MIAMI, USA — African music is taking the world by storm, and hip-hop icon Rick Ross says the global rise of Afrobeats and other African genres was long overdue.
“I love it,” Ross told CNN’s Lamide Akintobi. “For the ones that really understand live and real music, you understand. It’s been well overdue for a long time.”
The rapper, born William Leonard Roberts II and founder of Maybach Music Group, traced the current Afrobeats boom back to African pioneers like Fela Kuti. “When you think about Afrobeats now, that’s Fela Kuti,” he said. “That funk vibe been going on for years and years and years to me.” Ross compared Kuti’s influence to James Brown’s impact on hip-hop, saying: “So much hip hop was inspired by James Brown and his samples; to me that’s what Fela was.”
Ross has been engaging with African music long before it became a global phenomenon. He recounted his 2012 remix of “Beautiful Onyinye” with Nigerian duo P-Square, which he described as an organic collaboration. “They were young, but they were dope. I saw the vision. I saw the talent, and this was before this was popular… and it was just organic,” he said.
He has continued to collaborate with African artists such as Nigeria’s Yemi Alade, Ghanaian star Stonebwoy, and Nigerian-American rapper Wale. On Alade, Ross said: “For one, she is on fire. She is just dope. Her style, her energy… it’s organic, it’s real… and to me it’s something that, man, it ain’t no cap to it. There ain’t no limit on how big this sht just gonna continue to grow.”*
Looking ahead, Ross is preparing an Africa-focused album under Maybach Music Group, which he has been developing for over a year. “So many African artists, producers, big ones, small ones… we’ve been collaborating on this project for over 12 months… halfway through this year, get ready for it, we’re gonna do some real big things,” he revealed.
Ross envisions a cross-generational African diaspora supergroup. “If I had a dream collaboration right now, it’d be Ricky Rozay, it’d be Bob Marley, Fela Kuti and Burna Boy. Imagine that… that’s king level,” he said, adding, “I wanna most definitely salute Burna Boy and what he got going on. Boy on fire, on fire… I see the young Rozay in him. Don’t stop… And to me, that’s what the game is about. The culture is about.”
His connection to Africa extends beyond music. During a visit to Zimbabwe, Ross received a hero’s welcome and expressed interest in investing in property, signaling deeper ties to the continent.
Reflecting on a May 2025 trip to Durban, South Africa, where he performed at the Durban Music Fest, Ross said: “I saw the beauty in where we were going… The very next night I had one of the biggest concerts out there… and it was just one of those things, man… it felt good. The energy was there; the love was there. This is what Rozay is supposed to do right here.”
For Ross, Africa is not just a moment — it’s momentum. “It’s an amazing place and just warming up… I sit back and enjoy it,” he said. “And I really feel it’s only the beginning.”
