King Smade Discusses Resolve and Authenticity in Afrobeats on Martell’s ‘Swift Conversations’

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King Smade is a power player in Afrobeats’ global crossover. For his interview on Martell’s Swift Conversations, he dresses the part of a royal, wielding a gilded cane and rocking a traditional cap adorned with golden embroidery. Speaking to Martell Cultural Ambassador and media personality Adesope Olajide, Smade’s outlook is rooted in a sense of possibility and gratitude. After all, he’s seen it all, done it all, and is still looking to achieve more.

The interview opens with a summary of Smade’s entry into the business of curating events, from club promoter to bringing buzzing Nigerian artists to the UK from the late 2000s to the early 2010s. He shares the value of working with artists as they come into their own, and the risks of investing money made from a wide range of jobs back into pushing Afrobeats at a time when it wasn’t widely beloved yet. In one of several moments reminiscing on their years of friendship, Smade and Olajide recount meeting each other when the former hosted Iceprince and Wizkid at his home years back.

Smade is full of positivity, sharing nuggets distilled from years of experience. He talks about the importance of getting people to believe, citing past years when shows by Afrobeats artists in the UK wouldn’t sell out until a day before, compared to now, when shows sell out weeks before. The broader buy-in by fans ties into the community and the need for increased synergy to continue to grow Afrobeats.

“If we can take away the envy and the jealousy, and then replace it with support and collaboration – that’s everything we need to move forward,” he says.

He also underlines why artists should have a steely resolve in achieving their goals, especially in a creative industry with almost no institutional support. Perhaps the point he harps on the most is the need for selflessness in the industry, touching on how cutthroat it can get in a space where favors are exchanged and exploitation is common. “Pick yourself up and keep creating, keep showing love to that passion that you believe in,” Smade says. “Don’t put your life in any man’s hands, because that person disappointed you, was disloyal, or broke your heart in any way. You have to pick yourself up and move on.”

From club promoting to organizing live concerts to co-foundingthe Afro Nation festival series that holds on multiple continents every year, Smade has helped Afrobeats grow forward globally, but he believes there’s still more to reach for on a cultural level. “I think it’s time to recreate, I think it’s time to reinvent. I think what we have given in the last fifteen [years to] two decades of Afrobeats is just a scratch of our gold, it’s time to nosedive deeper into the culture,” he explains. That includes things like uplifting African fashion in authentic and forward-facing ways, in addition to evolving the music.

At the end of the episode, Smade recounts a defining moment in his career: Getting Davido and Wizkid together on stage at a time when the two Afrobeats superstars were in a tense tiff. It’s one of the few times he gets specific, pulling viewers into not just his memory but an indelible moment in Afrobeats history. It’s a worthy climax that paints a tangible picture of how much King Smade has contributed to the culture.

Watch King Smade on Martell Conversations here.