Add a vocal to your afrobeats beat
To add a vocal to your afrobeats beat, upload the beat in Lyro Music, paste your lyrics or say what the song is about, and pick a voice: for afrobeats, “Male, smooth” is the usual fit. Lyro’s vocal model listens to the beat itself and sings or raps your words on its tempo and grid, then returns the vocal alone, as its own track. Your beat is never changed.
With lyrics it costs 7 credits for a beat of up to a minute and 11 credits for three minutes, on every plan.
What should the vocal sing?
Sign up and Lyro builds on your beat.
Add a vocal to this afrobeats beatNo file at hand? Start from a description, or generate a prompt.
At a glanceAfrobeats
| Tempo (BPM) | 95 to 115 |
|---|---|
| Keys | major or minor, often B minor, A minor or G major, over simple loops of two to four chords |
| Feel | syncopated kick and snare with a clave-like bounce, steady shakers, accents between the beats |
| Signature sounds | a bouncy syncopated kick and snare pattern, shakers and talking drum accents, bright highlife-style guitar licks, and a smooth lead with group backing chants |
| Song form | usually a short intro on the guitar or keys hook, drums within a few bars, then verse and chorus alternating over one chord loop, ending on the groove and ad-libs |
| Voice that fits | Male, smooth |
| The usual vocal | Afrobeats vocals are smooth, melodic and relaxed, often with light auto-tune, and the chorus is backed by group chants or call and response. |
How it goesThree steps
- Upload your beatLyro reads its tempo and key in the browser in a few seconds. Correct them if you know the real values.
- Give it words and a voicePaste your lyrics, or let Lyro write a verse and a hook from one line about the song. Then pick the voice: “Male, smooth” for afrobeats.
- Mix the vocal with your beatThe vocal opens in the studio beside your beat. Nudge a phrase that lands early or late, balance the two and master.
Tips for this genre
Three things decide how a vocal on an afrobeats beat comes out: the words, the voice and the delivery.
- Write the whole verse and the hook. With only a few lines, the model adds lines of its own.
- Keep the lines of a verse to a similar number of syllables, so none of them gets rushed.
- Use the Style box for the delivery you want in afrobeats, such as laid-back, breathy, aggressive or melodic. Name a delivery, never an artist.
Where the limits are
- The model writes its own melody for your words; you steer it with the lyrics, the voice and a line of style, not note by note.
- An AI vocal can mispronounce a word, and a new attempt costs credits.
- A word can still land slightly early or late; split that phrase in the studio and move it on the grid.
- Lyro has no voice cloning, and it does not imitate a real singer or rapper.
Questions
Will Lyro change my afrobeats beat?
No. The vocal model listens to your beat so it can sing on it, but what comes back is only the new vocal, as its own track. Your beat file is never changed; the two meet in the mixer.
Which voice suits afrobeats?
“Male, smooth”. Afrobeats leads are smooth, melodic and relaxed, so a smooth voice fits; describe backing chants in the style box. You can pick any of Lyro’s voices and describe the delivery in the style box.
Does the vocal land on my beat’s timing?
The vocal model hears the beat itself, not only its tempo, and sings on its grid. A word can still land slightly early or late; you fix that in the studio by splitting the phrase and moving it.
I have no lyrics yet. Can Lyro write them?
Yes. Say in one line what the song is about, or pick a theme such as love, heartbreak or hustle, and Lyro writes a verse and a hook in the style of afrobeats before it sings them. They appear on screen, so you can edit them before the next try.
What does it cost?
With lyrics, 7 credits for a beat of up to a minute and 11 credits for three minutes. An improvised vocal without written words costs one credit per started minute, with a minimum of 2. It is on every plan, and failed generations are refunded automatically.
Is my beat really afrobeats?
The neighbouring genres differ in clear ways:
- Amapiano: overlaps in tempo at 108 to 115 BPM, but is led by the log drum and piano chords and takes far longer to unfold
- Afro house: faster at 118 to 125 BPM, with a club kick on every beat and sparse chants in place of full songs
- Reggaeton: a little slower at 88 to 100 BPM and built on the dembow pattern
Related
More for this genre: A beat for your vocal, Mix and master
Other genres: Trap, Hip-hop, Drill, R&B, Pop, Amapiano, Afro house, Deep house, Reggaeton, Lo-fi, K-pop