Gboyega Alaka chronicles the tremendous success and heights attained by Nigerian music and artistes in the last decade and about the major players, the factors responsible and why their countrymen made the switch to listening to their own music.
IT’S countdown to another December and by implication, another end of the year. For many, especially the youth, it will be another time to groove, party and generally have fun. Naturally, music will be in the air; rich, highly enjoyable and danceable Nigerian music. Unlike a few years back, when American music of all kinds and Jamaican reggae were the in-things and ruled the air-waves at Nigerian social events and parties, party time across Nigeria today has almost totally become Nigerian music time except in isolated cases where it is spelt out otherwise. It is thus not uncommon to have a six-hour Nigerian party without the DJ playing a single foreign music; whether from America, Britain or even Jamaica where athletics seem to have overtaken reggae as its major export.
So rather than be inundated with tracks from the Michael Jacksons of this world, the Marvin Gayes, the Beyonces, the Jay Zees, and the Rihannas and Kanye Wests of this world; you are more likely to be treated to rich, electric Nigerian music made in Nigeria by the P-Squares of our own world, Tuface, D’banj, Banky W. Wiz-Kid, Nyanyan, Kay Cee, and even the very lovable Chidinma of Project Fame. And no dull moments. If anything, the only noticeable change is that party settings have become groovier, funkier, with party freaks more expectant of great party time. And you don’t have to learn any foreign dance steps or strain your ears to know the lyrics!
More interesting is the fact that many probably didn’t notice it happen, except of course if you paid special attention, operated in music-related industry and couldn’t but notice, or somebody pointed it out to you. Nigeria’s music revolution and take-over from foreign music happened almost seamlessly, although no-one would deny that a lot of deliberate hardwork and effort must have gone into this ‘palace coup’ by the pioneer actors of the industry.
Also commendable is the fact that popularity of this growing brand of music has also gone beyond the nation’s boundaries, and it is not uncommon to hear Nigerian hip-hop music dominating airwaves in other African countries, especially the English speaking ones such as Ghana, Kenya, the Gambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe. Reports also say that the acceptance and popularity is also tremendous, even in French and Portuguese-speaking Africa. A group of Nigerian journalists who went on an official media trip to Kenya once came back with video footings of young Kenyans so in love with Nigerian music that they could render virtually all lines of songs of notable Nigerian artistes like Tuface Idibia, P-Square and D’banj, without missing a line. The impact has also transcended Africa, finding love even as far as India. Patricia Ikenma, a freelance journalist was pleasantly surprised to hear some top Nigerian popular songs blaring out of some public joints during her visit to India a couple of years back. According to her, that was when she began to really notice the impact and reach of what a couple of young people ostensibly started out of mere exuberance and experimentation.
The same have got to be said of America and the UK, where of course a whole lot of Nigerians reside and you would most naturally run into some neighbourhood or gig, where Nigerians are major players, and would naturally reach for home-bred entertainment to keep in touch with home. Naturally, one cannot overlook the chances of such music winning coverts from citizens of other climes, since like they say, ‘good music is good music’ and language is never a barrier.
Awards and recognition
The rise has also come with awards and recognitions of all kinds, from KORA to MOBO, MTV Awards right up to the World Music Awards. Tuface for instance was recognised at the 2008 World Music Awards; he also got a rare opportunity to render his now legendary African Queen track on the world podium, in addition to being recognised with the Best Nigerian Artist’s award at that edition held in Monaco, France. Tuface is also a recipient of an array of local and international awards including Kora, Channel O Music Awards, MTV Europe Music, MOBO, MTV Africa, Headies and BET. Nigeria also cornered the MOBO awards for the Best African Act for two consecutive years, with Wizkid and D’banj emerging winners in 2011 and 2012, before narrowly losing out to Ghanaian act, Fuse ODG in this year’s edition. Even then, she had in two nominees in Seun Kuti and Wizkid.
Nigerian artistes have also featured prominently in the Kora Awards, with Tuface, Adewale Ayuba, P-Square, D’banj and Sammy Okposo mounting the stage on different occasions to take home awards of recognition.
Her music videos have also come to dominate most digital music channels across Africa such as Channel O, MTV Base, Star TV Music (StarTimes), to the extent that many are beginning to see it as the next big thing in global entertainment, after American music captured the world through the Michael Jacksons and co in the 1970s and 80s. Locally, dedicated digital TV channels such as Nigezie and Kennis Music channels have also come up, dedicated almost entirely to Nigerian music content. The industry especially has the a few creative minds such as Clarence Peters, Akin Alabi, D J Tee, Kemi Adetiba, Sesan Ogunro, Gbenga Salu and Jude Okoye to thank for the advancement in music video productions that has further endeared her music to the international world. Akin Alabi recently declared that the countries music video industry is now at par with any other in the world, arguing that there is no trick or technology that he and some of his colleagues couldn’t replicate or achieve in the area of production. As a major player, he should know.
