Something Special Happened At The Barclays Center
by Phil Chard
Something incredible happened last night in Brooklyn, New York. I truly feel that decades from now what I witnessed with the One Africa Music Festival will be described as a watershed moment in the global takeover that African pop music is about to embark on.
Though it was not the first all African Music event to be held in America (recently we had the All Access Ghana that was held in Washington DC and Sarkodie impressive Apollo Theatre concert) but this was different for a number of reasons. Firstly, according to reports tickets for the event sold so well that the organisers had to create extra seating to accommodate the demand. According to NotJustOk founder Ovie Ofugara who attended the event, he estimated that about 15,000 people were in attendance. From the images that I received from attendees and what I saw via the livestream provided by Tidal I wouldn't argue those numbers.
Estimated crowd attendance for #OneAfricaMusicFest currently set at 15,000. 13,000 tickets sold, 2,000 complimentary. Game-changer.
— Övie (@OvieO) July 23, 2016
The second impressive feat was this event was promoted without a major sponsor. Not one! As Banky W expressed when he called Paul Okoye (not the P Square guy, the CEO of Upfront & Personal Management and Consultancy). That was a brave and bold decision from Mr Okoye. Having facilitated a number of deals and endorsements on the behalf of several notable Nigerian celebrities and events, access to potential sponsors would not have been a difficult task for him.
The only major strategic partnership that the evet seemed to line up was their streaming partnership with Tidal which is how I was able to view the event. By streaming the concert the One Africa Music Festival became one of the first truly global event in African music. The combination of the artists involved performing in in America, coupled with their streaming partner is something completely new to the continent.
Despite its title, the line up for the “One Africa” concert was very Nigerian centred, featuring Wizkid, Tiwa Savage, Davido, Flavour, Seun Kuti, Don Jazzy, Timaya, Ayo Jay, Sound Sultan, and Praiz all from Nigeria. Stonebwoy and Efya from Ghana while Diamond Platnumz represented Tanzania. There were the Nigerian American artists Jidenna and Wale on the bill but Wale did not perform for unclear reasons. Essentially this was the Nigerians and friends concert.
The performances and coordination of the event were stellar, outside of a few sound issues that I picked up on the stream. However some of these issues went relatively unnoticed by the attendees that I spoke to who all attested to the incredible energy and atmosphere in the crowd.
The standout performers were Tiwa Savage who gave a masterful live set as she rolled through her hits looking incredibly ravishing and polished before closing out her set by throwing up the Roc to confirm her signing to Jay Z's Roc Nation. Wizkid who was the final act of the night displayed his incredible stage presence as he teased and entertained the crowd while engaging them in between songs. All this was achieved despite not having the support of his full band who could not make the event for unknown reasons. In a high energy moment Wizkid also brought out producer Swizz Beats before they ran through a medley of the Ruff Ryder beat maker’s hits. Throughout his performance Wizzy kept saying that he had too many hits and eventually that proved to be very true as he was forced to skip his last song of the night, ironically it was Final due to time constraints.
Seun Kuti delivered a powerful rendition of his father's 12 minute song Zombies assisted by the full Egypt 80 band. Diamond Platnumz delivered another impressive live set and showed the Barclays Center crowd why he is one of East Africa's most popular artists, all this despite the fact that his trousers kept falling. Jidenna showed off his Nigerian side in a way I have not seen before. Appearing on set with spirit masquerade costume that danced behind him he broke out into dance and impersonations of his father as he kept the crowd hyped, performing songs like Classic Man and his new song Chief Don't Run.
Timaya delivered a high energy set on his own before being joined by Soca star Machel Montano as they performed a number of high energy songs before announcing that a joint album was in the works.
Ultimately all the artists on the bill are some of the best performers in the continent so the quality of their sets remained high as Banky W who played the dual role of host and performer did a stellar job to keep the audience engaged. The only real disappoints were Davido who, despite having a solid repertoire of hit songs once again failed to translate that to the stage as he lip synced most of his set (again). Ayo Jay came out to perform his hit Your Number which was the only song in his performance yet somehow he ran out of breath a number of times.
