How To Write Afro-Pop Songs.

In this article, we are going to focus on how to write a particular genre of song that is dominating the African soil called Afro-Pop.

In order to be a successful musician in Africa, you have to really understand what genre of music you are into, as well as how to compose songs like the professionals in your genre who are already making waves.

Afro-Pop music is known to have its origin in West Africa, predominantly Nigeria and Ghana.

Afro-Pop evolved from AfroBeats which came into existence in the ’70s and was made popular by the legendary Nigerian singer ‘Fela Kuti’.

It is worth noting that ever since AfroBeats evolved into Afro-Pop, scores of music genres which include: hip-hop, RnB, funk, jazz, reggae, dancehall, and even African traditional music have been fused into Afro-Pop.

Therefore, Afro-Pop has no doubt taken over nearly every genre of African music, and evidence can be seen in the mainstream success achieved by African-Based musicians who have gone as far as collaborating with their Western counterparts.

Having understood what Afro-Pop music is, in case you didn’t; let us quickly move on to discover how you can properly format your Afro-Pop lyrics.

Composing Afro-Pop songs is very easy because the lyrics are usually very short and easy to flow along with.

Afro-Pop is usually formatted in the following order:

Intro

Verse 1

Pre-Chorus

Chorus

Verse 2

Pre-Chorus (Repeat)

Chorus(Repeat)

Bridge

Repeat Pre-Chorus and Chorus till fade.

I’ve seen so many artists making the mistake of composing very long verses for their Afro-Pop songs, and for that reason let me outline 2 Afro-Pop songs for you to examine and use as a guide to properly compose your own Afro-Pop songs.

DaVido Aye Lyrics

Intro.

Le le l, Le le le le le le le

A le le, A le le o le

[Chorus:]

Aa yeee

(Oya shekele)

Aaa yeee

Cause you want my love o

She no want designer, She no want Ferarri, She say na my love o

You belong to meee

And I belong to her o

babyyy

You go killie somebody

They say love is blind

but I dey see am for your eyes o

Aa for your eyes o

[Verse 1:]

She fine pass Darego

She dey do like Ronaldo

My sweetie poraro (potato)

Ha! Eminado

She like e my song

She like e my song

Her favorite artiste na David O

David O

And I like what I see

I like what I see

Baby girl just come come balance for me

Come balance for me

Pre-Chorus

Yes! Aaa

Cause nobody can love you like I do, Nobody can touch e you like I do. Nobody can love you like I do, Nobody can touch you like I do

Chorus

Aa yeee

(Alelelele)

Aaa yeee

Cause you want my love o

Aa yee

(Oya shekele mama)

Aaa yee

Cause you want my love o

She no want designer, She no want Ferarri, She say na my love o

You belong to meee

And I belong to her o

babyyy

You go killie somebody

They say love is blind

but I dey see am for your eyes o

Aa for your eyes o

They say love is blind

but I dey see am for your eyes o o o o

for your eyes o

Verse 2

The baddest!

Baby girl you the baddest, Oya shakee your asset

Make e man no go forget

Emergency!

Baby you cause emergency

Baby you loose your manners

Baby you the latest e

Oya gbe si oun, dancee

Oya gbe down gently

Oya dey dancee,legendary

Oya gbe si oun for them

Pre-Chorus

Cause nobody can love you like I do, Nobody can touch e you like I do. Nobody can love you like I do, Nobody can touch you like I do.

Chorus

Aa yeee

(Alelelele)

Aaa yeee

Cause you want my love o

Aa yee

(Oya shekele mama)

Aaa yee

Cause you want my love o

She no want designer, She no want Ferarri, She say na my love o

You belong to meee

And I belong to her o

Babyyy

You go killie somebody

They say love is blind

but I dey see am for your eyes o

Aa for your eyes o

They say love is blind

but I dey see am for your eyes o o o o

for your eyes o

Tspize

O.B.O baddest

Its all about love baby.

Sometimes afro-pop songs don’t usually have a Pre-Chorus and are more simple like the one below compose by Naira Marley.

Naira Marley – Aye Lyrics

Intro.

Yo! Yo!! Rexxie pon this one

[Verse 1]

Shebi tele tele, lama fo fun won wipe

k’oma wa l’oru, toripe awa ti jade

Amo ni sinyi o,

ton ba wa losan, ton ba wa loru,

Awa n be ni be, awa o de le fo fun won

Toripe awa Tingasa, awa o de le sa fun won

[Chorus]

Aye yi o le o, (Aye yi o le), Aye lo m’aye le, (Aye lo m’aye le)

Ninu aye lo ti di f’aye, Aye lo m’aye le, (Aye lo m’aye le)

Aye yi o le o, (Aye yi o le)

Aye lo m’aye le, (Aye lo m’aye le)

Ninu aye lo ti di f’aye, Aye lo m’aye le,

[Verse 2]

O n pe Oku iya yi ni, *eyin le ma sin iya yin*

Oku your mother, *eyin le ma sin iya yin*

Oku momsi yin, *eyin le ma sin iya yin*

Oku your Mama, *eyin le ma sin iya yin*

Nigba tin jale, tin mo ba teni kan je, ti mo ni ti’re ma da,

E’kon binu ori lasan,

Ori ma mu won,

Owo ma ba won,

Ti olorun ba ti gba’dura mi, Bukata mi a fu’ye

[Chorus]

Aye yi o le o, (Aye yi o le)

Aye lo m’aye le, (Aye lo m’aye le)

Ninu aye lo ti di f’aye, Aye lo m’aye le,

(Aye lo m’aye le)

Aye yi o le o,

Aye lo m’aye le,

Ninu aye lo ti di f’aye, Aye lo m’aye le,

[Outro]

Ninu aye lo ti di f’aye, Aye lo m’aye le,

Yo!

Aye yi o le o,

Aye lo m’aye le, (Yo! Rexxie one this one)

Ninu aye lo ti di f’aye, (Yo!) Aye lo m’aye le,

Yo! Yo!

SpyriMix

I hope you will use this formatting when you try to compose your afro-pop songs and give your music that professional touch that will put you on the frontline of upcoming artists who are capable of attracting industry heads with their music.

I also advise you to download more lyrics of Afro-Pop songs and the music and study more of the formatting to understand more on this topic.

Good Luck!