In December, the already notorious traffic jams in Lagos are unbearable. Ten-minute trips run for hours; events are forced to start late. In Accra, bars and gathering spaces from Front/Back to Sandbox are packed. This is the easiest way to know when “Detty December” has arrived. In Lagos and Accra, cities that share several histories including the origins of Afrobeats music, “Detty December” is a term used to describe the month-long celebrations around the holidays but also a crowning moment for Afrobeats music.
Related: Is Afrobeats Music Entering Its Illuminati Era?
Since 2018, the concept of Detty December has taken hold in both cities, traveling across the world and gaining cultural weight. Each year, more than 80,000 people return for “Detty December” celebrations. On TikTok, the DettyDecember hashtag has over 200 million views and features BTS videos of people returning home to the continent for Detty December, or some who live there participating in homegrown activities — and simply complaining about the brutal traffic.
During this time, concerts, clubs, carnivals, beach parties, and art festivals run all month long. Celebration is in the air. This is the biggest season for Afrobeats as a genre and movement. During Detty December, Afrobeats gets a sort of homecoming moment. With the genre making bold moves all year long, this is when the genre’s top artists come home to celebrate their milestones.
“The driving force behind the ‘homecoming’ trend experienced by Afrobeats music and its artists during December can be attributed to a combination of cultural pride and a desire for connection,” says Tobi “Alhaji Popping” Mohammed, the founder of Block Party, the company behind some of Nigeria’s biggest youth events including Island Block Party.
For Mohammed, the season also allows people from the diaspora a chance at “recentering.” 2023 has been a truly monumental year for the movement. The Grammys and the MTV Video Awards recognized the genre with its own category, all while the genre amassed over 13 billion streams on Spotify. If there were ever a year that highlighted the resilience and vibrancy of Afrobeats music and its related cultural movement, it was 2023. In honor of this fast-rising genre and the chaotic “Detty December” season it is built upon, here is a short guide to all the events taking over Detty December and showcasing some of the best of what Afrobeats has to offer, from the heat-drenched nights in Accra to the dust harmattan days in Lagos.
Afrofuture
At Afrofuture, formerly known as Afrochella, some of Afrobeats’ biggest stars are assembled on the same stage. The event has hosted acts like Burna Boy and Tiwa Savage and is set to have first-time Grammy nominee Davido, Ghanaian rapper Black Sherif, and many others on the 28th and 29th of December. Afrofuture also unspools into a slew of experiences and packages designed to bring visitors closer to the diverse and rich culture present in Ghana.
Island Block Party
Island Block Party is making a grand statement in December. The monthly event hosted in different parts of Lagos, Nigeria, is set to throw its biggest outing yet and will also be headlined by Afropop legend Davido. Mohammed promises that the event will be especially “memorable” this year. “Attendees can expect a charged atmosphere backed by performances from the illest and diverse lineup representative of what makes the African music scene so brilliant. Everyone will have something or someone to connect with,” he tells Teen Vogue.
Fly Time Festival
Fly Time Festival — a four-day event in December — transforms into a small art village with vendors, food stands, and exciting performances headlined this year by Asake and Kizz Daniel with international guests like Lil Durk and Roddy Rich in attendance. In its 19 years, the event has welcomed guests like Megan Thee Stallion on its stage. This year, Keke Hammond, COO of Flytime, says the event will take a more intentional turn.
As Hammond explains, “We're not just hosting a festival, we're nurturing communities that people can enjoy so it is more an immersive experience than just a music festival — an experience that is as rich as our lineup.”
Palmwine Festival
For six years, the Show Dem Camp rap duo (Tec and Ghost) have hosted a one-day concert bringing together some of Nigeria’s best alternative and mainstream artists. This year, the group is bringing Tems, Bloody Civilian, Spinall, and others. The festival is known for platforming emerging talents, sometimes offering artists their first-ever performance for a large audience. “We’ve always put ourselves in a position where we’re always looking for the next amazing voice, the next amazing talent and, also trying to be that support system for them,” say Tec and Ghost. The duo have worked with Tems and BOJ and are also working towards expanding the reach of the festival into other cities across Nigeria and the continent. “We think Abuja is long overdue a Palmwine Fest in 2024. Next year will be the year that that happens. Also beyond the country, we want to move to more spaces on the continent as well.”
Native Land
In 2019, Native Land Festival, home to some of the brightest Alté artists who now dominate the mainstream face of Afrobeats music, went on a hiatus. In its early days, then-emerging acts such as Odunsi or Cruel Santino played alongside established stars like Wizkid and Skepta. Now, the well-loved event is making a comeback with some of the best-rising talents in the country in its lineup.
This year’s event will be headlined by Teen Vogue cover star Ayra Starr, South African Amapiano DJ and producer Uncle Waffles, Lancey Foux, and others. “When we first started, it was somewhere between the underground and the mainstream, providing a corridor between the two,” co-founder of Native Seni Saraki explains. “And it’s so important for us to be back in Lagos.”
Detty Rave
Accra’s Detty Rave features live sets from some of Ghana’s most exciting DJs. Hosted towards the end of December, Detty Rave perfectly encapsulates the party all-night energy that is common during Detty December events in Ghana.
The Afrobeats Edit: What to Watch, Read, and Listen to This Week:
I’m dedicating this week’s recommendations to spotlighting the five best Afrobeats albums/projects I found riveting, transformative and truly representative of the talent and brilliance that came from the genre this year. These projects will also serve as the perfect soundtrack to your Detty December experiences.
Amaarae, Fountain Baby
Fountain Baby by Ghanaian artist Amaarae is a psychedelic, deceptively sensual sonic experience and one of the most ambitious projects to come out of the Afrobeats scene in 2023. In Fountain Baby, Amaarae upends the dictates of a self-assigned genre, swimming through rock, highlife, classic Afropop and others. The writing here is biting and unforgettable, the production, sleek and inventive. In Fountain Baby, Amaarae shows that, more than anything, she knows how to outdo herself.
Lady Donli, Pan-African Rockstar
Pan-African Rockstar is the sophomore album of Nigerian singer and songwriter Lady Donli. This project gleams with promise and is filled with some of Donli’s most tightly crafted records to date. Across 12 songs, Donli rages against oppressive institutions, she considers the onerous business of being Nigerian, and even better, she reasserts herself as one of Nigeria’s most ingenious music makers.
Adekunle Gold, Tequila Ever After
Lustrous, soothing, and vibrant, Tequila Ever After is Adekunle Gold’s most subversive project yet. The album exudes a highly achieved warmth, gently wheeling the mind, across 18 songs through a hallway of desire, indulgence, existential musings and the ever-present need to find peace of mind.
Wande Coal, Legend Or No Legend
Legend Or no Legend has been described as Wande Coal’s comeback project and it feels apt. Coal, who has inspired fast-rising acts such as Fireboy DML combines his narrative-driven songwriting with his velvety voice into a fully-formed album that reflects the trials that kept him away for so long and the journey that led him back.
Davido, Timeless
Davido’s Timeless is the superstar’s exuberant diary entry. After weathering immeasurable tragedy in the past few years and taking an unprecedented hiatus, Davido returned with an album filled with hits, and perfectly alchemized genres. The songs here brim with hope, transforming the pursuit of joy into a mission. This album is Davido’s most successful, it is also his most aspirational.
