Tag: BET

AT every season of the Black Entertainment Television (BET) Awards, Africans, through the Best International Act category, look forward to that opportunity, which is perceived as a window to the revered world of American music and entertainment industry.

Not only is the allegiance so strong because the Blacks rule the American entertainment landscape, Africans savour a sense of belonging from the historical perspective of slavery that has put the forefathers of the Black Americans on the other side of the divide.

Somehow, an Africa does not expect to be discriminated against by Black America, hence a strong belief in BET, by Africans musicians, who thought that the award is a break-away from the White man’s ubiquitous tendency and a platform to celebrate the ingenuity of the black race – they were wrong, they still are… because humanity is in war against itself, and that is why only birds of the same feather flock together.

Obviously, Nigerians, Ghanaians, Togolese etcetera are less of the Black Man before the Black America because, in ‘tribe and tongue’, they differ and a ‘brotherhood’ that merely speaks, in terms of mother’s sons and stepdaughters.

Indeed, there is war, if the late Bob Marley’s lyric about racism is anything to go by.

“Until the philosophy, which holds one race superior and another inferior, is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned – everywhere is war – me say war,” sang the late reggae icon on the Bob Marley and the Wailers’ 1976 Island Records album, Rastaman Vibration.

The last BET awards, which held on Sunday, spared another thought on why just two categories, Best International Act-Africa and Best International Act-UK, should be separated from the main awards ceremony.

It is my candid opinion that, despite whatever excuses the organisers of the show may have concerning time management for the awards, 20 minutes of presentation and acceptance speech, from two continents, wouldn’t ‘kill’ the ceremony.

I want to believe that Africa, in spite of the odds, is in world reckoning; and creating a category for it in an American award, the organisers shouldn’t make it look like they are doing the continent a favour.

The same way that our music has stood us out, with hardly 20 percent of foreign songs airing on radio and at night clubs, we must learn to feel international within Africa.

The choice of American actor and comedian, Marlon Mayans for the MTV Africa Music Award (MAMA), proved the organisers wrong, going by the nonchalance of the artiste, who hardly could say the name of the MAMA acronym correctly, let alone pronounce names of African nominees accurately.

There have been so many incidents of American artistes being paid heavily to anchor events in Nigeria. But it does not always feel right because the relationships have been ridiculously business. And we, in Africa, feel so inferior that we deify these visiting artistes by paying them fees they can’t earn for five shows back in their country.

The verve top celebrate Davido’s award as this year’s BET recipient of Best International Act from Africa, was punctured by the thought that he was either pre-awarded or stage-managed on another platform that made it look like he was in the glare of the main awards ceremony.

Concerns over this ‘disparity’ have been expressed in the past. And although a spokesperson for BET’s International Acts- Africa category, told a Ghanaian entertainment website why Davido and other past African winners were excluded from the BET glamorous stage. It was just to me an image maker’s subjective statement.

“First, BET is a huge American brand, so their audience is Americans or people living in America. They have a responsibility to their audience to generate income, pay taxes to the government of America, create employment, promote artistes or performers with their culture and to be competitive in their market,” he said.

To him, BET is doing Africans good by giving them nominations or plaques in their awards scheme. But good enough, the man appears to share my view when he said: “We don’t see our artistes or musicians as big! We see artistes in the UK or America as bigger than our own. So, the point is, inasmuch as we don’t see the greatness in our own, we shouldn’t expect others to see them as such. Besides, not all awards are given on stage in this world. It happens at the Oscars. I’m not justifying BET’s actions anyway. I’ve raised concerns on this issue before at BET’s jury meetings many times. I hope the status quo may change someday.”

Hopefully, the status quo should change, even for the Oscars; and this, the Oscar selection committee in Nigeria must start thinking about. Africa is too much a continent to be so ignored; and just as we have taken our place in football, we should thrive to do more, if not better, in the entertainment domain. Twenty minutes of handing of statuettes and acceptance speech, I repeat, will not kill the BET ceremonies. All that talk about Americans being so concerned about their own artistes is subjecting them to conservatism. Also, all the talks about the ‘battle for eyeballs’ will only hold waters if the American audience doesn’t blink during their shows.