Though the artistic ingenuity of most African musicians in the past remains unquestionable, it appears not much was known of them on both the continent and the global stage. The continuous stay of most African music talents in oblivion, to me, can broadly be blamed on the inability of these talents to break through the xenophobic cloud of the international media, lack of professionalism, lack of assertiveness, lack of technological savviness, acceptance of inferior status, among a host of other varying factors.
Though budding and brimming with uncommon talents, most of these artists fell short of asserting their independence and ingenuity in the face of a hostile and unfavorable schemes meant to keep them from achieving great strides and economic dividends in the music industry. This situation was a source of lamentation for Alhaji Sidiku Buari, former MUSIGA President, who was once quoted as having said that “For a long time, musicians and artistes in Africa have not been regarded as serious entrepreneurs whose industry needed the kind of incentives accorded other professionals.”
It is against this background that I am profoundly excited to write about the exploits of two African artists-Davido and Sarkodie- whose musical prowess coupling with their penchant for global recognition and success have propelled them to break through attitudinal and stereotypical jinx that had hitherto, kept, their predecessors out of the global limelight.
Not only do these talents serve as role models to the many up and coming musicians, but most importantly, they represent a new African attitude of confidence, courage, and assertiveness.
Though budding and brimming with uncommon talents, most of these artists fell short of asserting their independence and ingenuity in the face of a hostile and unfavorable schemes meant to keep them from achieving great strides and economic dividends in the music industry. This situation was a source of lamentation for Alhaji Sidiku Buari, former MUSIGA President, who was once quoted as having said that “For a long time, musicians and artistes in Africa have not been regarded as serious entrepreneurs whose industry needed the kind of incentives accorded other professionals.”
It is against this background that I am profoundly excited to write about the exploits of two African artists-Davido and Sarkodie- whose musical prowess coupling with their penchant for global recognition and success have propelled them to break through attitudinal and stereotypical jinx that had hitherto, kept, their predecessors out of the global limelight.
Not only do these talents serve as role models to the many up and coming musicians, but most importantly, they represent a new African attitude of confidence, courage, and assertiveness.
Born David Adedeji Adeleke on November 21, 1992 to Mr. and Mrs. Adeleke, the ‘Skelewu’ hit maker attended the British International School in Lagos and subsequently studied Business Administration at Oakwood University. The man who is better known on stage as Davido, came onto the music limelight in 2011 when he co-produced and released “Dami Duro”, a song which received massive breakthrough on the Nigerian music waves. After the release of his debut Omo Baba Olowo album in 2012,Davido produced numerous artists, including Skales, Tiwa Savage, and Sauce Kid.
Subsequently, he released many hit songs and won numerous awards in Nigeria and other part of the continent, notable among them includes, a Ghana Music Award, a Nigeria Music Video Award, two MTV Africa Music Awards, two African Muzik Magazine Awards, four Nigerian Entertainment Awards, and two Dynamix All Youth Awards, among others. Young Davido has also headlined major music concerts all over the world and has shared many international music stage with the likes of P-Square, D’banj, Wizkid, Ice Prince, BurnaBoy, Olamide, Phyno, Chidinma, Waje, and Tiwa Savage.
His hard work, determination and mind boggling stage craft eventually got him a nod at the BET Awards for the Best International Act(African category).The nomination which pitted him against the likes of Diamond Platnumz(Tanzania);Mafikizolo(South Africa);Tiwa Savage(Nigeria);Sarkodie(Ghana) and Toofan(Togo) was obviously the most competitive nomination that had ever come the way of Davido in his nascent music career. In spite of this stiff opposition, Davido stood tall among all the other nominees to win the 2014 BET’s Best International Act(Africa category).
Born Michael Owusu Addo in July 10, 1985, Sarkodie is arguably Ghana’s most celebrated hip hop and hip life recording artist from Tema. Since his 2009 maiden album, the Tema based rapper has won numerous awards. While chronicling his numerous awards will be counterproductive to the purpose for my writing, I want to put on record that Sarkodie is by far the most successful Ghanaian hip hop artist. In 2013, he partnered with Tigo Telecommunications Ghana to launch his Rapperholic album in the same year.
While dazzling the country and the entire continent with his mouth watering renditions and unique lyrics, little did Sarkodie know that the international world was closely monitoring his exploits. He was internationally recognized in 2012 when he was named a joint winner of BET’s Best International Act (Africa category) with Wizkid.
The duo starved off competition from other music giants like Iceprince(Nigeria),Camp Mulla (Kenya),Mokobe(Mali and Lira(South Africa) to win the most coveted BET award. His uncommon drive for success propelled him to secure a nod in the same category at the 2014 BET Awards, a feat many of his contemporaries are yet to contemplate.
Following this, he was ranked 8th on Forbes and Channel O’s 2013 list of the Top 10 Richest/Bankable African Artistes. Sarkodie’s talent has afforded him the opportunity of sharing the same stage with international musicians such as T-Pain, Movado, Trey Songz, and Ludacris. He has a large fan base in Africa, and is considered one of the most celebrated musical icons to hail from Ghana.
For a person who never relished listening to secular songs, I was, initially, unable to come to terms with how I became so obsessed with listening to the songs of Davido and Sarkodie. In my bid to unravel my unbridled penchant for listening to these African music giants, I found out that there was something more than just their mind boggling lyrics and rhymes that had attracted me to their fan base.
Having observed their great sense of optimism, professionalism, assertiveness and courage in the face of crippling challenges in the African music industry, I have now come to terms with my seeming obsession with Davido and Sarkodie’s music.
While many have surrendered their aspirations to the harshness that comes with working in difficult industry such as that of ours, the rise and international success of these artists as evidenced by their winning of a BET award is highly legendary and commendable, by all standards.
Today, I do not write to eulogize them because they have achieved tremendous success in their music career. Neither do I want to court more goodwill for already popular artists. What I have sought to do all this while, is to pay tribute to their attitude of hard work, assertiveness, courage and resilient which have propelled them unto the global stage, in spite of the litany of challenges that artists in the African music landscape continue to face.
I pay tribute to a new attitude that rises above timidity and rhetoric. A new attitude that refuses to succumb to obsolete institutional and cultural systems that prevents many from realizing their full potential in their chosen field of endeavor. A new attitude that frowns on mediocrity. Yes, it is for this purpose I humbly profile these rising African chaps.
A feature by Samuel Osarfo-Boateng.
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