‘Afrobeats is not de@d’ — Bankulli fires back at Paulo Okoye

Grammy-nominated singer and music executive Abisagboola Oluseun Yeezuz, popularly known as Bankulli, has strongly disagreed with show promoter Paulo Okoye's claim that Afrobeats is in decline, insisting the genre remains vibrant and successful.

Paulo had sparked debate after claiming that Afrobeats was "dead or in a coma," arguing that soaring performance fees had made it difficult for promoters and brands to book top artists.

Responding in a lengthy Instagram post on Wednesday, Bankulli described the statement as "faulty," suggesting it stemmed from the inability of some promoters to afford Nigeria's biggest music stars.

According to him, Afrobeats is not dying but evolving, with changes in audience preferences and the industry's pricing structure.

“I saw a post on pauloo2104 page AFROBEAT IS DEAD OR COMA 2026. In my opinion such a statement is FAULTY.

Bankulli pointed to videos from concerts and events he had organised over the past two months as evidence that the genre remains commercially strong.

“All clips above happened in the last two months. I do business under AFROBEATS GENRE but still I will share my little wisdom. None of both Genre is dead or in Coma as you think. They are doing good, what we may be experiencing is growth in sound shuffling, which is fine but to put out a statement like that to me is bad.”

He argued that the inability to book a handful of expensive artists should not be used as a yardstick for measuring the health of the entire industry.

“Is it because some promoters are finding it hard to book some top performing artiste is the reason to make that statement? Well if you must know there has been a paradigm shift. It’s okay for you to be obsessed with booking some other expensive artistes and can’t do so now for whatever reasons, but to equate to that statement is not good my brother.”

Bankulli added that while some artists may have priced themselves beyond the reach of certain promoters, there are many other talented performers with strong fan bases who continue to attract audiences.

“Times have changed in the pricing regime of Nigerian artistes. If some have over priced themselves, it’s fine there are others very good with solid fanbase to fill the good space.”

He concluded by insisting that Afrobeats remains a thriving global genre, dismissing suggestions that it is in decline.