The coming of Music Television (MTV) to Africa has been described as a blessing to African artistes as it has raised the quality of music on the Continent and showcased budding talents who have gone ahead to win laurels on the international scene.

Ekwitos Esom Alintah, popularly known as Ekwi, an upcoming artiste based in Enugu, who said this in a chat with Entertainment World, urged music producers and other stakeholders in the entertainment business to encourage the youth by providing them with the needed support to excel.

“I’m glad at the fact that MTV came to Africa. There are a lot of artistes who are here who need to be recognized, who need to be shown over there. As for our artistes, I think they’ve definitely stepped it up. I think a lot more young people should be encouraged,” she stressed and expressed hope that Nigerian musicians would “soon put our own stamp on the music scene”.

She expressed delight at the rapid improvement in the music industry in the country, saying “it’s absolutely fantastic now that a lot more young ones are definitely doing something with their lives, something positive,” noting that as the “leaders of tomorrow, young people should be given the opportunity to try different areas of what they enjoy doing. In the end they’d eventually become successful and reach out to other people.”

On the issue of alleged discrimination of Nigerian artistes in favour of their foreign counterparts, she has this to say “I don’t want to say it’s discrimination or not discrimination because I think it has to do with the level of the celebrity. It depends on your status in the music world.”

The upcoming artiste, who lost her father at a tender age, said she’s working on her album which is a follow up on her recently released single, encouraged budding talents like herself to have faith in themselves, pray always and remain focused.

“No matter what happens, just keep being you, keep believing in yourself and keep praying that everything will work out because God is there for the righteous. I don’t believe because something happened you should change, you should start seeing the world in a different way,” she said adding “I think you can be who you really want to be . Just a little bit of belief and maybe a little bit of support from your loved ones.”