In summation this was an incredible moment for African Music and the artists involved. Though it was heavily focused on Nigeria and its stars the successes of this night will reverberate across the continent as African stars continue their infiltration of American and European markets. The fact that this event occurred without sponsorship is a true sign of how far the demand for African Pop Music has grown in the diaspora. No longer a genre consumed solely by expatriates it is now reaching new audiences who are more than willing to pay to enjoy the culture. Mr Okoye who clearly has balls made of reinforced steel gambled on himself and the music and won in a big way. The success that was this night was not only limited to the attendees but everyone who streamed it live and saw first hand just how far African Music has gone. This left no doubts that African artists are now ready to expand beyond the continent and the world is ready to receive them.
We have spoken before of how labels are now scrambling to get into Africa, well it seems first world fans are also scrambling to consume the culture and we all saw it take place at the Barclays Centre last night.
The New Scamble For Africa
In 2015, renowned audit behemoth: PwC, in one of its futuring exercises confirmed one of the suspicions of music industry practitioners by predicting that proceeds of entertainment and media will gross $8.5 billion US dollars in Nigeria by 2019, of which music is a major part.
Chris Brown is not a small fry in today’s musical reckoning, a highly successful, albeit controversial pop star known the world over. So when he chooses a Nigerian Afro-Pop act like Wizkid as his sidekick on his on-going World Tour, he may be falling in line with the new thinking in the industry.
Ice Prince & Jay Z. Image Courtesy of Ice Prince's Instagram
In 2015, renowned audit behemoth: PwC, in one of its futuring exercises confirmed one of the suspicions of music industry practitioners by predicting that proceeds of entertainment and media will gross $8.5 billion US dollars in Nigeria by 2019, of which music is a major part.
In Africa, Nigeria’s huge population makes it an easy ground for the sampling of different sorts and in most cases, if it sails there, it will have a high likelihood of flying elsewhere on a continent that is now grossed over 1 billion people. By implication, Africa’s next big commercial export will be calibrated in musical notes and we are witnessing the early days of a new scramble for these new artistic resources.
After winning a Grammy in the Best World Music Category earlier this year, Benenoise Angelique Kidjo said: "I want to dedicate this Grammy to all the traditional musicians in Africa, in my country, to all the young generation,”. Now based in New York, Kidjo has had a front-row seat to witness the growth and newfound love for African music in the first world. Late last year Kidjo also collaborated with Nigeria’s Omawunmi, signifying her willingness to collaborate with the rising tide of Africa’s new crop of artists.
The global music business has responded well to the beats from the black continent too with Sony expanding its operations across Africa particularly in the West and Roc Nation’s newfound interest in African acts being the biggest bellwethers of the new trend. As for the former, the business model for Africa has been evolving over the past five years. First, it was Sony Music Africa (an SPV to run their interest in Africa) that has engaged talents. But now, the parent brand Sony BMG has waded in with two offices in quick succession. Some of the artistes that have courted their interest included D’banj (Nigeria), Xtatic (Kenya), Davido (Nigeria), and Alikiba (Tanzania).
RocNation on the other hand still seems to be dipping their toes in the pool, with no deals being signed as yet but there is strong evidence to suggest that they are keenly interested in entering the African market. Jay Z has already had meetings with Ice Prince, Don Jazzy and Tiwa Savage. Last year he sent his cousin and business partner Briant Briggs and Jay Electronica on a talent scouting trip to Africa. South Africa’s Nasty_C has also claimed that the Roc has expressed interest in him and contacted him personally last month.
It’s a new age for African artists, especially for talents that have been able to fuse the right contemporary elements into their sounds. Even without the support of major labels or structured industry artists are now money-generating brands within their own rights. Nigerian Davido gawked on his Snapchat that his Pepsi deal was worth 100 million Naira (~$500,000 USD). Cassper Nyovest bragged that he grossed over 1 million Rand in show revenue last year and is rumoured to have signed a deal with MTN worth 7 figures.
Back to Chris Brown’s “One Hell of a Tour” in Amsterdam last weekend, he performed a yet to be released collaboration with the Nigerian titled “African Bad Girl”. From the title to the beat and stage act, it was obvious the world is ready to be entertained by everything the continent has to offer.
As acts like Wale, Swizz Beatz, and Drake have now shown, the tide is shifting. Gone are the days when African artists had to travel abroad with large sums of cash in hand hoping to convince international acts to collaborate with them. The world has begun to take notice and respect the talents of Africa, and they are now more willing to collaborate on mutually beneficial musical offerings.
The biggest challenge, however, is for the industry to be strong enough to trap down most of the proceeds for the benefit of the continent and the artists themselves.
