When Dancehall musician Buju Banton criticized Afrobeats for lacking substance, numerous observers and pundits, including this writer, pointed out that the Jamaican made a mistake by equating the dominating subject of social justice and political philosophy that infuses Fela Kuti's Afrobeat to Nigerian pop music.

Buju Banton's statements, albeit fueled by jealously over Afrobeats' global success, have some truth, at least from an outsider's perspective. According to Banton, Nigerian pop music fails to portray Nigeria and Africa's grim social and economic reality.