The Hip, The Art… The Beats Of Nigeria
How MTN Music+ is Giving Budding Artiste
A Platform To Shine
ON a Friday night at the Mirage Hotel,
Calabar, Cross River State, the air
reverberated with beats. The rhythm
flowed as high-flyers unwound after a
hard day’s job. The environment is
raucous, but not riotous. Thank God it’s
Friday (TGIF), and the crowd in the club,
by now, several pints in, roared
approval to the song playing. No one will
spare any superlative inside the club, as
some very pretty girls danced to
Olamide’s Story for the gods.
Every young guy in the club focused on
the sensuous body movement of a 27-
year-old girl, who is clad in a see
through bustier and micro mini skirt.
Their eyes zoomed in on the cleavages,
tweaking buttocks and gyrating hips. She
was one girl everybody wanted to hang
out with. Not only because of her beauty,
but dancing skill.
After a few drinks, the girl, who gave her
name as Jennifer, and resident in
Bayside area of Calabar, breathed, “I
need more adrenaline pumping music.
Give me Melo Melo.”
This scene, no doubt, is a recurring sight
in many clubs, lounges and sit-outs in
the country. Indeed, the Nigerian music
industry has exploded. The hyper
activity on the scene has, no doubt,
upstaged the days when local TV and
radio stations fed the public with foreign
songs, most especially, from the US.
The last few years, however, has
witnessed an upsurge in nightlife
activities, which went under during
Abacha’s era. With democracy, nightlife
crawled back in popular fashion. A lot of
sit-outs and hangouts sprang up over the
country where people relax and catch
fun, especially, at weekends.
In some cities, Friday nights are holy
time to converge for TGIF’s communion.
In Abeokuta, the Moshood Abiola
Stadium is where to go, and in Port
Harcourt, everybody turns to D-Line,
Stadium Road and Casablanca, while in
Calabar, 11-11 and Bayside are holy
ground for fun and excitements. Lagos
has so many of them in the Island and
Mainland. Kaduna has Obalende and in
Jos, everybody throng Old Airport Road
junction.
At these sit-outs, clubs and lounges, The
Guardian gathered that the partying is
not affair for a group of friends and
their ladies, but a mass thing. The people
dance to up-tempo beats, which do
nothing other than complement the
alcohol.
Without rocking up-tempo songs, no
artiste attains fame. Among those who
have made this trend possible are,
artistes from the Kenny’s Music, Don
Jazzy clans and others, who by the side,
had begun to record one track or the
other that are party songs.
… And The Beat Goes On
THERE has never been a time in the
country’s music history when Nigerian
artistes have been more creative than
now. Though, the lyrics of their songs
are often lurid and vulgar in nature,
they are, however, a signature of
revolution, which started in 1981, when
a protesting on-air personality decided
that it was time to end the growing
influence of disco music that was
spearheaded by America.
With release of his, The Way I Feel Rap,
Ron Ekundayo became the pathfinder of
rap music in the country. Dizzy K.
Falola, Rap master LexyMella, Dili I.
Jukson, and I.C. Rock were equally
popular artistes of this emerging genre.
Between 1981 and 1986, rap was a
serious genre in the country. During this
period, Nigeria was going through its
most serious economic crisis. There had
been massive job losses arising from
drop in oil revenues and the economy
had been in steady decline since the end
of the second civilian republic in 1983.
The Structural Adjustment Programmes
(SAPs) were equally being implemented.
Both the rich elite and the poor alike felt
the effect of these policies. However, the
reign of rap did not last long for it to be
considered a serious genre for study, as
a lexicon in Nigeria’s musical taxonomy.
And this is because of what somebody
described as the music’s “vague
expressions and mindless chants poorly
adapted from America.”
Long Live Reggae
WITH the emergence of Ja’ Stix or Jah
Walking Stick, the domineering
influence of disco rap ended, and reggae
began its own reign. In fact, at a point,
Ja’ Stix became the reference point in
terms of reggae music in Nigeria. Every
artiste that made it big in the genre in
that era passed through the Ja’ Stix
School – Majek Fashek, Terra Cotta, Ras
Kimono, Mandators and Evi Edna Ogholi.
There were equally Orits Wiliki, ‘the
Coolman revolutionaire’ and some others
in the long chain of protesting reggae
artistes.
Welcome Ijo Shina
HOWEVER, between 1989 and 1992, the
Nigerian music industry began to go
through another transformation. First, it
started with Shinamania craze, heralded
by Shina Peters’ monster hit, Ace, and
then Adewale Ayuba’s Bubble.
Everybody in Nigeria was looking for the
‘ace or another Mister Johnson’ in shows
and functions.
The era was significant because it
marked the coming of new consumers of
music — higher institutions of learning.
Universities, polytechnics and colleges of
education all struggled to have the faces
behind these hits at their union week.
This was the era of advanced fee fraud
and there was free money in the air,
especially from foreign exchange deals,
real estate, fraud and narcotics. The
emerging nouveau riche or the young
upward/mobile professionals (yuppies
and yummies) were the major
connoisseurs of this new taste.
Emphasis of the song and the ones that
followed was lyrics in pidgin, a true
lingo of the streets in Nigeria. Junior and
Pretty and the ghetto soldiers of Ajegunle
holistically followed the genre.
