{"id":113685,"date":"2022-10-20T16:01:38","date_gmt":"2022-10-20T14:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/?p=113685"},"modified":"2022-11-09T18:02:02","modified_gmt":"2022-11-09T16:02:02","slug":"nigeria-cruise-beats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/nigeria-cruise-beats\/","title":{"rendered":"Crashing into Nigeria\u2019s cruise beat generation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Welcome to the #cruisebeat rabbit hole. Look out for virus sounds, \u201c<em>e dey shakes<\/em>\u201d and free mp3 downloads. This is where you find <em>wahala<\/em> djs and TikTok deadends. It\u2019s DIY sonics that saturate speakers and a pollyannaish punk ethos made for carnal relief. Hold on tight. The waters are deep and it\u2019s hard to keep up. Who did, what\u2019s hot and how it came to be is all on a content treadmill that moves at the pace of a trigger-happy TikTok feed. Signposts? Some <a href=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tag\/afrobeats\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tag\/afrobeats\/\">Afrobeats<\/a> melodies, an <a href=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tag\/amapiano\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tag\/amapiano\/\">amapiano<\/a> log drum, a sample from your favorite Nollywood actor or televangelist. Otherwise it\u2019s less talk and more vibe. The slappy sound\u2019s name, cruise, means funny after all. Or to smile in a serious situation. Good vibes.&nbsp; Catching content with your friends. To play\u2026 it depends on who you ask. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Native to the urban outskirts of Lagos, it\u2019s Nigeria\u2019s emergent people&#8217;s music, breeding online and providing the soundtrack to apartment parties and footwork dancers hunting for more bpms. It\u2019s an alternative to the 800-pound Afrobeats gorilla that flexes its American production collabs, 25k clips and sold out O2 Arena shows. \u201c<em>Who the fuck are you? You don\u2019t know Kaywise?<\/em>\u201d shouts DJ Kaywise on \u201cWho the fuck are you\u201d. Is he talking to the 70% of Nigerians under 30 in Africa\u2019s largest nation, ready to cruise amidst political and economic strain. Maybe he\u2019s calling out to the international ear that\u2019s often a prerequisite for newcomers before earning cred at home. The point is, cruise is calling banging bashing mocking and murdering the beat for a new West African club music that is turning up all the nobs. \u201c<em>Cruise Beats does not have limits,<\/em>\u201d DJ CORA confirms with a laugh.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed alignwide is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Dj Yk Beats - Instrumental  [Dance Video]\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LoQQxHdbwvI?feature=oembed&#038;autoplay=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Speed it up DJ, we wanna cruise<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/djykmule_\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">DJ Yk Mule<\/a>\u2019s Instagram bio reads, \u201c<em>cruise beat originator, you&#8217;ll dance, you&#8217;ll laugh<\/em>\u201d. Short and sweet from the man behind some of the first cruise sounds to appear online. Digging into the origins, Yk reveals how a few tweaks to his dance instrumentals, some necessary feedback from creators and crews and a personal need to innovate spawned the early cruise records. In the beginning Yk was making music purely for dancers, blowing up online around 6 years ago with his \u201cDance Instrumental\u201d track that has been remixed in footwork videos all over the internet. In it, you can hear the early essence of cruise. The drum machine, repetitive synths and creative breaks with a solid bottom. \u201c<em>I used to drop official dance instrumentals before. Made for dancers. Club bangers, DJs\u2026 Just like EDM!<\/em>\u201d Yk explains, though it\u2019s a liberal take on the term \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tag\/edm-2\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tag\/edm-2\/\">EDM<\/a>\u201d, and a common auto-misnomer for many African electronic genres be it EDM or Techno. Digressions\u2026 Then, one day, \u201c<em>I was just thinking of what to add to my craft. So I thought about adding vocals, live funny vocals And people love it. They dance to it. That&#8217;s where I got the cruise from.<\/em>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But something was still missing, and it boiled down to the age-old feedback loop between DJs and bodies, now transposed to the digital sphere. It needed juice. Gas. Energy. \u201c<em>Before I didn\u2019t used to make it fast. I normally put it on like 125 bpm, but because of my TikTok fans and TikTok dancers, I have to make it faster so that it will be danceable for them.<\/em>\u201d Ask and you shall receive. DJ Yk turnt up the speed and it didn\u2019t take long for the first cruise to break the internet in the form of \u201c<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=G4n4FGkjd_I\" target=\"_blank\">Zazu Beat<\/a>\u201d around 2020 featuring the online comedian Portable Zazu. Now a music sensation, before Yk and cruise, Zazu was known for his raunchy and outrageous humor. Right place, right time and right attitude; Zazu was made for cruise. Since, the mechanics of cruise have evolved into a science.