Afro-beats Globalization: A Review Of Nigerian Music Industry.
Nigerian music industry, rows with powerful voice and influence that rubs most act, including mainstream, underground, and the fast rising superstars.
Afro-beats, defines that powered voice. The voice that have been lend to majority of West African stars, is growing global dominance, deep influence and causing major forum for appreciation across diaspora. Couple of vanguards have settled to render blunt offers that amplifies the voice’s audacity. Wizkid, Burnaboy, Davido, Tiwa Savage, Mr Eazi, Tekno and others are parcels of the guardians globalizing afro culture. They’ve rowed the boat and widen the audience who listens to this lovely voice, gradually taking over the globe. The voice is literally growing bigger and getting more influence on acts by day. No doubt, Fela Kuti the pioneer, and the brain box behind this voice and globalization that runs through pop, with structures that leans on afro culture, fashion and blends universal art with severe acceptability.
Various global stars, see the validity and strength of this voice (genre), and they find ways to appreciate. Beyoncé’s recent project, “Lion King”, seek answers as she took alongside few African stars who embraced there roots, embellished Afro-love on her project, confined towards Africans and flows streams of Pan African culture and idea. Wizkid, amplified the afro structural essence behind “Brown Skin Girl”, and he made a very strong pursuit and value for listeners appreciation of afro-culture which leans on globalization.
Tiwa Savage, Burnaboy, Mr Eazi, Tekno, Shatta Wale and other African stars are proud partakers. They shared same interest within the project, entrenched African love, beauty and hedonism, left appreciable gestures for keen and new listeners of the culture. They left the picture of cusp talented African stars, seeking same opportunity, like a perfect medium attaining zenith. of there career to globalize the beauty of Afro culture to diaspora.
The rise of several stars merged developing structures of African art stares sternly, and that imaginary picture gradually turns reality as several newcomers and recent acts dominates Nigerian music industry bravely. Rema, Joeboy, Fireboy DML, Omah Lay, Tems, Olakira, Oxlade, Cheque and more. They are the rising stars that seem to amplify African music with hopeful and futuristic rendition, spawning. the culture with diverse mechanics, engrossing various sonic collections. The culture has been penetrating into the acts, and the mission has been completed as the influence runs through most African art.
Omah Lay’s break-out, was sudden and strong. On February 14th, Valentine’s fever, in Nigeria, trespassing love and fun before the COVID-19 pandemic. Omah Lay, released an addictive love song built with Afro-structural essence, titled — “You”. A track that paved great path for his artistry, won peoples heart on instant. He broke out even strongly, after prescribing us a stronger and more addictive vibe, wheeled to our obsession, entitled — “Bad Influence”, that hiked his dexterity. He then, offered an extended play, “Get Layd”, sealing the moments he created us to last. “What Have We Done”, his recent project finally sealed our ample trust handed to his artistry and defined him as one of the futures of Afro-beats completely.
Omah Lay has offered several signs on his sonic creations that paves path towards globalizing Afro-beats. His sounds structured powerful and unmovable with healing afro tincture. Recently, he curated a remixed version of his “Damn”, a track off his recent EP, with American singer, 6lack. A very strong sign, that have paced his artistry faster, and laid rest on continental audience with sentimental UK and American listeners who loves his music. Meanwhile, he recently penned a deal with the American music distribution company — Warner Music. Omah Lay is on the rise so are the others; Tems, Cheque, Oxlade, Bella Shmurda, Olakira and more. This youngsters are the future of Afro-beats.
Warner Music, Sony Music, Universal Music and Atlantic Records, are music companies that have aligned together to see the global breakthrough of Afro-beats. These music companies, Signs big deals with various hardworking and super talented superstars, and have seen many crossover victorious. Massive influence of listeners, the culture expanding, gaining new audience yearly and yearning to fusion every sound like Hiphop culture.
According to Burnaboy’s interview with Fader, expressing his style of crossing over African music, and the culture the reverse standard. He tends to globalize African culture and then make the reverse crossover to his home land. He referred Africa as the beginning and its factual.
“I care about crossing over, but in the opposite way. I want to come here and cross you over to where I am. You understand? Because where I am is the actual home of the beginning. I’m kinda like the (gestures towards himself) I don’t know.
Nigerian music Industry, is transforming into the market that seeks global traction to fully harness development, with pursuit for great value and interest in her globalizing process with the stars.
This pursuit begins to get along new school acts consisting developed fringes of the culture in customized shapes, and naturally shares the beauty of the genre to create appreciation, which leans above free song downloading, but has offered the African acts platforms where great acts would make bulks for the contents they pitch. The global audience, really cares about there favorite gods (acts) and it’s not just being confined to show and event money or booking fees for the super talented act.
So many fast rising stars, have find that traction in collaboration with several western music distribution agencies for there art, because it has been built around global appeal. They’ve ended up, creating a wider audience and value for there art to last and benefit the act constantly with his consistence. But then, the Old guard of Nigerian music industry is changing and it truly requires fit acts to transform in various conditions that requires sound variation and more creativity to design the excellence the global audience might find appealing as the culture is transiting to gain global breakthrough, traction and relevance with the pacing vanguards, the existing guards and new comers.
Rema, Fireboy DML, Joeboy and other Nigerian acts, still exist as the newcomers who stepped into the music industry recently and diversified the culture entirety, the sound structures and created huge global appeal and is following the transition that rings globalization. Wizkid, Burnaboy, Tekno, Yemi Alade, Davido, Mr Eazi and Tiwa Savage are in-charge, and they represent the vanguards who are stepping up the culture as well, while the existing guards, Mayorkun, one of the finest DMW popstar, Reekado banks, Kizz Daniel, Lil Kesh and others seems to be forced to switch sounds to global appeal in other to survive. Simi, Adekunle Gold, Niniola, Chike, Nonso Amadi, and the rest are pushing and every new incoming act in Nigerian music industry, who loves the voice have showed great signs that tend to step up the Afro-culture on a pursuit for global appeal while they all keep retainment to preserve there native artistic sauce to constantly feed home audience, although, they would need more effort than before to join materialize the dreams and working efforts on the vanguards and existing guardians of the culture — Afrobeats Globalization.