Nigerian music is the most dominant in
Africa. The industry reportedly produces
over 600 albums of different kinds
yearly, with record sales tripling in the
last five years. It is projected that the
country’s entertainment industry would
hit one billion dollars by 2016. There was
a period when the industry was
manually driven, a period of struggle for
recognition, and seeking limelight. It was
a time when musicians largely relied on
manual distribution of music.
The advent of the Internet, however, has
changed the story, bringing digital music
distribution with it. With digital music
services, now, all an artiste simply needs
is, to identify the right digital music
distribution platform and upload their
songs for exposure. Indeed, in the world
over, there has been a shift from CDs to
music downloads.
According to IFPI, a not for profit music
research organization, digital music sales
globally reportedly reached $10.6 billion
in 2010 and it is projected to increase to
$24.8 billion in 2016, a yearly increase
of 18.2 per cent.
Beyond the Internet, one critical factor
has impacted immensely in the success
story of the Nigerian music industry—
telecoms operators. To lay a hold on
substantial market share, telecoms firms
scramble for association with artistes,
who have set themselves apart due to
their commendable efforts.
This symbiotic relationship has
significantly raised the bar for artistes in
terms of endorsements and sponsorship
deals that have transformed their lives.
Sam Onyemelukwe, managing director at
TRACE TV, captures the impact
succinctly: “telecoms operators have
been critical to the growth story. With
their interception, now, you have artistes
that won’t lift a finger without getting
proper pay. That’s just the tip of the
iceberg; the growth has gone well
beyond that to opportunities in digital
media to exploiting their music, their
videos and their content. This is where
they can derive value.”
At the heart of this success story is the
country’s leading ICT firm, MTN Nigeria.
From exciting initiatives spanning
endorsement deals, corporate
sponsorships, and more recently, foray
into digital music distribution; the
telecoms giant has redefined the game.
The outfit introduced its Music Plus App
in 2014, successfully changing the face of
music sharing in Nigeria. The App is a
converged Music streaming and
download platform, optimised for mobile
and online access and is socially enabled
to accommodate cross-user activity.
In only one year, the App has become
Nigeria’s largest digital music
distribution service and one with
immediate impact. The App gives robust
exposure to artistes enrolled on it and
they get paid for having their songs on
the platform. In the last eight months
alone, over N500 million has been paid
to artistes, who have their songs on the
platform.
Seeing the success of the platform in its
one year of existence, the company
decided to take it a step further, by
introducing the Next Rated app to Music
+. The MTN Music+ Next Rated was
specially designed to support upcoming
acts in the music industry by giving
them a platform to build a fan base and
gain exposure.
To drive the campaign, a special
activation that saw some the brand
storming some major tertiary
institutions across the country, was
introduced.
To participate in the campaign,
upcoming acts are required to upload
their songs onto the Music+ platform via
the Next Rated section and get friends
and family to like the song.
The song with the highest Likes each
week enjoys airtime on MTN partner
radio stations. At the end of the
campaign in December, 10 entries with
the highest Likes will be selected and
judged by a five-man panel of MTN
ambassadors, who would select the best
five songs of the lot. The top five songs
will be uploaded again for Likes over a
one-week period where a final winner
will emerge.
Kicking off at the University of Ibadan
with hip-hop act, Dr Sid, the campaign
touched down at the University of
Calabar, and had Kcee as the star, before
moving to Jos with Praiz. University of
Uyo had Harrysong, alongside latest MTN
Project Fame winner, Jeffrey Akoh, as
guests and finally in Lagos where friend
of MTN, Jaywon headlined the launch at
the popular Industry Nite.
The launch events were a deviation from
the norm. Instead of the usual concert,
there were no-holds-barred sessions
where the students had opportunity of
interacting with the stars up, close and
personal. They had the chance to pose
bugging questions to the music stars.
Beyond the interesting question and
answer sessions, it was also an avenue
for raw talents to be discovered in music
and the entertainment industry at large.
In Calabar, Mary Jane, aka Janey Prest,
won Kcee’s admiration with her reggae
freestyle. Kcee, in fact, promptly offered
her a chance to be part of his music
group.
The same feat was repeated in Uyo with
Harrysong. After wowing the Reggae
Blues crooner with his dancing skills,
Sam Pat, a 200 level Linguistics student,
got an invitation to showcase his skills in
Harrysong’s upcoming music video.
The telecom’s company equally rewarded
the students and guests at the various
venues with gift items. Smartphones,
cash gifts, airtimes and other souvenirs
were carted away by lucky winners.
Speaking on the campaign, Consumer
Marketing Manager, MTN, Richard
Iweanoge, said the telecoms firm saw the
opportunities inherent in the digital
music service in Nigeria, and decided to
fill need with the Music Plus App and
Next Rated campaign.
“The Nigerian music ecosystem has
evolved and aligned itself with global
trends. Having seen the development,
MTN decided to introduce the Music Plus
App to serve the digital music needs of
the people. And to even further develop
budding talent, the Next Rated campaign
has been designed. There are immense
benefits available to fledgling artistes
who participate in the campaign,” he
said.
Iweanoge further informed that
upcoming acts can participate in the
campaign by uploading their song the
Music+ platform via the Next Rated
section; get friends and family to like the
song.
For upcoming artistes and even music
enthusiasts, the future of music in
Nigeria are just getting better with
initiatives such as the Music Plus Next
Rated. The abundance of budding music
talents in Nigeria cannot be disputed.
However, this type of platform is the
much-needed incentive to grow such into
global recognition.
0 Comments :
COMMENT