Nigerian Freddy Green pays homage to reggae
With the ongoing discourse about Afrobeats giving Jamaican genres a run for their money, Nigerian artiste Freddy Green has released a track to pay homage to reggae music.
“This song is about informing and highlighting the people’s awareness of the importance of reggae music, and its standard as the highest music propagating consciousness and morality,” the artiste told the Jamaica Observer.
Titled Top of the Pop, the track was written by his manager Fitzroy Francis and produced by Mightyful 13 Records/ Vpal Music. The official release date was April 14.
Since its release, the track has been reaching fans across the globe, getting airplay on radios in places such as the US, the UK, Nigeria, and Austria.
“My hope for this track is that it will be streamed by lovers of positive music and attract new fans from around the globe,” Freddy Green said.
Back in March, dancehall artiste Bounty Killer faced backlash after declaring that Afrobeats has no lyrics during an interview with I Never Knew TV.
He said dancehall’s problem is its “topics”, which are now only limited to scamming. This, the dancehall veterans said, is the reason Afrobeats is “taking over”.
“Afrobeats have no lyrics; they have a lot of melody, grove, and topic. Ye ye ye is not a lyric; it is a topic. The song only has a style, melody, and topic,” Bounty Killer said.
“The Warlord” weighed in on the work of Afrobeats’ artistes with whom Jamaicans are often compared, citing Burna Boy’s Ye as an example.
“Ye, ye. Dat a lyrics? Dat a topic. Ye, ye, we know what Ye Ye Ye, mean… those are topics and di melody. Style, melody, topic. Simple!”
On the other hand, Green has been focused on unity since connecting with Mightyful 13 Records in 2017. The artiste has released several hit singles, such as Let The Youths Unite, One Life, African Civilization, and Rise Up featuring Puerto Rican artiste Roger Ruiz.
“The message in my music is imperative and ultimate, because I am about morals, educating, socialising, resistance against oppression, deprivation, and injustices, and promoting love, harmony, and oneness to humanity,” he said.
Following this single, the Nigerian artiste is continuing his musical journey with several new projects on the horizon.
“The next thing on my plate is the release of my Afrocentric Reggae album Songs Of Euphony and also the hope of getting bookings to perform my songs all over the world, including Jamaica,” he revealed.