I remember my first introduction to music arts. It wasn’t Mozart or Wolfgang, not in the way people might expect.
Not because the Nigerian education system didn’t appreciate classical music, but because there was a deep reverence for our own local sounds. What we called it at the time.
I learned about Juju and Apala, Highlife and Fela Kuti. I learned how Nigerian music had already begun to find relevance abroad as far back as the 1970s.
I learned about 2Baba, the living legend and how music could be used not just for entertainment, but as a tool for political expression and national consciousness. Music, even then, felt intentional.
The Free Spirit Top was inspired by this exact nuance. In the spirit of celebrating Nigerian nationalism through our first collection ‘Futuristically Nigerian’, Àánú reflects on the globalisation of Afrobeats — and what that moment has come to represent for Nigerian identity.
Traditionally, Nigerian music was a tool for celebration, storytelling, and connection with the ancestors. It carried history, ritual, resistance, and joy. Today, it has become a global sound, spoken about in the same breath as Hip-Hop or Rap. Afrobeats has taken its place, undeniably.
By the early 00s, Nigerian artists had begun spreading the sound across Africa. By 2016, Afrobeats found its global moment with Runtown’s Mad Over You everywhere.
Now, when I tell someone I’m Nigerian, the next thing they say is, “Oh, I love Afrobeats.” (Of course, right after asking which jollof is better.)
Afrobeats has become more than a genre.It has become a symbol of Nigerian national identity. Proof that Nigeria has a culture and our sound has always mattered.
The Free Spirit Top celebrates that culture — with you.
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