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1010\" height=\"1263\" src=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DJYK-1010x1263.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-113894\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DJYK-1010x1263.jpg 1010w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DJYK-759x949.jpg 759w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DJYK-2048x2560.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DJYK-1440x1800.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DJYK-661x826.jpg 661w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DJYK-465x581.jpg 465w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DJYK-375x469.jpg 375w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DJYK.jpg 4016w\" sizes=\"(min-width:1010px) 759px,100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><figcaption>DJ Yk Mule<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull has-white-color has-black-background-color has-text-color has-background\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><meta charset=\"utf-8\">Voice notes, TikTok dancers and 150bpm beats<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>Send me a voice note now. I add a beat to it. Then turn it into a dance, take it to TikTok and people vibe to it,<\/em>\u201d <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/maxiblog_ng\/\" target=\"_blank\">Maxivibes<\/a> breaks down with straightforward precision. Cruise is a genre that lives online, and since the Yk breakthrough, savvy cruise beats producers tap into digital trends for audio samples that can make a cruise record pop. Take <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/official_djcora\/\" target=\"_blank\">DJ CORA<\/a>\u2019s \u201cYEYE BEAT\u201d for example. The <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/bEECuJ0XmcU\" target=\"_blank\">vocal riff<\/a> is snagged from a scene on the Yoruba Comedy Series, Saamu Alajo, with actor Odunlade Adekola screaming, \u201c<em>are you fucking yeye me Dajo?<\/em>\u201d roughly meaning \u201c<em>are you trying to mock me?<\/em>\u201d DJ CORA ripped this hilarious and salacious slur for \u201cYEYE BEAT\u201d packing precog and snickers. The vocals are chopped and blasted, slowed down and grafted upon the track making it ripe for viral potential.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The official \u201cYEYE BEAT\u201d audio has over 15k videos on TikTok to date. \u201c<em>If a clip or a sound is trending,<\/em>\u201d DJ CORA says over WhatsApp, \u201c<em>the faster you are to make sound, the better for you.<\/em>\u201d Or take \u201cWarisi Cruise Beat\u201d by Dj Yk Mule released in early 2022. The original vocal audio comes from a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CY1-uV0IP6q\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=embed_video_watch_again\">viral clip<\/a> of some friends hyping up their buddy Warisi as he busts a move on video. Yk snagged the little jam that was already making rounds on mobiles around Nigeria and\u2026 cruise. \u201c<em>You know, I have a lot of fans. When they find something funny online they will tag me to the cruise, to the video, and say \u2018Well, did you like it? We want you to do something on this.\u2019\u201d <\/em>Yk laughs,<em> \u201cThen I get to it.<\/em>\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed alignwide is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Portable X Poco Lee X Olamide incredible noble &amp; Ridwanna Zazoo Zeh(Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oDEqdjk_rds?feature=oembed&#038;autoplay=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Surfing the hype is tubular but it means nothing if it\u2019s not fast. \u201c<em>Initially [cruise] wasn\u2019t that fast,<\/em>\u201d says DJ CORA, reminiscent of Yk\u2019s early cuts, \u201c<em>but people don\u2019t really enjoy it because if it\u2019s not fast they won\u2019t be able to dance to it.<\/em>\u201d Clocking the average bpm of our cruise beats playlist we see the norm hovering around 135 with the more hardcore tracks being in what we call the \u201cTobzy range\u201d of the mid-150s. This is approaching the manic keys of Singeli on the musical superhighway. \u201c<em>In Nigeria they don\u2019t want songs like that,<\/em>\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/official_djtobzy_\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">DJ Tobzy<\/a> says of the slower and sweeter Afrobeats. Maxivibes agrees, when asked what makes cruise popular, what sets it apart, he replies, \u201c<em>What makes it different is that it&#8217;s just fast. The tempo is very fast. It\u2019s a fast beat.<\/em>\u201d Just fast. Very fast. Fast beat. Got it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Listen to \u201cWho ate that Bread (Cool Down) Water\u201d off of Dj Tobzy\u2019s 2022 <em>TIKTOK VIRUS SOUND MIXTAPE<\/em> (notice the eponymous vocal sample of a pastor and congregant on \u201cProphecy God Time\u201d television).