The New Scramble For Africa
by Phil Chard
Chris Brown is not a small fry in today’s musical reckoning, a highly successful, albeit controversial pop star known the world over. So when he chooses a Nigerian Afro Pop act like Wizkid as his sidekick on his on-going World Tour, he may be falling in line with the new thinking in the industry.
Ice Prince & Jay Z
In 2015, renowned audit behemoth: PwC, in one of its futuring exercises confirmed one of the suspicions of music industry practitioners by predicting that proceeds of entertainment and media will gross $8.5 billion US dollars in Nigeria by 2019, of which music is a major part.
In Africa, Nigeria’s huge population makes it an easy ground for sampling of different sorts and in most cases, if it sails there, it will have a high likelihood of flying elsewhere on a continent that is now grossed over 1 billion people. By implication, Africa’s next big commercial export will be calibrated in musical notes and we are witnessing the early days of a new scramble for these new artistic resources.
After winning a Grammy in the Best World Music Category earlier this year, Benenoise Angelique Kidjo said "I want to dedicate this Grammy to all the traditional musicians in Africa, in my country, to all the young generation,”. Now based in New York, Kidjo has had a front row seat to witness the growth and new found love for African music in the first world. Late last year Kidjo also collaborated with Nigeria’s Omawunmi, signifying her willingness to collaborate with the rising tide of Africa’s new crop of artists.
Jay Z, Tiwa Savage Don Jazzy
Global music business has responded well to the beats from the black continent too with Sony expanding its operations across Africa particularly in in the West and Roc Nation’s new found interest in African acts being the biggest bellwethers of the new trend. As for the former, the business model for Africa has been evolving over the past five years. First it was Sony Music Africa (an SPV to run their interest in Africa) that has engaged talents. But now, the parent brand Sony BMG has waded in with two offices in quick succession. Some of the artistes that have courted their interest included D’banj (Nigeria), Xtatic (Kenya), Davido (Nigeria), and Alikiba (Tanzania).
RocNation on the other hand still seems to be dipping their toes in the pool, with no deals being signed as yet but there is strong evidence to suggest that they are keenly interested in entering the African market. Jay Z has already had meetings with Ice Prince, Don Jazzy and Tiwa Savage. Last year he sent his cousin and business partner Briant Briggs and Jay Electronica on a talent scouting trip to Africa. South Africa’s Nasty_C has also claimed that the Roc has expressed interest in him and contacted him personally last month.
It’s a new age for African artists, especially for talents that have been able to fuse the right contemporary elements into their sounds. Even without the support of major labels or a structured industry artists are now money generating brands within their own rights. Nigerian Davido gawked on his snapchat that his Pepsi deal was worth 100 million Naira (~$500,000 USD). Cassper Nyovest bragged that he grossed over 1 million Rand in show revenue last year and is rumoured to have signed a deal with MTN worth 7 figures.
Back to Chris Brown’s “One Hell of a Tour” in Amsterdam last weekend, he performed a yet to be released collaboration with the Nigerian titled “African Bad Girl”. From the title to the beat and stage act, it was obvious the world is ready to be entertained by everything the continent has to offer.
@THEREALSWIZZZ vibing to @RealBlackCoffee | there are levels to this life thing yo pic.twitter.com/pBpjP1U9qJ
— Phlynt Phlossy™ (@PhilChard) April 22, 2016
As acts like Wale, Swizz Beatz, and Drake have now shown, the tide is shifting. Gone are the days when African artists had to travel abroad with large sums of cash in hand hoping to convince international acts to collaborate with them. The world has begun to take notice and respect the talents of Africa, and they are now more willing to collaborate on mutually beneficial musical offerings.
The biggest challenge however is for the industry to be strong enough to trap down most of the proceeds for the benefit of the continent and the artists themselves.
17772.html
by Phil Chard
Wizkid could very well be experiencing one the most impressive spells ever experienced by an African Pop star as he continues to rack up the wins. The Wizkid assisted One Dance just helped Drake reach the number one spot on the billboard hot 100 chart the song has subsequently been remixed by The Beibs,
Now Wiz is currently on tour with Chris Brown in Europe where he will be opening for Breezy at his tour dates in Denmark, Germany and Holland. While in Holland , Wiz linked up with Ghanaian born DJ Henry on the laid back Like This which was also premiered on Drake’s OVO Sound Radio show on Apple Music.
