Entertainment
Exploits Of Nigerian Artistes On Global Stage
The word music means different thing to different people, but the Cambridge Dictionary defines music as “a pattern of sounds made by musical instruments, voices or computers or a combination of these intended to give pleasure to people listening to it”. While the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary sees music as “ sound that are arranged in a way that is pleasant or exciting to listen to”.
Duke Orsino in William Shakespeare Twelfth Night declare: “if music be the food of love, play on, give me excess of it”. This is exactly what the Nigerian musicians have been giving to the world since the colonial era.
The unprecedented achievements recorded in the Nigerian music industry so far could be attributed to Technological development which has brought about several changes in the industry and launched the Nigerian artistes into the global platform. For instance Vinyl cassette tape dominated the industry for the first 90 years of its existence but in the 1980s a new challenger appeared not only to the cassette but all analogue formats.
In 1982, the compact disc ushered in the digital age, for two decades, the CD ruled and the record industry boomed with popular artistes pushing millions of units, artistes got rich and major labels got richer. Nigerian artistes were not left out of the new trend as the industry has rarely been a stranger to change.
After the end of the 1990s, the next form of digital music went mainstream. mp3 was the first recorded music format,the files were completely digital, stored in either on a computer hard drive or one of the primitive devices invented to playback the new format.
For the first few years of 2000, mp3 was on epithet used to summarize all that was wrong with the millennium, the perceived favouring of quantity over quality and art’s dominated value. But in 2001 Apple launched iTunes, a programme designed to organize and play digital audio files.
The inexorable progress of technology brought about a new digital format even easier than downloads. In October 2018, Swedish entrepreneur, Daniel Ek launched Spotify and with it the music streaming revolution.
At the beginning of the 2010s, streaming was mostly associated with videos on YouTube and Netflix, by the end of 2010 major companies like Apple, Amazon and Google had launched their own on demand music streaming services to compete with Spotify, a signal that the format is here to stay.
The Nigeria music industry has gone through these changes hence the increasing appetite for Nigerian music across the world and the importance of investing in the industry. The update on the Nigerian music industry has become even more interesting with their global exploits.
The likes of Wizkid who had already penned a deal in 2017 had began to collaborate with more A-List artistes like Ty Dollar $ign, Chris Brown, Gold Link, Swae Lee, Metro Bromine and Offset( from the Migos). Wizkid also played a huge part in the recent Lion King album by Beyonce which showcased and celebrated an impressive array of mind blowing Afrobeat.
He went ahead to win many award which include:MTV Europe Music Award for Best African Act (2016), The Headies Award for Artiste of the year 2016, Bet Award for Best International Act African 2017 and Headies award for best collabo 2018. Others are Echo Award for song of the year 2017 (One Dance), Billboard Music Award for Billboard music Award for Top RnB collabo and City People Entertainment Award for pop artiste of the year, own a record label, Starboy Entertainment, Etc.
Another Nigerian music great Davido also went ahead to do major things in Diaspora. His songs ‘If’ and ‘ Fall’ which were released in 2017 became very trendy amongst the American audience recently. In fact these songs are still constantly played on U.S radio’ daily.
Apart from these two singles,he also collaborated with foreign artistes like Casanova, 2x, ROC Nation and RnB crooner Chris Brown. He was also “ brought out” to perform at a recent musical outing with the rapper, 50 cent in New York.
He is recipient of two Bet Awards, a KORA Award, a Channel O Music Video Award, a Ghana Music Award and the first African to perform at the MOBO Awards. Sold out global concert venues in UK and South Africa, his music tops New York music charts and he owns a music label, Davido Music Worldwide (DMW), among other achievements.
Rivers State born artiste, Burna Boy has also achieved global acclaim as he has signed with Atlantic Record and released two album that have greatly boosted his reputation in the Diaspora. Earlier in 2020, Burna Boy’s ‘African Giant’ album lost the Grammy nomination for the World Best Album to Angelique Kidjo’s reimagination or Celia Cruz’s music on the eponymous.
On November 24,2020, the Nigerian Super Star got his second Grammy Nomination in the Best Global music category. He has various awards to his credit such as Best International Act at Bet Awards (2019), Best African Act MTV Europe Music Awards (2019), Apple Music up Next artiste (2019), owns a Record Label Spaceship Records.
Tiwa Savage recently inked a management deal with Jay Z’s Roc Nation Company she won the Best African Act, MTV Europe Music Award becoming the first woman to win that category in 2019, she has a record deal with universal music group among other musical exploits globally.
Yemi Alade is the first African female artiste to reach one million views on YouTube for her ground breaking single Johnny. Currently, Johnny holds the You Tube record for the most watched African female music video of all times. She was nominated for a Grammy award in 2019 for the fact that she had acquired over a million global streams in addition to several awards.
She has been listed as one of the most influential people in African in 2018 and is been introduced as Mama Africa.
Other Nigerian artistes have not been left out in this list, Teckno has produced for the likes of Swae Lee and Drake, Mr Eazy has began to to collabo with foreign artistes like J Balvin and Bad Bunny. The defunct P-Square, Timaya, Don Jazzy, D’bang and a host of others have equally excelled globally with various awards and mouth watering endorsement deals.
The surge of the Nigerian music industry has been very impressive over the years, however, the issue of intellectual property remains a problem for artistes and foreign investors due to constant piracy of content.
By: Jacob Obinna
Entertainment
“The Legal Day” 2025: Alliance Française Port Harcourt, Moves to Promote French Via Law
In a bid to promote the French language through law and build bridges between communities the Alliance Française Port Harcourt, in collaboration with the Embassy of France in Nigeria has organized the 2025 edition of “La Journée du Droit” (“The Legal Day”)
The event which took place at Alliance Française auditorium was a civic and linguistic celebration designed to help learners of French Language and young citizens discover the importance of law in everyday life.