&nbsp; Or check out the recently trending and suggestive \u201cDindo Cruise Beat\u201d by Omo Ebira which charted on Nigerian music blog <a href=\"https:\/\/citytrend.com.ng\/category\/naija-music\/\">City Trend TV<\/a>. 150bpms of repetitive synths, vocal rips and a steady log drum.&nbsp; Need visuals? Take a mainstream cruise from Portable, Poco Lee and Olamide, yes that Olamide, on \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=oDEqdjk_rds\">ZaZoo Zehh<\/a>\u201d and its accompanying dance video. It\u2019s broken glass, footwork and cutlass sounds. Shatter me ZaZoo.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1010\" height=\"1010\" src=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DJ-Tobzy-Headshot-1010x1010.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-113883\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DJ-Tobzy-Headshot-1010x1010.jpeg 1010w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DJ-Tobzy-Headshot-759x759.jpeg 759w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DJ-Tobzy-Headshot-100x100.jpeg 100w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DJ-Tobzy-Headshot-661x661.jpeg 661w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DJ-Tobzy-Headshot-465x465.jpeg 465w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DJ-Tobzy-Headshot-375x375.jpeg 375w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DJ-Tobzy-Headshot-200x200.jpeg 200w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DJ-Tobzy-Headshot-85x85.jpeg 85w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DJ-Tobzy-Headshot-73x73.jpeg 73w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DJ-Tobzy-Headshot.jpeg 1200w\" sizes=\"(min-width:1010px) 759px,100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><figcaption><a href=\"https:\/\/nyegenyegetapes.bandcamp.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">DJ Tobzy Imole Giwa<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The final layer in the cruise cake is, of course, dance. \u201c<em>All they want is danceable songs here in Nigeria,<\/em>\u201d explains cruise beat innovator and fresh Nyege Nyege signee DJ Tobzy. \u201c<em>Take \u2018<\/em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=shRIgcr-b48\" target=\"_blank\"><em>E Jon<\/em><\/a><em>\u2019 by Son of ika jamokay,<\/em>\u201d Tobzy continues, \u201c<em>If you listen to this song you will surely vibe to it.<\/em>\u201d Proof is in the pudding. The cruise with the most vibe is snatched up by dancers and dance crews who create challenges and interpret the frenetic step of the beat. Checkout Dance Life Machines\u2019 breakdown of \u201c<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Ci4dNJVDGqS\/\" target=\"_blank\">E Jon<\/a>\u201d on Instagram. Or the lifecycle of DJ CORA\u2019s \u201cSkilo Dance Beat\u201d. In theory made for legwork dancer Skilo Richie, a TikTok star who\u2019s accumulated over 5 million views on the platform. After Skilo made a <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=eOd2IwdjwCE\" target=\"_blank\">dance video<\/a> for the song, it started trending in 7 countries. Another dancer from Guinea picked up the baton. Algorithms and young social medialites keep the cruise alive. \u201c<em>The sound moves on TikTok. It moves faster,<\/em>\u201d says Maxivibes. Some DJs conceive trends and choreography pre-release, or as DJ CORA, target specific dancers for organic promo. Others, like the savvy Maxivibes who has a background in music blogging and social media marketing, blast out 30 cruise beats a day and hope one sticks. How many cruise beats has Maxi made? \u201c<em>I can\u2019t even count them,<\/em>\u201d is his answer. [Note: Maxivibes asked me to send over a voice note after our call. 20 minutes later he sent back a custom cruise].&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed alignwide is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Dj Cora X Skilo Richie (Skilo Dance Beat)?\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eOd2IwdjwCE?feature=oembed&#038;autoplay=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption>The Skilo Dance Beat<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The cruise alchemy, from hardship to laughter<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>October 20th 2020, Nigerian army officers opened fire on a group of peaceful <a href=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/endsars-updates\/\">EndSARS<\/a> protesters on the Lekki Toll Gate, an event now known as the Lekki Massacre. At the same time youth unemployment in Nigeria is hovering around 20%. 79 year old President Buhari approaches the end of his second term and political prospects for his replacement look bleak. Two thirds of the Lagos megapolis live in informal housing, which includes over 380 slum communities spread throughout the state, according to <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/report\/2021\/07\/28\/between-hunger-and-virus\/impact-covid-19-pandemic-people-living-poverty-lagos\" target=\"_blank\">Human Rights Watch<\/a>. Gas shortages. Food inflation. In the brief words of DJ CORA&nbsp; \u201c<em>Nigeria is very hard.