‘Akon Didn’t Discover Afrobeats’ – ID Cabasa Counters Singer’s Claim

Veteran Nigerian music producer Olumide Ogunlade, popularly known as ID Cabasa, has dismissed Akon’s recent comments about pioneering Afrobeats, describing them as a “half-truth” comparable to colonial claims that explorer Mungo Park discovered the River Niger.

Speaking during an appearance on Rubbin’ Minds on Channels Television, Cabasa criticized Akon’s assertion that he helped create Afrobeats, stating that the genre was already thriving long before the Senegalese-American singer’s involvement.

“What Akon said, I think, was sort of a half-truth. It’s like Mungo Park saying he discovered the River Niger and Benue — but he met people there fishing,” Cabasa said.

“There was already a sound that attracted him (Akon), and you’re claiming you discovered it? That’s how it sounded. Even the people he mentioned — these guys were already popping, already doing stuff.”

Akon had earlier claimed on Sherri Shepherd’s show and the BagFuel Brigade podcast that his collaborations with Nigerian artists like Wizkid and Banky W in the late 2000s were instrumental in shaping and globalizing Afrobeats. He also claimed to have introduced business structures that helped elevate the Nigerian music scene.

While acknowledging Akon’s promotional influence, ID Cabasa argued that crediting him with nurturing the genre overstates his role.

“Akon did not offend me — I had to respond to that. By the way, shout out to Akon. He is a guy that everybody should respect, but we need to be careful. If there’s anything we can keep as a legacy for Nigeria and Africa, it’s part of the conversation around Afrobeats,” Cabasa said.

“He actually played his own part in terms of marketing and everything he did for some of these guys back then, which was also instrumental in helping Afrobeats expand.

But some of the things he said were too heavy — saying he came and nurtured people… No. There was already a sound, there was something that attracted you. You met it here and did your part. It’s the same way I can’t stand and tell people I created Afrobeats.”