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In the last decade, there’s been a rising tension between Nigerian artistes and their counterparts from other parts of Africa over the perceived success of the former and their music in the international space. While Nigerian artistes appear to have the world under their feet with their music which keeps breaking records and geographical boundaries, others appear to be on a catch up race, giving rise to some sort of animosity.
From Burna Boy and South African rapper AKA’s beef over the 2019 xenophobic attacks on Nigerians to Shatta Wale accusing Nigerian music stars of not supporting their Ghanaian counterparts, there has also been a series of social media war of words among fans from Nigeria and other African countries over the success of Nigerian music.
This is why there is a sensitivity that comes with collaborating with Nigerian music stars on other African platforms. On September 28, 2022, Fave slammed Kenyan event promoters for allegedly being hostile to her and her crew despite them inviting her to perform in their country.
In 2020, Omah Lay and Tems were imprisoned in Uganda following their concert in the country. According to the Ugandan authorities, they were arrested for reportedly violating COVID-19 regulations at a music event. Although they might have violated the law, what stood out the most was how certain popular artistes in Ugandan reacted to the situation.
Prominent Ugandan rapper, Gravity Omutujju, in his reaction to the arrest, said: ”Because a foreigner to perform in Uganda, he must get a work permit meaning the government was involved. In all honesty and fairness, how can you allow this concert to happen when you really know that you stopped your own artistes from performing and closed all happening places to protect the masses from catching Covid-19.”
Omah Lay on multiple occasions expressed that he felt like he was being ‘set up’.
One thing is clear from the preceding examples, inviting Nigerian artistes to other African countries to perform is almost a recipe for disaster. American R&B singer, Usher will definitely not forget his performance in a hurry, as it came with much praise and as much backlash.
On Saturday, September 24, 2022, Usher was one of the numerous artistes that graced the stage for the 2022 Global Citizen Festival Accra, Ghana — an annual event that seeks to end extreme poverty “by contributing to charity acts on the website, including watching videos and signing petitions.”
To the shock of some Ghanaians and their artistes, Usher brought out Nigerian stars like Oxlade, Tiwa Savage, and Pheelz to perform with him at the 20,000-capacity Black Star Square in Accra.
This decision has raised concerns among Ghanaians and certain top personalities as they felt the show was held in Ghana. As such, the R&B artiste should have spotlighted Ghanaian stars instead.
Palago Mufasa, a Ghanaian artiste, voiced his concerns on social media saying “who allowed Usher to bring out only Nigerian artistes on a Ghanaian stage? That’s so disrespectful to the industry?”
In 2021, the Ghanaian music industry saw the rise of their rising stars to an international audience, a movement artistes like Black Sherif and Gyakie have championed with the release of their hit singles ‘Kweku The Traveller’ and ‘Forever.’
Olele Salvador, a Ghanaian entertainment journalist, and renowned TV presenter, during a chat with Netng, opined that the world’s reception to the young stars’ sound had nothing to do with the uniqueness of their sound but a blend of artistry and the influx of social media apps like Tiktok.
“With what I know now, being unique has certainly not been enough because there is a pool of artistes like their type and even better in Ghana, but they don’t have equal traction. I am convinced it’s a perfect blend of pure artistry and the coincidental ‘luck’ of the digital age apps like TikTok, Twitter, and perhaps Instagram.
“These aforementioned did not slumber or relent after their first hit singles that introduced them to the world. Fortunately for them, they got spotted early by these global labels – Empire for Blacko and Sony(RCA) for Gyakie, to give them that extra push and plug-ins to achieve what we are now seeing as a worldwide reception.”
Still, collaborations played a prominent role in introducing these acts to a more extensive fan base. For Black Sherif, it was Grammy-winning artiste Burna Boy featuring on his hit single ‘Second Sermon remix.’ For Gyakie, it was Omah Lay featuring on the remix for ‘Forever’, a feature that prompted music lovers outside of Ghana to listen to the song.
Nigerian acts have also been great benefactors of collaborations especially with international acts. Tems became the first African female artiste to debut No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 as a result of her collaboration with American rapper Future on his single, ‘Wait for U,’ featuring Drake. Fireboy DML became the first Nigerian artiste to perform at Wembley Stadium because of his collaboration with Ed Sheeran on his hit single ‘Peru’.
In every way and form, collaborating with more influential acts has aided success for these acts, the question is why are other African countries still so hostile towards the idea?
“Growth is relative. For me, anything that gives the Ghanaian music industry the spotlight outside its borders is growth. These collaborations create room for the many possibilities to not only foster good relationships but to drive an agenda to establish the necessary systems in sustaining the impact. A case in point is what D’banj and the 2baba did for the Nigerian music industry.
“Their collaborations with global stars during their peak season set the tone and left the right footprints for the likes of Davido, Wizkid, Rema, etc. to follow through. The exposure, if used well by Ghanaian acts and to a larger extent industry stakeholders, could create a spiral effect across old and new in making a landscape a competitive one,” Salvador told us.
Sheer artistry led Ghanaian acts like Gyakie and Black Sherif to release other hit singles. It caused them to hit significant milestones, especially for Black Sherif, who became the first Ghanaian musician to top Apple Music Chart in Nigeria with his street anthem, ‘Kwaku The Traveller.’ But, collaborations with other African artistes took their music beyond the border of Ghana.
Understanding the importance of collaborations in the career of music stars can bring a better perspective as to why certain Ghanaians might have felt their artistes deserved to have made it to Usher’s lineup. However, networking for the sake of opportunities is also an essential factor for these collaborations to happen.
In the case of the Global Citizen Festival, top Ghanaian acts like Sarkodie, Gyakie had performed before Usher brought out Tiwa Savage, Pheelz and Oxlade to perform alongside him. The bone of contention should have been who made what calls and what connection was established that led to these Nigerians performing.
“It would have been super-great to have brought Ghanaian acts on stage, but who is speaking to Usher to do that? Nobody. How did we have Tiwa, Pheelz, and Oxlade come to share the stage with Usher? Calls were made. Their respective labels probably made bold moves and got that to happen. Nigerians understand the power of networking; unlike Ghanaians, they are not timid.”
Despite the backlash of favouring Nigerian artistes, the R&B singer had worked with Ghanaian dancers and choreographers from the DWP Academy throughout his set, a collaboration Salvador mentions didn’t just happen.
“Someone in the room probably proposed it to him or the team handling Usher to consider. We all witnessed the greatness on the stage that night. So though it may seem automatic to the regular eye, sometimes it doesn’t work that way. We only suffer the repercussions of displaced entitlement when all we could do is just ask. We don’t have to ask solemnly all the time, sometimes with a little bit of display.”
Although this tension will not dial back any time soon, it’s worthy of note that for the African sound to cross the borders of Africa, African artistes and music executives need to put their differences aside and collaborate. The aim should not be to find ways to discredit the success of other acts and other African countries but to find a way for opportunities like this to be mutually beneficial.
The post How African Music Artistes Can Ride On Nigeria’s Success In The Global Space To Promote Their Work appeared first on Nigerian Entertainment Today.
Source: TheNet