<\/em>\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>I came from a family where everybody is just struggling,<\/em>\u201d DJ Tobzy explains over the phone. Coming up as an artist, Tobzy was self taught, using makeshift solutions on mobile devices for DJing. Tobzy Imole Giwa\u2019s come-up was some uphill DIY. \u201c<em>Before as a DJ I did a lot of work like graphics, computer engineering and online stuff. So I make use of everything,<\/em>\u201d he explains. Progenitor DJ Yk has a similar story. \u201c<em>I really have a poor background. Before I was a Poor Boy, I was just trying, hustling,\u201d <\/em>he says with a rare solemnity.<em> <\/em>\u201c<em>Back then, it wasn&#8217;t easy. I was just keeping my strength, you know? No weakness.<\/em>\u201d For Yk, Tobzy, MaxiVibes and the cruise captains, strength is found in smiles.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:75px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull has-white-color has-black-background-color has-text-color has-background\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignfull size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1010\" height=\"555\" src=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Cruise-beats-1010x555.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-113764\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Cruise-beats-1010x555.png 1010w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Cruise-beats-759x417.png 759w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Cruise-beats-1440x792.png 1440w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Cruise-beats-661x363.png 661w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Cruise-beats-465x256.png 465w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Cruise-beats-375x206.png 375w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Cruise-beats.png 1950w\" sizes=\"(min-width:1010px) 759px,100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>In Nigeria, now what we need is to smile. We don&#8217;t have to pay attention to the government because they are not really helping us.<\/em>\u201d Tobzy concludes; a common sentiment among Nigerian artists. During an Instagram <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=QV1BBA2Dz6E\" target=\"_blank\">livestream<\/a> Afrobeats starchild <a href=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tag\/rema\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tag\/rema\/\">Rema<\/a> once said, \u201c<em>There\u2019s nothing really sweet about Nigeria except music,<\/em>\u201d responding to criticism that his songs focuses solely on sex and love. \u201c<em>Tell me one thing that\u2019s better than sex in Nigeria. I\u2019ll wait\u2026<\/em>\u201d he concludes. <em>\u201cThe only way we try to make ourselves happy,\u201d <\/em>CORA continues,<em> \u201cis through music and through sounds like cruise beats.<\/em>\u201d Therapeutic or escapist? Keep your opinion to yourself. The rare beauty of laughter, like pain, is it\u2019s involuntary. \u201c<em>When someone is not happy, when you are depressed and come across my sound, it\u2019s too funny.<\/em>\u201d says DJ Yk. \u201c<em>Whenever you come through my post we always laugh. And you need to laugh. Even if you are struggling, you still gotta laugh.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Though behind the cheap laughs of cruise cuts is often a snide criticism of the status quo, a poking of fun, a small sympathy for the plight of others. In Tobzy\u2019s \u201c<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=RHc16qBsEQ8\" target=\"_blank\">SMOKE BEAT CRUISE<\/a>\u201d he samples an interview with a Nigerian marijuana smoker. The smoker laments getting busted by police, looking left then right before lighting up. It\u2019s funny but sympathetic. \u201c<em>This smoker, when they wake up they don&#8217;t have any other job. Like it&#8217;s just for them to smoke<\/em>,\u201d Tobzy explains, not a smoker himself. \u201c<em>When you see that they don&#8217;t have any other job, it\u2019s only cruise beats that\u2019s there for them. That\u2019s what\u2019s fine.<\/em>\u201d Talking about the state of affairs in Nigeria, Tobzy meanders to the injustice of a new law that penalizes landlords of yahoo boys (a term for sophisticated young Nigerian internet scammers) to 15 years in prison. \u201c<em>Wow, that was bad. Not making sense. Like he&#8217;s trying to make money for a living and,<\/em>\u201d *ah* Tobzy winces. It takes some alchemy to cruise in harsh conditions while wincing at the darkside. CORA is also experimenting with some chemistry in the cruise lab. \u201c<em>You know, APC chairman Adamu is trending in a video now. There&#8217;s one word he said that was trending, but I am afraid to mix sound with it because I might get arrested<\/em>,\u201d CORA laughs, \u201c<em>but I&#8217;m very sure if I make sound with it, it is 100% greenlight. Everybody will like it.<\/em>\u201d Everybody?