Afro B

Afro B serves as the professional alias for Ross-Emmanuel Bayeto, a multifaceted artist who works as a rapper, singer, songwriter, producer, and one-time DJ. He coined the term “AfroWave” to describe his distinctive fusion of electronic dance music, hip hop, Afro-pop, reggaeton, Afrobeat, and dancehall. Although he spent years spinning records across London’s club circuit and contributed to multiple recording efforts beginning in 2015, international recognition arrived with the 2018 release “Drogba (Joanna),” which ignited the global #DrogbaChallenge dance phenomenon. The track reached number 23 on the U.S. R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart the following year and generated numerous remixes, remaining a fixture in clubs throughout both the United Kingdom and the United States for more than two years. Subsequent singles included “Melanin” and “Shape Nice,” the latter featuring Jamaican stars Vybz Kartel and Dre Skull. Across this period he issued three sequentially numbered, full-length mixtapes all titled AfroWave, the first two appearing independently and the third, AfroWave 3, arriving via the U.K. independent EMPIRE in 2019.

Born in London’s Greenwich area in 1993 to French-speaking Ivorian parents, Ross-Emmanuel Bayeto first took up piano during secondary school and later became the pianist for his church choir. Exposure to radio broadcasts and friends’ recordings sparked a fascination with turntablism and mixing. Early collaborative DJ releases encompassed the 2013 track “My Sweet Coco” with Mista Silva and the modern gospel worship song “Baba God” alongside SK. While holding a lengthy residency at the Jamaican-oriented NW10 club, he championed the emerging London scene that would evolve into “Afrobeats,” a multilingual hybrid blending multiple genres, cultural backgrounds, and languages, distinct from Nigerian Afrobeat. Transitioning into production, he refined this integrative approach, which other DJs and producers soon adopted and began circulating under the Afrobeats banner. His debut mixtape AfroWave surfaced in 2017. “Drogba (Joanna)” originated as a tribute to Didier Drogba, the Chelsea and Ivory Coast National Team football icon. A 2018 reissue paired with an initial “garage” remix by Team Salut propelled the song up the U.K. dance charts. Afro B subsequently created the accompanying dance that fueled the #Drogba Challenge, dominating U.K. dance floors for nearly two years while the single climbed to its U.S. R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay peak of number 23. The video, filmed across New York, Paris, and additional sites, showcased the artist alongside Afrobeats dancers interpreting the song’s chorus, incorporated viral social-media clips of the challenge, and featured footage of Didier Drogba himself. In May he dropped the single “Stepped In (Sexy Back)” featuring Swift, followed later that year by the AfroWave 2 mixtape compilation.

In June 2019, EMPIRE president and CEO Ghazi Shami signed Afro B to the label just as the French Montana remix of “Drogba (Joanna)” dominated dance floors across the U.K., U.S., and Caribbean. “Melanin,” featuring Yemi Alade, emerged simultaneously, succeeded by “Shape Nice” with Vybz Kartel and Dre Skull. Guest appearances included Afro B’s spot on Ashanti’s “Pretty Little Thing,” his own “Go Dance” with Busy Signal, and “Fine Wine & Hennessey” featuring Slim Jxmmi, plus a contribution to Josey’s “Touch My Body.” AfroWave 3 arrived before year’s end, containing the collaboration “Condo” with T-Pain. Afro B opened 2020 with the club tracks “Slow Wine” featuring Machel Montano and the streaming success “Safety 2020” alongside Chris Brown and DJ Snake.