Why the sudden rise?
But how did Nigerian music get this far? Merely a decade ago, the only international music recognition the country could boast of would probably be due to the efforts of the afro-beat family, comprising the Late Fela Anikulapo Kuti and his scion, Femi Kuti. And may be King Sunny Ade of the Juju music fame, and splinter efforts of artistes like the Late Sunny Okosun in the days of South Africa and Rhodesia liberation and of course the Fuji musicians like the late Sikiru Ayinde Barrister and King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal. (Fela, Femi Kuti and King Sunny Ade have in the past bagged Grammy nominations.)
According to Abiola Aloba, a celebrity cum entertainment journalist with Encomium magazine, there is always going to be a time when home-grown music will become the main thing and naturally take over from the imported. “I guess it’s just about that time and we need to support them.”
The way things have turned out though, it doesn’t look like this emerging genre is lacking or will be lacking in the area of support, as the acceptance it already enjoys suggests that it took too long coming out. Indeed, Aloba agrees with this and says that “the Nigerian populace and the listening people have been able to embrace it because it is a combination of what we represent, our kind of music and some components of the best of American and European music. The combo has worked out well, with everybody grasping it and having fun.”
One could also see that the artistes themselves have made efforts at stepping up there game and making it more acceptable internationally. The vocals are now processed with vocoders and other studio tools to give them that commercial, urban edge. And Alex Okosi, senior vice president and general manager of MTV Networks Africa once said that everything has become ‘untraditional.’ According to Okosi, “It’s not your middle-aged African artist [making music for] your middle-aged European audience” anymore.
Tracing the history of the unfolding explosion, Ellams Sollazo Sule, Music Producer, Presenter and Music Director at Daar Communications says “Our young artistes simply woke up. Before now they looked up to the Fela Anikulapo Kutis, the Femi Kutis and the King Sunny Ades and Orlando Julius. In between, they were also looking up to their foreign counterparts who as their peers, were doing well in their climes, and thinking, ‘if these guys could do it, then why not us?’ So they took a decision to change what they were doing, bringing in new styles and generally reinventing themselves.”
Sule is of the opinion that Nigerian music has been gaining in popularity across Africa and beyond because of that singular decision to be who we are. “By being original and pure, you are selling your culture, you’re selling your tradition; and you’re always going to be accepted because you’re bringing something new, something different.”
Aloba corroborate the above view, when he says that “the major reason for the switch by Nigerians to Nigerian music occurred when major players in the industry, who had been busy trying to imitate the American and European style of music, rap and accent suddenly realised that they were always going to be second fiddle or even face extinction.”
“So one person came out with something, the people flowed with it, and others probably just thought ‘Wow, this must be that thing we’ve been looking for.’”
Both Abiola Aloba and Ellams Sollazo Sule also believe that Nigerians and indeed the artistes owe the DJs a lot whether radio or party Djs – for pushing their works into the people’s consciousness. Says the former: “We must never forget the DJs in this whole analysis. We thank them for the explosion. If they don’t play it; if they don’t make us see that there is a reason for us to like it, nobody would have embraced it.”
Quoting Eedris AbdulKarim, himself, one of the pioneer artistes in the unfolding music revolution, Sule says “Without the DJs, there are no artistes, because the DJ makes the artiste by playing his songs 24/7. If you as an artiste releases a song and I don’t play it as a DJ, then it’s not going to go anywhere, because nobody will here it.”
Sule thus concludes that the DJs in the radio stations and at the nightclubs doing their jobs and giving the artistes a chance at stardom are indeed the pillars of the artistes.
The Pioneers
Few would forget the courage of the groups, The Remedies, Plantashun Boyz, Trybesmen and the ghetto soldiers of Ajegunle, with Daddy Showkey, Papa Fryo and Daddy Fresh leading the way in the late 1990s. The Remedies, Plantashun Boyz and Trybesmen went on to split and produce individual stars who dominated at their times, talking about Eddy Montana, Tony Tetuila, El Dee the Don and Eedris AbdulKarim. AbdulKarim remains a force in the industry even till date. The same applies to Plantashun Boyz that eventually produced Tuface Idibia and Faze towards the middle of the last decade. Needless to say, Tuface has gone on to become Nigeria’s most recognized, most decorated and most respected music export, outside legendary Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Femi Kuti and King Sunny Ade. And El Dee, who has become a label owner, still makes himself relevant.
Even Aloba, who says he has paid special attention to the growth in the industry, says he is convinced that the Remedies’ trio of Eddy Montana, Eedris Abdulkarim and Tony Tetuila played a pivotal role in this revolution. Who would have thought that the Nigerian youth, who so despised their own music not too long ago, would suddenly give it such huge preference and patronage over and above their first love American music?
