Music executive Bankuli has taken a swipe at singer Tems for stating that she's not an Afrobeats artist because her music is RnB.

Tems made the statement during a Hot 87 interview, where she lamented that all music from Africa is categorised as Afrobeats.

“Classifying my music as Afrobeats is a bit weird. Because when I release my music, I don’t see it as Afrobeats music; you can call it R&B, Alternative. Blogs are just the ones classifying every music from Africa as Afrobeats,” she said.

Back in 2023, the singer told rapper Kendrick Lamar that she was inspired by different genres, adding that Afrobeats wasn't giving her the kind of vibe she wanted for her sound.

Tems said, “I was prepared to die. I believed in myself so much that I didn’t really care if I never became anything or anyone.

” I just wanted to get a message out. I wanted to get my frequency out. And I was like, ‘Even if ten people hear this, it’s fine.’ But also along the way, I used to listen to a lot of Nigerian music, and I wasn’t getting a lot of spiritual. I love Celine Dion, so I love that intense feeling of, I’m about to jump off a cliff. That’s how I want my music to feel all the time, and Afrobeats wasn’t necessarily giving me that type of stimulation.”

She said everyone she asked for advice from back then urged her to do Afrobeats, saying, “The only way you can do this is Afrobeats. It’s not that your music is bad, it’s just that it doesn’t fit in Nigeria. Nigerians don’t like this.”

Reacting to her Hot 97 interview, Bankuli lamented that Tems is pulling down the same Afrobeats that gave her limelight exposure.

He shared on X, "Don’t lose your true identity because of foreign validation.. it’s sad and tiring watching all these clicks with responses that put down that same genre vibe sequence that gave you that limelight.. sad and shameful …. R&B stems from africa if you must know... don’t forget your source … thank God love me jeje is Afrobeats.… we can’t be tagging with the genre when it is comfortable to be used but again it is good we are knowing who is for and against AFROBEATS."

ASA