Alté (locally pronounced as "ahl-teh") is a fusion genre of music that combines elements of

afrobeats Afrobeats, not to be confused with Afrobeat or Afroswing, is an umbrella term to describe popular music from West Africa and the diaspora that initially developed in Ghana, Nigeria, and the UK in the 2000s and 2010s. Afrobeats is less of a st ...

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

, and

alternative R&B Alternative R&B (also referred to as alt-R&B, indie R&B, and originally known as PBR&B, hipster R&B, emo R&B, or R-Neg-B) is a term used by music journalists to describe a stylistic alternative to contemporary R&B that began in the mid 2000s and ...

. The term was coined in the 2010s by Nigerian music group DRB LasGidi, meaning alternative and "individualistic and non-traditional modes of self-expression" through music and fashion.

Characteristics

Alté fuses a wide array of musical influences from afrobeats, rap, R&B, soul, dancehall, and others. The term was coined by DRB LasGidi members and was first heard on Boj's 2014 song "Paper"; it was later used to describe left-field styles of music. TeeZee explained about the term saying "Alté is Nigerian lingo for 'alternative' which means freedom of expression essentially through any medium. It has been going on since the 1960s as Nigerians always experimented with music. It became recognized as a style or genre from about 2012 upwards and it broke into the mainstream in 2016 with the rise of its new stars." Its fashion culture has been inspired by the early 2000s, and its music videos have been inspired by 1990s

Nollywood Nollywood, a portmanteau of Nigeria and Hollywood, is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term goes back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in ''The New York Times''. Due to the history ...

horror drama.

History

The alté movement started around 2007 as exposure to the internet became prevalent among young Nigerians. The mid-2010s saw the emergence of the musical genre from DRB LasGidi members TeeZee, BOJ, and Fresh L. The style gained commercial success in the late 2010s with other alté artists and pioneers including: Cruel Santino, Odunsi (The Engine), Zamir, Tems,

Lady Donli Zainab Elizabeth Donli, known as Lady Donli, is a Nigerians, Nigerian musician. She is an alternative R&B, hip hop, alternative jazz and Afrobeat singer and songwriter. Biography Lady Donli was born in Cleveland, Ohio and is the youngest of si ...

, Bloxxom, Nonso Amadi, Ibejii, Tay Iwar, Amaarae, WANI, Wavy the Creator, Blue Ivan and Tomi Agape. In 2017,

Show Dem Camp Show Dem Camp (SDC) is a Nigerian rap duo composed of Wale Davies (Tec) and Olumide Ayeni (Ghost). Personal lives The duo were born in Nigeria but lived and grew up in European cities and the United States before returning to Lagos to pursue a ...

released the song "Popping Again" featuring Boj and Odunsi (The Engine), with the music video showcasing the alté generation's stylistic culture.

Success

Commercially, the genre has gained success, with a few of its artists making it into the American and British charts. On 13 June 2023, the Recording Academy added a new category titled Best African Music Performance, in which it stated genres eligible for the category to include Alté. These nominees will no longer be limited to other genres such as

Afrobeat Afrobeat (also known as Afrofunk) is a West African music genre, fusing influences from Nigerian (such as Yoruba) and Ghanaian (such as highlife) music, with American funk, jazz, and soul influences. With a focus on chanted vocals, complex i ...

Impact

On 24 June 2022, the initial release of the Nigerian film '' Glamour Girls'', a sequel to 1994's '' Glamour Girls'', features (97%) alté songs on its soundtrack.

References

{{Rhythm and blues 21st-century music genres Nigerian styles of music Music of the African diaspora Indie music Fusion music genres Afrobeats