The Tide Entertainment reports that the event featured interactive quiz sessions, exploring legal rules and civic principles in Nigeria, France, Africa and beyond, pointing out both the similarities and differences between legal systems around the world.
Throughout the day, the event featured interactive quiz sessions exploring legal rules and civic principles in Nigeria, France, Africa, and beyond, highlighting both the similarities and differences between legal systems around the world.
The initiative was aimed at encouraging reflection on the rights and responsibilities shared by all citizens and to promote the values of justice, equality, and mutual respect through the French language.
The programme which had two sessions, (Morning and Afternoon session) witnessed the participation of about 150 students from various levels of education. Ranging from the Primary, Secondary, and tertiary institution for an engaging experience of civic and legal concepts.
Schools in attendance included Surebloom International School, Pleroma High School, Casterly Rock Secondary School, and TotalEnergies Port Harcourt School.
The morning sessions saw the Participation of Alliance Française students in an interactive quiz, enhancing their French comprehension while exploring civic notions.
While the Afternoon session had students from the University of Port Harcourt – UNIPORT (French Language and Law Departments), students from the French Department from both Ignatius Ajuru University of Education and Rivers State University joined in the final rounds of the competition.
According to the director of Alliance Française Port Harcourt, Mrs Marina Lacal, all quiz questions were presented in French, then translated into English to ensure full understanding by participants, saying that winners received special prizes, as all attendees took home souvenirs from the educational and convivial event.
Mrs Lacal said that the diplomatic and educational initiative event “La Journée du Droit” (The Legal Day) sought to promote the French language through law, highlight the capacity of law to build bridges between communities and emphasize law as one of the pillars of French diplomacy.
“Through this initiative, the Alliance Française Port Harcourt continues its mission to foster intercultural dialogue, civic awareness, and the learning of French as a language of knowledge, culture, and citizenship,”?she?added.
The Garden City of Rivers State Port Harcourt at the weekend joined other parts of the world to celebrate the World Music Day, 2025, as Alliance Française showcases talents.
The event which is internationally known as Fête de la musique was held at cultural hall of the Alliance Française was a remarkable concert with memorable experience.
The event brought together music lovers, students, Artistes and members of the community For an exciting evening live performances and cultural exchange.
The Tide Entertainment reports that the world Music Day, which was created 1982 in France by the then Minister of culture, Jack Lang, ‘ Fête de la Musique’ is now celebrated in more than 100 countries every 21st June, marking the first day of summer with free concerts and musical showcases in public spaces.
In Port Harcourt, the Alliance Française honoured the tradition by spotlighting four(4) emerging artistes offering a platform to young talents shaping the city’s contemporary scene.
The audience enjoyed an unforgettable moments as they were entertained by the powerful performances from Preach A, who is known for blending fitness culture with spoken words and rhythm.
Also, artiste Emmayany delivering a vibrant fusion of afrobeat and afro pop. A singer, song writer and a performing artiste with a distinct sound.
Others were Amarachy Uko, a sensational singer with passion for soul , R&B, pop music and afrobeat.
While DJ Prospel closed the night with an energetic DJ set that got the entire hall dancing.
Earlier, the Director, Alliance Française, Port Harcourt Mrs Marina Lacal high lighted the mission of the Alliance Française saying that the event was more than a concert.
According to her, the event was put together by the Alliance Française to promote cultural diversity and foster artistic expression by connecting a long standing French tradition with creativity of the local music scene, adding that the event offerers an avenue for dialogue between culture and generations.
She stated that the event is used to promote professional and bring amateur artistes to limelight via the platform of the Alliance Française which is aimed at promoting the French Language through cultural heritage.
She explained that the celebration is also a broader series of Fête de la musique activities organized by the 10 Alliance Française across Nigeria in sync with concerts held in France and around the world simultaneously.
She further noted that the occasion reaffirms the role of Alliance Française as a cultural bridge, one where French heritage meets the pulses of Nigerian youth.
It would be recalled that no fewer than 19 artistes applied to perform at the event in Port Harcourt, but only four got approval for appearance.
The Governor of the Performing Musicians Employer’s Association of Nigeria (PMAN), Rivers State chapter, Comrade Moses Mabadeje popularly known as Mozy B said that the body has announced plans to implement performance Levy on artistes in the state with effect from 21st June.
This was carried in a statement released to The Tide Entertainment, yesterday by the Deputy Governor of the association, Comrade Abiye Howells.
According to the Governor, the announcement was made by PMAN, the only governing body that regulates the music profession in Nigeria, as authorized by the Government of Nigeria, in line with the Trade Union Act.
He stated that those affected by the Levy include (Non members)bands, groups, Hotels, Bars, lounges, Event Centres, show organizers, promoters and other stakeholders hosting events which feature live music performances within the State.
However, the Levy does not apply to members of the Performing Musicians Employer’s Association of Nigeria. (PMAN).
Comrade Moses Mabadeje, explained that this drive is aimed at financing the association and supporting the welfare and interest of musicians as outlined in Article 8 of the PMAN constitution as amended (2023). Consequently, a PMAN task force has been set up to enforce and swing into action to effect this move.
He further said that event organizers, promoters and owners of event centers are expected to comply with this regulation as the Governor has urged stakeholders to collaborate with the association to ensure the successful implementation of the levy and the peaceful co-existence between PMAN and Stockholders.
Nancy Briggs