Veteran Reggae/Dancehall superstar Barrington Levy says he has rejected offers to record songs on Afrobeats riddims, as he will never switch from the genres on which he rose to stardom.

The Under Mi Sensi singer was discussing his new album and other plans for 2023, during a Television Jamaica interview, when he made the revelation.

“I am focusing right now on my new album for 2023.  But I still want to make it the original Reggae vibes that people love me for.  These nowadays people trying to move over to Afrobeats – because people do come to me and say ‘mi have a Afrobeats (riddim), yuh want it’ and I say ‘no’”, Levy told veteran entertainment journalist, with Anthony Miller.

“Why would I switch from my original Dancehall music to Afrobeats weh is our Reggae music they try to copy; our pattern on how they make their ting.  So I am keeping it real with my original Reggae music,” he added.

Levy’s concerns are similar to that of international Dancehall producer Jon FX, who pointed out in an interview last year that Afrobeats singers have used the Dancehall drum pattern, to take the musical world by storm, resulting in many people believing the genre coming out of the African continent, is Dancehall.

Jon FX had also noted that 2021 Grammy winners, Virginia-based band SOJA, throughout their Beauty in the Silence album, had stayed faithful to authentic Reggae and its one drop drum pattern, unlike most of the other Jamaican contenders, two of whom (Jesse Royal And Etana) infused different genres including Afrobeats on their albums.

Jesse Royal had described his album Royal as having “elements of hip-hop, jazz, blues, Afrobeats and Dancehall”, while Etana’s Pamoja was described by her as a blend of Reggae with Afrobeat and Dancehall.