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"989\" height=\"834\" src=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DJ-CORA.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-113895\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DJ-CORA.jpg 989w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DJ-CORA-759x640.jpg 759w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DJ-CORA-661x557.jpg 661w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DJ-CORA-465x392.jpg 465w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DJ-CORA-375x316.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(min-width:1010px) 759px,100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><figcaption>DJ CORA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Move over Afrobeats, cruise is coming<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>There\u2019s this huge delta between what\u2019s been put out as the sound of youth culture and the funds required to make that,<\/em>\u201d Ian McQuaid, founder of MOVES Records and head behind the recent series of <em>Cruise!<\/em> compilations explains, comparing cruise to its richer, flashier Afrobeats cousin. \u201c<em>Only a very select few people can make that and that creates a void. Something is gonna rush in there and [cruise] is what\u2019s rushing in; the punk energy and couldn\u2019t care less attitude.<\/em>\u201d Featured on the <em>Cruise! <\/em>comps is DJ Slimfit, Professional Beatz, DJ Khalipha, DJ Stainless, Fela 2 and a bunch of other names that maintain the cruiseverse. It\u2019s a mega-solid introduction to a sound that has until this point lived on TikTok backchannels, free mp3 blogs and the meta-data graveyards of Distrokid deliveries. It\u2019s also fitting coming from a label that has defended, \u201cpure, unfiltered urban culture\u201d. \u201c<em>It\u2019s a crass comparison but it works when you compare it to the conditions that created punk,\u201d <\/em>Ian says of cruise.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1010\" height=\"1010\" src=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cruiseep2-1010x1010.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-113884\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cruiseep2-1010x1010.jpeg 1010w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cruiseep2-759x759.jpeg 759w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cruiseep2-100x100.jpeg 100w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cruiseep2-661x661.jpeg 661w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cruiseep2-465x465.jpeg 465w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cruiseep2-375x375.jpeg 375w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cruiseep2-200x200.jpeg 200w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cruiseep2-85x85.jpeg 85w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cruiseep2-73x73.jpeg 73w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cruiseep2.jpeg 1200w\" sizes=\"(min-width:1010px) 759px,100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><figcaption><a href=\"https:\/\/movesrecordings.bandcamp.com\/album\/cruise-2-ep\">Cruise 2 &#8211; EP &#8211; Moves Recordings<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Not so crass when you imagine the super indulgent groups of the 1970s with synthesizers the size of school buses and a maturing music industry with its golden gate keepers and lofty sounds disconnected from the gritty suburbs of recession families. \u201c<em>The only challenge we\u2019re facing with cruise beats is from Nigerian artists,<\/em>\u201d DJ CORA says. \u201c<em>Because they know this shit goes viral, and their own song that they use the whole year to produce doesn\u2019t.<\/em>\u201d Sound familiar? Subvert the latest trends, open new channels and popularize production. Or in the words of Sid Vicious \u201c<em>Undermine their pompous authority, reject their moral standards, make anarchy and disorder your trademarks. Cause as much chaos and disruption as possible but don\u2019t let them take you alive.<\/em>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The mocking of televangelists, inclusion of salacious content and expletives, the embrace of the inhuman and incomprehensible TikTok algorithms and the blasting of cruise-noise into the machine like you\u2019re holding an AR-15 are all cruise trademarks.&nbsp; \u201c<em>I make a sound in 30 minutes and it can trend,<\/em>\u201d CORA boasts, even if cruise is far from its \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=D-YDEyuDxWU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Love Nwantiti<\/a>\u201d moment. Regardless, it\u2019s no wonder the big cheese and Afrobeats elite are picking their feet up off the digital riptide. \u201c<em>In time, I think we&#8217;ll be entering number one, we\u2019ll be topping charts,<\/em>\u201d predicts DJ Yk Mule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;\u201c<em>Everybody actually likes cruise beats more than Afrobeats<\/em>\u201d Tobzy continues. \u201c<em>When you play at an apartment party, most of the requests are cruise beats.