And the dept of talent is so enormous. For instance, great albums or hit songs are merely allowed to reign a couple of months, before being dislodged from the top of the charts and replaced by new songs by other artistes. Even death seems to have little impact in diming the shine in the industry, as the tears shed on the death of the hugely-talented Olaitan Olaonipekun aka Dagrin had barely dried up, before another scintillating rapper, almost in his mould was thrown up, in the person of Olamide. Many had thought that it would take sometime to replace or get a compensation for an artiste as talented and ingenious as Dagrin, whose huge Yoruba rap talent and inimitable blend of Yoruba, pidgin and English rap lyrics and songs is still hugely applauded by fans, many of whom may never understand half the things he said in Yoruba in those songs.
The industry has also gone on to produce great international stars such as P-Square, D’banj, the sonorous Asa, El-Dee the Don, Banky W, 9ice, Faze, and DJ Zeez, most of who still qualify as pioneers in the industry.
Ray Power, AIT and the duo of Kenny Ogungbe, Dayo Adeneye
Somehow, it is near impossible to talk about Nigerian music explosion without devoting enough space to the efforts of Kenny Ogungbe and Dayo Adeneye aka D-1, and of course their media avenues, Ray Power 100.5FM and AIT. Even the artistes recognise this, as virtually all the major acts still pay homage to these pace-setters, even if they never passed through them. Rapper Eedris AbdulKarim practically underlined this recently during the 20th anniversary of Ray Power Radio Station, when he sang about the impact of the radio station, its sister media, AIT and the two doyens, Kenny Ogungbe and Dayo Adeneye on Nigerian music and the success currently being recorded by the artistes. To many therefore, Kenny Ogungbe and Dayo Adeneye literally raised the Nigerian entertainment industry from its comatose situation and launched it to the enviable position it currently occupies on global chart, armed only with their belief and enthusiasm.
Says Aloba again, “There was a way they went about it, especially because they had behind them the power of a radio station and a television station, which they used to propagate their new gospel. They came with so much effervescence; so much liveliness; knew what they were doing and lived it. And don’t forget that even Tuface came from their stables.”
The DAAR Communications Music Director, Sule agrees with this, but says that more kudos should even go to their boss, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, for providing the avenues with which Kenny and D-1 engineered their revolution, and for constantly hammering it on them in those early days to ‘represent your own, play more of your own music….’
“That single prodding encouraged the duo and other music presenters and DJs in the employ of DAAR Communications to play and promote more of Nigerian music, which in turn encouraged our local youths and artistes, who subsequently took up the challenge. You saw how it started; you saw what was happening on AIT Jamz, PrimeTime Africa and all that. In fact, if you tarry here for a while, you’re likely to see one or two artistes walk in with their demo CDs, which they always want us to play on air. That is the level of the revolution. Massive.” Sule says with an air of confidence.
The fore-bearers
But as we extol the impact of these current revolutionaries, one must not forget to give kudos to the Chris Okoties, the Felix Libertys, D Z K Falola, Ras Kimono, Onyeka Onwenu, Charly Boy, Mike Okri, Alex Zito, Majek Fashek, the Mandators, Jambos Express, Sir Shina Peters, et al, who came with their pockets of efforts, but probably came a bit too early. All these people did make their impact in the late 1980s and early 1990s, in what could be described as the first attempt by Nigerian artistes to wrestle their countrymen from their obsession with foreign music. But this was not to be as a number of factors, including poor economy, less than straightforward recording companies, and an attempt to sound largely like foreigners made it a botched attempt. One must nevertheless commend a few of them like Sir Shina Peters, for the originality of his Afro Juju music that spread across the country like wild-fire; Onyeka Onwenu, for her resilience and staying power, and of course Majek Fashek, for his ability to come up with home grown reggae, which brilliance the international world could not ignore.
The fans and the media
Unlike in that first coming, the media has grown and really evolved and as such was readily available to help a smoother and more successful take-off. Many already give a lot of credit to Ray Power FM and AIT, but the most veritable means now would be the digital television channels, such as MTV Base, Channel O, Star TV Music, Nigezie, Kennis Music, GetTV and the horde of private terrestrial TV channels and radio stations that now dot the nook and cranny of the country. And that is in addition to the accessibility to recording facilities and other technologies, including the internet; which weren’t so available in times past. And the fans too have been loving it; as they have quickly, albeit inadvertently established themselves into a kind of cult followership for these artistes and their music. This in turn has also given way to another kind of encouragement, such as branding, endorsement and outright corporate advertising, using the artistes. This also was never really explored in the past, even as it has now enabled the artistes to really make good money, live their celebrity lives like real stars and make the business of music and entertainment worth their efforts.
