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

afrobeats Afrobeats (not to be confused with Afrobeat or Afroswing), or Afro-pop or Afro-fusion (or Afropop or Afrofusion), is an umbrella term to describe popular music from West Africa and the diaspora that initially developed in Nigeria, Ghana, and ...

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 style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...

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

, hip hop, and

alternative R&B Alternative R&B (also referred to as alt-R&B, indie R&B, hipster R&B, dark R&B, emo R&B and left-field R&B) is a term used by music journalists to describe a stylistic alternative to contemporary R&B that began in the mid 2000s and came to pro ...

. The term was coined in the 2010s by Nigerian music group

DRB LasGidi DRB LasGidi (previously known as "Rap Royals") is a Nigerian musical group. It was formed in 2007 by Tobi Ajayi, Tobenna Ofili, and Ladi Lanre. Teniola Zaccheaus joined later. History Rap Royals officially kicked off with rapping and singing. T ...

, 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

members and was first heard on

Boj The is the central bank of Japan. Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005). "Nihon Ginkō" in The bank is often called for short. It has its headquarters in Chūō, Tokyo. History Like most modern Japanese institutions, the Bank of Japan was fou ...

's 2014 song "Paper", it was later used to describe left-field styles of music. TeeZee explained the term saying "Alté is Nigerian lingo for 'alternative' which means freedom of expression essentially through any medium. It's been going on since the '60s as Africans 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 the 1990s

Nollywood Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in ''The New York Times''. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there ...

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

members TeeZee, Boj, and Fresh L. The style gained commercial success in the late 2010s with other Alté artists and pioneers including:

Cruel Santino Osayaba Andrew Ize-Iyamu, better known by his stage name Cruel Santino, is a Nigerian alternative singer-songwriter, rapper, creative director, filmmaker, and music video director. He is a member of Monster Boys collective, with music producers G ...

, Odunsi (The Engine), Zamir,

Tems Temilade Openiyi (born 11 June 1995), known professionally as Tems, is a Nigerian singer. She rose to prominence after she was featured on Wizkid's 2020 single "Essence," which reached the top ten of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 after the releas ...

Lady Donli Zainab Elizabeth Donli, known as Lady Donli, is a 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. She is the youngest of six childr ...

Nonso Amadi Nonso Amadi (born September 1, 1995) is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and music producer. He is a self-taught songwriter and music producer who embarked on his music career in 2012, while at Covenant University, where he studied chemical engineeri ...

Tay Iwar Austin Iornongu Iwar (born 9 June 1997), better known by his stage name Tay Iwar, is a Nigerian neo soul singer, songwriter, record producer, composer and sound engineer. Iwar signed a licensing deal in 2018 with Soulection, and a publishing dea ...

Ayra Starr Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe (born 14 June 2002), known professionally as Ayra Starr, is a Nigerian singer. She was born in Cotonou, Benin. Ayra Starr began a fashion career at the age of 16 with Quove Model Management before deciding to pursue ...

Amaarae } Ama Serwah Genfi, known professionally as Amaarae, is a Ghanaian singer known for her work around representation of gender and race in music. After collaborating with local artists and putting out a few non-album singles, she released her debut ...

WANI Wani may refer to: *Vani (custom), a child marriage custom in tribal areas of Pakistan *Wani (dragon), a Japanese dragon translated as "sea monster", "crocodile", or "shark" *Wani (scholar), a legendary scholar, sent from Korea to Japan during the ...

Wavy the Creator Jennifer Ejoke, professionally known as Wavy the Creator (stylized as Wavy The Creator), is a recording artist, photographer, fashion designer and film-maker, born in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria and raised in the United States. She is best known for ...

, 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 c ...

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 few of its artists, making it into the American charts, and

British charts The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...

. In October 2021, Tems' EP ''

If Orange Was a Place ''If Orange Was a Place'' is the second (and first major label) extended play by Nigerian singer, songwriter and producer Tems. It was produced primarily by GuiltyBeatz, along with production from Jonah Christian, and was released on 15 September ...

'' became the first alté extended play to earn a spot on the ''Billboard'' World Albums and US

Heatseekers Albums Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...

Impact

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

References

{{Reflist 21st-century music genres Nigerian styles of music Music of the African diaspora Indie music Fusion music genres