Afrobeats Artists to Watch: Burna Boy, Libianca, Zinoleesky, Teni – Billboard

A person wearing a long, patterned coat sings passionately into a microphone on a stage with purple and blue lighting, reminiscent of Burna Boy's magnetic performances that have captivated fans and climbed the Billboard charts.

Last May, Billboard launched its U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart, highlighting some of the best music coming out of the African music scene and impacting listeners in the States. But we’d been paying increasing attention to what’s been going on there for several years now, and the heightened attention has only helped shine a light on a growing generation of performers and songwriters. These rising artists are not only pushing the genre forward, but expanding it beyond its traditional boundaries — incorporating hip-hop, amapiano, R&B,…