<\/em>\u201d While cruise is still making its rounds online and at apartment parties, some notable clubs are taking notice. <a href=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tag\/fela-kuti\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tag\/fela-kuti\/\">Fela Kuti<\/a>\u2019s legacy The New Afrika Shrine, a spot that has embraced people\u2019s music and accessibility was said to book cruise DJs for closing hours, but a brief call with the Shrine\u2019s manager showed he was totally unaware of the genre. Later, Tobzy hit us up to see if he could play Felabration at the Shrine&#8230;backward shit. So \u201creal world\u201d progress has been incremental and xenocentric musical make-r-breakers often gaslight local talent. \u201c<em>If I do a show in the UK, I will be more important in my country just because it was in the UK,<\/em>\u201d DJ CORA says, exasperated, \u201c<em>If you can see international likes, that\u2019s when people will start respecting us.<\/em>\u201d A blessing or a curse for subcultures that need time to marinate and grow before being squeezed out by greasy hands worldwide (I\u2019m looking at you Kumerica). As CORA says, \u201c<em>It&#8217;s still individual. Everybody&#8217;s doing it on their own.<\/em>\u201d But don\u2019t undermine the interest. \u201c<em>They are always waiting for me<\/em>,\u201d Dj Yk says of his loyal fans, \u201c<em>like, \u2018Dj Yk drop another one! We wanna dance!\u2019<\/em>\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The transcendent cruise<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>Cruise Beats is very spiritual.<\/em>\u201d CORA says to me, dead serious. \u201c<em>Once you\u2019re at a party and you put on Cruise Beats, people won\u2019t want you to stop!<\/em>\u201d In a world of poppy-muzak and background noise, cruise demands the attention of the mushy stuff in your cerebral cortex. It\u2019s impossible to ignore, insists on participation and carries a louder-is-better, faster-is-funner, look-at-me attitude. Dance damnit. And maybe laugh&#8230; \u201c<em>I play normal sounds before I indulge in Cruise Beats,<\/em>\u201d CORA concludes. Emphasis on the \u201cnormal\u201d. The best music is always unexpected, maybe even unwanted, but totally and tragically out of your control. And so the strange marriage between the hardcore sounds and happy laughs makes perfect sense. You don\u2019t choose what\u2019s funny. You don\u2019t realize you\u2019re tapping your feet until you hear the happy smack on the floor. \u201c<em>We do believe in God,<\/em>\u201d says Tobzy, \u201c<em>I pray about it; whether I can go through it or not<\/em>\u201d he says of his cruise career, hoping that he\u2019ll be able to provide his fans with more cruise. \u201c<em>More strength, no weakness,<\/em>\u201d in the words of Dj Yk Mule.&nbsp; \u201c<em>I do it for my people,<\/em>\u201d says MaxiVibes. The minds sampling and snickering at preachers seem to have a pulpit of their own. In the meantime, keep on the cruise, clap to the beat and have a laugh. Life\u2019s too hard, too short and too ridiculous not to cruise.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more cruise, listen to PAM\u2019s official cruise beat <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/playlist\/5hoX0xmmrgN1tZomqBHKrS?si=239010d922a94a3e\" target=\"_blank\">playlist<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1010\" height=\"1010\" src=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cruise-beats-1-1010x1010.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-113893\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cruise-beats-1-1010x1010.png 1010w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cruise-beats-1-759x759.png 759w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cruise-beats-1-100x100.png 100w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cruise-beats-1-661x661.png 661w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cruise-beats-1-465x465.png 465w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cruise-beats-1-375x375.png 375w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cruise-beats-1-200x200.png 200w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cruise-beats-1-85x85.png 85w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cruise-beats-1-73x73.png 73w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cruise-beats-1.png 1080w\" sizes=\"(min-width:1010px) 759px,100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cruise beats is the new hyper-fast sound popping off in Lagos outskirts, going viral on TikTok with cheeky voice samples and providing the soundtrack to apartment parties and legwork dancers hunting for more bpms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":113687,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7833],"tags":[41301,4096,6501],"location":[8172],"yst_prominent_words":[9412,8996,8414,8447,8933,8618,8402,8435,9006,8543,8438,8545],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113685"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113685"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=113685"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=113685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}