Carrying the Work Forward: A 2025 Reflection on Afrobeats, Africa, and Leadership
Friday 2nd January.
A pause before the year begins to move.
2025 came with its share of turbulence. Highs, lows, constant adjustment.
It required steadiness, often when things felt uncertain.
That steadiness was tested more than once, through the quiet pressure that builds as responsibility grows and life keeps moving.
I started the year in Rwanda.
Standing at the Genocide Memorial.
Hosted by Coach Gael. Working with the Sherrie Silver Foundation.
It wasn’t an easy place to begin.
There’s a weight you feel there that stays with you, not something you summarise or move past quickly.
Being there slowed me down. It made me reflect on what it really means to carry responsibility, to lead, and to speak about Africa with care.
It reminded me that resilience isn’t something you perform. It’s something people live with, quietly, every day.
Rebuilding. Remembering. Choosing to keep going.
I never knew where parties would take me.What began in rooms built for joy, connection, and escape gradually became responsibility, direction, and purpose.
I’ve always felt my story has been led and guided by God. Even when I didn’t have language for where things were heading, I trusted that the path was unfolding as it needed to.
At the start of this year, I knew it was time to take on more responsibility and be more intentional about the contribution I’m making. My vision has always been for Africa — for infrastructure, long-term growth, and systems that allow Africans to build and remain rooted in their own futures.
That transition came with uncertainty and loss.There were familiar spaces and people I had to move beyond, and moments where the path ahead wasn’t fully clear. The growing pains were quiet and internal, and they shaped how I moved forward.
During that transition, I was conferred an honorary doctorate — a Doctor of Arts — recognised as the first Doctor of Afrobeats.
By that point, the shift had already happened internally. I was carrying the work differently, with a clearer sense of responsibility.The recognition felt like confirmation rather than surprise, a reflection of years spent building through culture, music, and community.
For me, it was also a message to young creatives.
That the things you care about deeply matter.
That your passions are valid.
That culture, when carried with intention, becomes leadership.
Sometimes the internal shift comes first. The world catches up later.
Throughout the year, I moved through 13 countries. Each place added context, conversation, and responsibility to the work. I hosted Diaspora Roundtables around the world, spoke across cities and continents, and spent time in rooms with governments, founders, artists, and young creatives thinking carefully about how to build work that endures beyond a single season.
There were moments that allowed me to slow down.
Dubai created space between commitments.
Lamu, Kenya, during a 54 Magazine shoot, brought me back to stillness and presence.
Walking London Fashion Week alongside my father was one of those moments that stays with you quietly, carrying more meaning than it needs words for.
There were also moments that carried more weight than they appeared to from the outside.
Watching Diamond Platnumz sell out the Royal Albert Hall felt full circle. It brought back memories of the early groundwork, the belief before scale, the smaller rooms that shaped what later became arenas.
Supporting Bien as his tour and afterparty sold out carried a deep, quiet pride. Seeing Rema and D’banj share a stage — two generations I’ve witnessed grow in different ways — and watching Ruger step into his moment carried that same feeling.Connecting with Wizkid, Jada and Don Bazzy in Algeria and reflecting on how far the journey has come brought it all into focus.
Each path unfolded on its own timeline, shaped by patience, belief, and consistency.It was a reminder that when the work is real and sustained, the moment arrives in its own time.
It made me reflect on how far we’ve come in spreading the gospel of Afrobeats.The scale of the shows, the audiences, the global reach.What once felt fragile now feels established. What once needed explanation now moves with confidence.
Being part of that journey, helping to shape it and protect it, carries a quiet personal meaning. Not as a headline or a claim, but as recognition of years spent believing in something before the world fully caught up.
Marking five years of Afro Nation carried a weight that’s hard to describe.It was the realisation of a vision once held quietly, long before it had a name, a stage, or a global audience. A dream that came to life through belief, risk, and years of commitment.
That kind of fulfilment stays with you, even as the journey shifts.
There are moments when you’re sent toward a different mission. That doesn’t erase what came before, or stop you from missing it, yearning for it, or sitting with complicated feelings around it.The work is still yours. The proof still stands.
This year carried that quiet shift. Not everything needed to be spoken to be understood. Space was created, and within that space came clarity.
Returning to Portugal this year mattered in ways that didn’t need explaining. Being there allowed things to settle — to honour what had been built, to accept what had changed, and to move forward carrying less weight.
It reinforced something important for me.
Dreams do come true. Sometimes exactly as imagined. Sometimes as preparation for what comes next.
Some moments change you without noise.
They hold gratitude, grief, and clarity at the same time.
This was one of them.
Faith anchored the year. Time in Mecca deepened my relationship with God.
Time in Zimbabwe carried meaning through my children, strengthening my sense of legacy across generations.Being in Ethiopia, and spending time at the African Union, deepened relationships and clarified the direction of the work ahead.
Family held everything steady.
Time with my children. Moments that didn’t need documenting.
Longstanding friendships sustained. New ones formed naturally through shared values and work.
Much of the work happened away from the spotlight. Supporting artists. Spending time with young talent. Consulting for festivals across the world. Shooting work for SMADE Couture. Building patiently, behind the scenes.
I ended the year in Ghana, marking my birthday with gratitude.
Present. Clear-headed. Still moving forward.
2025 was shaped by resilience and consistency. By staying committed through pressure and change, the work continued to move.
Now, on Friday 2nd January, I’m stepping into 2026 with a steady sense of clarity.The focus is depth — building systems that last, strengthening the infrastructure behind culture, and creating real pathways for creators.
Diaspora Roundtables will continue to travel. The work with governments, institutions, and partners will deepen, centred on sustainable creative economies.SMADE NEXT GEN Academy, Mentorship, ownership, skills transfer, and continuity remain central.
Faith stays at the centre. Family remains the anchor. Health and presence are part of how the work is carried.
2026 is about continuing with care and consistency.
Building with integrity. Moving with purpose. Leaving systems stronger than I found them.
If you’re entering this year rebuilding quietly or refining your direction, that process matters.
We keep going.
Dr. King SMADE
Journal Entry
London, UK, December
