AFROBEATS & HOLLYWOOD - The Rising Presence Of Nigeria's Global Sound in Hollywood

 

Tems is back on a Hollywood soundtrack. Hold On, from her 2024 debut album Born in the Wild, features in the opening sequence of Tyler Perry’s new Netflix movie, Doing Life — another milestone for the Grammy-winning Nigerian star, who has already contributed to and collaborated on music for major Hollywood productions. But Tems is far from the only Afrobeats artist making that crossover. Over the years, some of Nigeria’s biggest music stars — from Burna Boy and Wizkid to Davido, Tiwa Savage, Fireboy DML and others — have had their music featured in, performed in or created for major Hollywood movies.

In fact, the Nigerian music connection with Hollywood goes back much further. Long before the rise of Afrobeats, King Sunny Adé’s music had already found its way into a Hollywood movie in the 1980s. Today, that presence has grown considerably, from Queen of Katwe and The Lion King to Coming 2 America, Queen & Slim, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and now Doing Life. ScreenNolly’s Jimi D Baldheaded Guy looks at some of those moments in a featured list titled AFROBEATS & HOLLYWOOD.

Queen of Katwe, a coming-of-age, inspirational movie from Disney Studios, featured three top artists' soundtracks: P Square's Shekini, Davido's Skelewu and MC Galxy's Sekem  Burna's Boy' My Money My Baby was featured as a soundtrack of the romantic crime drama, Queen & Slim Wizkid's 2016 hit song, Daddy Yo, was featured in the 2018 action sequel, Pacific Rim: Uprising Beyoncé's The Lion King: The Gift, a musical companion inspired by the Disney movie, brought together some of Nigeria's biggest Afrobeats stars, including Burna Boy, Wizkid, Tiwa Savage, Mr Eazi, Yemi Alade and Tekno.

While Davido featured and performed his hit tune Assurance, Tiwa Savage' Koroba and Tekno's Waka Waka were also featured in Eddie Murphy's sequel: Coming 2 America movie

Burna Boy’s Alone, Fireboy DML’s Coming Back for You, CKay’s Anya Mmiri and Tems Bob Marley cover of No Woman, No Cry were featured on the soundtrack in the 2022 sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Tems also co-wrote Rihanna’s Lift Me Up, a tribute for the movie

In the 2023 comedy biblical drama, The Book of Clarence, Adekunle Gold performed with other artists on the soundtrack Jeezu, while Yemi Alade featured on another soundtrack, Scared Love

Tem's Hold On from her 2024 debut album, Born In The Wild, was featured in the opening sequence of Tyler Perry's 2026 Inspirational romantic drama, Doing Life

Long before the rise of Afrobeats and its growing presence in Hollywood, Juju icon and veteran King Sunny Adé had already made his mark. His song “365 Is My Number,” from his internationally acclaimed 1982 album, found its way into the 1983 film Breathless