I coined the genre ‘Afro-Dancehall’ ten years ago – Stonebwoy

Stonebwoy

Afro-dancehall is a form of music that has given rise to numerous aspiring musicians, and Ghanaian musician Stonebwoy takes pride in being its creator.

The Grammy-winning singer, who has established herself as one of the nation’s top exporters, is happy to have seen the development and ubiquity of Afro-Dancehall music.

It is literally divided into dancehall and afrobeat. In that circumstance, it is extremely easy. I’m only pretty self-assured enough to have come up with this moniker more than ten years ago, and I’ve been living up to it ever since.

“I believe that it is a very beautiful space to be in. It will interest you to know that there are tons of African youths who are into the Afro-dancehall style and paying a lot of respect to the name, Stonebwoy for being a fierce force and pushing this to the world,” the dancehall musician elaborated in an interview on +44 Podcast with Sideman & Zeze Millz in May 2023.

The dancehall genre’s pioneers and notable figures who observed its development were honored by Stonebwoy.

When young Stonebwoy heard a calling in 2007, Afro-Dancehall was born. Finding the ideal name for this genre of music, which merges dancehall with African rhythms, required great thought and labor.

“My history with Afro-dancehall is that I should be, you know what they say that an idea is not in one man’s head…it will interest you to know that I have been pushing Afro-dancehall as a coin as a term from early when I started my career before I launched properly. It was the calling I had…I sat and wonder what I was going to call it and as far as 2007 and 2008, I have been about it,” he said.

Following the April 2023 release of his 17-track album titled “5th Dimension,” the hitmaker has been in the spotlight.

The Best Reggae/Dancehall Artiste award was given to Stonebwoy at the 24th Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA).