear.
Globally, we have seen the rise of ‘Taydaughter’-artists whose style is very similar to Taylor Swift’s lyricism and sound like Gracie Abrams. Similarly, we have been witnessing a continued search for the next Beyoncé. Although this trend has gained significant popularity recently, it is not a new phenomenon. People have long understood new artists by placing them alongside established legends in the game, and this isn’t limited to Western audiences either. Within the Nigerian and larger Afrobeats space, however, it seems no other artist has had their style as imitated as much as trailblazer Wande Coal.
This ‘Wandecoalization’–borrowing the word from Melvitto’s recent tweet–of Afropop wouldn’t shock anyone who paid attention to Wande Coal’s releases in the 2000s. His harmonisation, the production, and the shocking rawness packed in each record made it feel like some of the best music Afropop had to offer during that era, and years later, those songs feel like some of the best to have come out of the genre.
‘‘I like to think that Wande Coal is peerless in regards to his versatility and ability to enhance the work of a producer,’’ music and culture journalist Ify Obi shares. ‘‘I rate Wande Coal highly as one of the Afrobeats’ forebears. His music laid the groundwork for contemporary artists looking to blend R&B with afrobeats while maintaining the uptempo flair of afrobeats.’’ Wale Oloworekende, an editor at The NATIVE, shares the same view, noting: ‘‘He’s comfortably a legend of Afropop. One way or the other, he’s stuck around, and his past work is very integral to understanding the evolutionary era of Afropop. The only case to be made against him is the paucity of his catalogue, but he’s such a gifted artist that he still stands out when all is said and done.’’
Wande Coal’s influence in music can be felt around you, often in bits and pieces, snippets and particular harmonisation choices, but how much can we rightfully claim is directly Wande Coal? Or better yet, who can we establish as part of Coal’s musical dynasty? Who are Wande Coal’s sons and daughters in the music industry who, while naturally having their musical signatures and perspectives, have been sonically shaped and influenced by, admittedly, one of the GOATs of Afropop?
Chances are, if an artist is making Afropop, you can hear Wande Coal in them. With most of the recent Afropop stars being late millennials and Gen Z-think people between the ages of 30 and 22, this slew of artists was shaped by Coal’s music. ‘‘Back in 2006-2009, Wande’s music was so inescapable,’’ Obi tells The NATIVE. ‘‘I remember birthday parties back then and how we always waited for the DJs to play ‘You Bad’ because no party was ever complete without that song. At the time, it just felt like he had been a star for such a long time. I didn’t realise until I was much older that he was just a newbie during that era. I now understand that feeling to have come from the fact that there was so much clarity in his vocals and how skilled he was at crafting the catchiest and most quotable bridges that made his songs unforgettable.’’
There is also the impact of his magnum opus, Mushin 2 Mo’Hits,’ the definitive Afropop Bible still mentioned in Afropop discourse today. It serves as the cornerstone for many people’s listening experience. ‘‘His debut album, ‘Mushin 2 Mo’Hits,’ is such a high watermark for Afropop, and it’s still referenced in rarefied terms because everything came together so perfectly–the instrumentation, approach, lyrical content, and execution,” Nelson C.J., a Nigerian journalist, notes. “That album shifted the genre and firmly established Wande Coal’s genius. I think many people wrongly call a lot of stuff classics, but ‘Mushin 2 Mo’Hits’ is an undisputed classic.’’
It’s not hard to surmise that nearly every Afropop artist who defined the late 2010s and early 2020s has been influenced in some fashion by Wande Coal. When Afrofusion and Afropop were all the rage a few years back, and, even now, whenever vocal-powered emotiveness is the more dominant feeling in a record, it is hard not to hear Wande Coal. ‘‘There are a lot of artists that–directly or indirectly– take influence from Wande Coal,’’ Oloworekende shares. ‘‘Stylistically, he’s perhaps the most-imitated Nigerian music act from the early to mid-2010s. I’ve heard and seen Fireboy DML and Oxlade talk about how important Wande Coal is to the type of music they make.’’
Obi echoes this, noting: ‘‘No one does Wande Coal like Wande Coal, but it’s not difficult to see that a few contemporary Nigerian artists like Fireboy DML and Oxlade have taken a page or two out of his book when it comes to their vocal texture and sometimes, writing. Cruel Santino also recently sampled ‘Se Ope’ on his track ‘Trilogy.’”
There are consistent picks for who makes up this musical dynasty. Artists like Oxlade, who himself noted that Wande Coal is his biggest musical inspiration, and Fireboy DML are very clear examples of Coal’s lasting impact on Afropop. There are a few less obvious artists who have earned their spots in this dynasty. Reekado Banks is another artist who isn’t just inspired by Coal but is enthused about talking about it, noting in 2021 that Wande Coal was the first artist he fell in love with and how Coal inspired Banks’s approach to making music.
Artists like Joeboy should fall under this category. I find it hard to imagine a world where Joeboy would exist the way he does musically without Wande Coal setting the precedent that he did back then. The style of melodic vocal-powered fusion bops that Joeboy is known for is eerily reminiscent of Wande Coal. One of the reasons it is so important to give Wande Coal all his flowers is that when you look at the run of the people who are influenced and inspired by him, they have kept us dancing and in good spirits through the years, sure. They have all orchestrated and played active roles in making Afropop global and are the reason why ‘Afrobeats to the world’ became a reality.
Take Wande Coal out of the equation, and the building blocks of Afropop start to disintegrate.
