Musician builds Afrobeats career in northern Manitoba

Babatunde Adewole opened up Instagram recently and saw a message that he had been tagged in a post. When he opened it, there was his picture alongside news that he had been nominated for Afrobeats Artist of the Year at the 2026 Western Canadian Music Awards.

“I was in my vehicle,” he recalled. “I was kind of shouting out loud, screaming. I was like, ‘Wow, this has actually come to pass.’”

For Adewole, who performs under the name SCUD, the nomination is a milestone in a seven-year effort to build an Afrobeats career from Thompson, a city of about 13,000 people 740 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

The Nigerian-born artist is one of two Manitoba nominees in the category, which was introduced in 2025 as the Western Canadian Music Awards moved to recognize the growing influence of Afrobeats.

“I have been building this from a city where there was no infrastructure for this music, no studios, no Afrobeats venues, no industry support,” Adewole said in an interview.

“I had to create all of it from scratch. This nomination is recognition not just for my work but for everyone in Thompson who showed up to Afrobeats Nights, who believed this music deserved a space in the north. This one is for them.”

The awards will be presented during the BreakOut West festival in Victoria, B.C., from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4.

Adewole said the category’s existence reflects a broader shift within Canada’s music industry.

“Afrobeats is one of the fastest-growing genres in the world,” he said. “Nigerian artists are charting on the Billboard Hot 100, winning Grammys, selling out arenas globally.”

He said Canadian institutions have been slower to recognize artists creating Afrobeats music domestically.

“When the WCMA created this category last year, I was like, ‘Wow, OK, I could definitely fit in this category and get my work recognized,’” he said. “Even in just its second year, it’s a signal that the Canadian music establishment is beginning to take this genre seriously.”

The nomination caps a busy year.

In May, Adewole performed at New Skool Rules, an international music conference and showcase in Rotterdam, Netherlands, with support from a FACTOR Canada grant. He also completed the Manitoba leg of his Late Bloomer Tour.

His 2025 EP, “Late Bloomer,” has generated more than 300,000 streams online, including more than 150,000 streams for the single “Glory.” Across three EPs and several singles, his music has surpassed one million streams on digital platforms.

He has also shared stages with internationally known Nigerian performers, including rapper Odumodublvck during a Canadian tour in 2024 and Shallipopi during a Winnipeg appearance in 2025.

The Rotterdam performance carried special significance.

The experience connected him with artists, managers, festival organizers and industry professionals from around the world and reinforced his belief that his career can extend beyond northern Manitoba.

Back home, Adewole has focused on creating opportunities for others as well.

In January, he launched Afrobeats Nights, a monthly live music and cultural event at Thompson’s Reagle Beagle Tavern. Organizers describe it as the only recurring Afrobeats and Black music event in northern Manitoba.

Every edition has sold out.

“I genuinely did not know if anybody would come,” Adewole said. “But we sold out. We’ve been selling out January, February, March, April.”

He said the events have become gathering spaces for Thompson’s growing African diaspora community, bringing together people with roots in countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Mauritius, Cameroon, Kenya and Zimbabwe.

“It’s proof,” he said, “that this is an entire community saying, ‘We’ve been waiting for this.’”

Adewole is also the founder of Attical Global Entertainment, an independent music label and event production company based in Thompson.

He began making music in 2004 and later signed with a record label before relocating to Canada. After settling in Thompson, he built a home studio because no local recording facilities existed for the type of music he wanted to create.

» Winnipeg Sun

tion is both validation and an opportunity to shine a spotlight on artists working far from Canada’s cultural hubs.

“I’m happy that this is coming to the north,” he said. “We’re getting recognized.”

» Winnipeg Sun