Favourite Producer-Rapper Partnerships
by Mayuyuka
In the spirit of focusing on the sterling contributions to the game by African producers, we decided to have a look at a few of our favourite producer-rapper combos. What we had in mind was a duo (or any other size and shape set-up) that's managed to come together three times or more to produce classics. We also try to give an update on what the producers may have branched out to from their roles behind the scenes.
A range of old and new alliances have formed over time so here's an overview of matches made in musical heaven: We sometimes take producers for granted and to borrow from a phrase swirling around; this is our little offering to the 'producers must rise' movement. Tweezy and AKA have a promisingly formidable partnership. From churning out hits like Run Jozi and All Eyes On Me to the brilliant Sim Dope, these two are hand and glove when it comes to dropping hits. Recent exchanges on social media might dampen this relationship, but despite a controversial start to a solo career Tweezy hasn't shied away from leaving life from behind the decks. An example of his solo offerings are the trap song Ambition and the controversy-surrounded Bonang performed below:
Priddy Ugly's project You Don't Know Me Yet is entirely produced by Wichi 1080. Apart from the impressive fact that a solitary producer on an album is exceedingly rare nowadays... the different kinds of beats included on this work keeps it a refreshing listen! From standout tracks like Cocaine Ghost and the Big Star Johnson assisted Nobody, to the certified banger Bula Boot: the production deserves a string of fire flame emojis. The dope beats work in tandem with Priddy's delivery and voice to provide a unique offering you can sample out here:
Sarkodie, the criminally underrated rapper hailing out of Ghana has an unfailing ear for melodic beats. Jayso is responsible for most of them, also managing to fuse Hip Hop and Dancehall to create irresistible Hiplife cuts like the catchy Special Someone that features Burna Boy and AKA. Jayso runs his own label, Skillions Records; where he's also released a solo album named Making Tasha Proud. This debut release, inspired by a true story, features a few other Ghanaian mainstays such as Efya and M.anifest. Peep the title track ft A.I to track his journey from behind the decks:
Wizkid's dominant run has seen him stride mammoth paces over the past couple of years. He has, however, been on this journey with the dependable Sarz who has helped mould Wiz into a globally recognised pop star. This partnership has led to regular stays on pop charts across the land. Here's an early Femi Kuti-featuring, Sarz-produced example of the fusion between Afrobeat and Pop we've become accustomed to over the years:
pH Raw X is responsible for working with pretty much everyone in the South African Hip Hop scene. His CV reads like a dream, either solo or part of music production team Octave Couplet. The famous Raw X Studios are responsible for work on albums such as Zubz' Coachella and AKA's Altar Ego. What stands out is his linking up with Khuli Chana on both his albums Motswakoriginator and Lost In Time. pH spreads is talents further than just Hip Hop releases. He shows his versatility on his album From Giyani With Love alongside Thandiswa Mazwai in Wa N'Tiva(Bo't) below:
Shom C and Zone Fam carve out a distinct Zambian sound by mixing elements of Hip Hop and a sprinkle of both Zed and Afrobeat. Rappers Jay Rox, Dope G and Yung Verbal prove that this is a successful formula by featuring Badman Shapi and Nigerians Ice Prince and Patoranking in Slow Mo. This track showcases the best in both the production and lyrical aspects this combination of a trio of rappers and one beat head offers. Have a listen after the jump:
A relationship that allegedly went through a period of acrimony was that between Thasman and HHP who brought us hits like Harambe and the Cassper Nyovest-featuring Wamo Tseba Mtho. It's Bosso that got a huge ad placement from a local mobile operator though, and probably ranks amongst the greatest success of a duo. Revisit it here, and see if it rings any bells:
From the producer-rapper who specialises in Batman and Robin styled duos, to those that have the skill to work with a range of artists: the value of solid production is something we'll always appreciate. For some of the producers we've covered, they continue to strengthen partnerships with specific acts whilst others focus on their solo endeavours now. Whichever way their next chapters play out... we hope it's not strictly by ear!
DJ Big N – Erima Feat. Dr. Sid & Wizkid ( Official music video )
by Phil Chard
Mavin Records’ DJ Big N linked up with label mate Dr. Sid and WizKid on the new club centred Erima.
This song is will undoubtedly be getting a lot of spins this winter. The video for the P Winxton produced track was directed by Paul Gambit.