Impact of reality music television shows
One cannot underestimate the impact of music reality television shows in the last couple of years, be it The Nigerian Idol show sponsored by Etisalat, Project Fame by MTN or the X-Factor show sponsored by GLO. Aside the fact that these shows annually throw up budding music stars, whom they also help hone and channel their talents, the huge monetary prizes also serve as incentive and an offering to escape the biting poverty in the land. A few of the stars who have emerged through these avenues include Dare Art Alade, Nyanyan, Mike, Chidinma, Timi Dakolo and Omawunmi Megbele.
The Big Money Men
With the boom in the industry have also come great financial rewards. Suddenly, like is the case amongst the footballers, Nigeria can boast of her own home-bred genuine multimillionaires in naira and dollars, who, having found one more legitimate avenue to escape poverty, are embracing it whole-heartedly and singing their way to the banks. P-Square, who currently top the Channel O/Forbes Top 10 Richest African artistes list makes more than $150,000 per show; their Square Village in Ikeja is said to be worth $3million and they also enjoy a 3-year brand ambassador deal with telecoms company, Globacom worth $1million per year. As Artist of the Year winners at the KORA All Africa Music in 2010, the duo also took home a whopping $1 million prize money.
As far back as 2009, D’banj was said to cost as much as N5million per show, with even the singer himself singing of how he then made N10 million in a week. D’banj today is amongst the top 10 richest African musicians, according to a Channel O and Forbes Africa rating. He was also paid $1 million by a TV station for his own reality TV show, Koko Mansion. He also owns a mansion believed to be worth $1.5million, and recently wore a $25,000 suit to the launch of his latest album, “D’King’s Men”. Yet this was a gentleman, who only a few years back merely managed to eke-out a living, squatting with friends in London. Tuface earns between $5,000 and $8,000 per show and owns a night club in Lagos. Even the youngsters such as Wizkid and Davido are not left behind in the money show. Wizkid earns N5million per show; recently acquired a N15million Porsche Panamera after crashing the first one. Davido recently acquired a 2012 Mercedes Benz G55 AMG said to be worth N20million and enjoys a lucrative brand/endorsement deal with MTN Nigeria.
And the list goes on.
Top 10 Richest African artistes
Seven Nigerian artistes made the list of the top ten richest African artistes’ list released by Forbes for 2013, with music producer and CEO of Marvin Records cum rapper, Don Jazzy coming second behind Senegalese American legend, Akon. The third to the sixth position is also dominated by Nigerians, P-Square, D-Banj, Wiz-Kid and Tuface Idibia; with Ice Prince and Banky W closing the rear at ninth and tenth positions. The list was put together, using indices such as endorsement value, popularity, show rates, sales, awards, YouTube views, newspaper appearances and advertisements, social media presence and others. It also comes as the clearest testimony of Nigeria’s music dominance at least in Africa.
As a former top man at the hugely successful Mo-Hits records (before the break-up) and now Marvin Records, plus his endorsement and advert deals with MTN, Samsung and Loya Milk, one can understand how Don jazzy made that position. And with top-notch albums and videos ruling the air every season, sold-out concerts, royalties and endorsement from top multinationals including GLO telecoms company, presidential invitation to at least 5 African countries, one can also appreciate P-Square’s rating, while WizKid’s position is not much of a surprise too, considering the huge success of virtually all his albums, videos enjoying playtime on digital TV channels; highest paid Pepsi Ambassador in Africa, MTN Ambassador, to mention a few. The 23 year-old also recently took a decision to control his destiny when he split with mentor Banky W’s EME Records to found his own company, Starboy Records, which also puts him in pole position to control more of his income. Tuface on his part is reputed to have sold over ten million CDs, at least seven million digital sales, and made huge fortune from endorsement and advert deals with Guinness, Haven Homes and Airtel Worldwide amongst others. Even Banky W who is came last on the list of ten has huge fortunes from his personal record sales, videos and performances, plus income from his protégés that include WizKid and Skales. And that’s in addition to money made from endorsement deals with Etisalat and Samsung.
In just about a decade, some of these artistes have amassed wealth that their predecessors and fore-bearers who dominated the industry for over three decades never made. And they’ve been living large as well, with state-of-the-art, sometimes made to specification cars, choice properties in most expensive and most exclusive areas in Lagos, Abuja, South Africa, the United States and the United Kingdom.
But is there any chance that Nigeria might yet again fall back in love with foreign music? “You never say never” says Ellams Sollazo Sule, who says he still comes across Nigerians who complain about not getting enough radio playtime for their choice American music. But he thinks it will be hard to dislodge “these very energetic Nigerian artistes.”
Even El-Dee, who is a major player in the business recently declared that “Nigerian music is going to get to a point where it will have to be acknowledged by all sectors of the world. It already has its uniqueness and I believe people will accept it because it is great entertainment.”
