Entertainment
Nigerian Artists To Benefit From You Tube’s Black Voices Fund
You Tube has announced that artists and creators from Nigeria can apply for grants from its black voices fund. The global $100 million fund will over the next three years offer support to black artistes and creators so that they can thrive on You Tube.
According to the Managing Director, Emerging Markets, Black Voices Fund, Alex Okosi, You Tube EMEA will invest with the intention to present fresh tunes that emphasizse the intellectual power, authenticity, dignity and joy of black voices as well as to educate audiences about racial justice.
The $ 100 million fund was first announced in June, 2020. It has since been officially named the You Tube Black Voices Fund.Okosi said this year, the fund will be focusing its efforts on creators within United States, Brazil, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.
“ Our goal is to expand funding to more countries over the course of the next three years, additionally, we hope to provide a consistent drumbeat of educational training workshops and community events to black creators and artists globally.”
The You Tube Black Voices Fund is part of the work currently underway to ensure that You Tube is a place where black artists, creators and users can share their stories and be protected.
Along with our commitment to amplifying marginalised voices on the content side,we are also investing in product and policy changes that will continue to advance You Tube’s mission of giving everyone a voice and showing them the world”, Okosi said.
You Tube believes that it is only by taking a stance against those who would like to bully,harass, silence and intimidate others that it moves closer to actualise this mission. Its new efforts include beefing up enforcement and terminating more accounts that repeatedly post hateful comments. It is also in the process of rolling out product changes to make creator moderation tools more streamlined.
R&B star, Temilade Openiyi, popularly known as Tems, has recounted the early-career challenges she faced, revealing that she was once booed out of the stage while performing at a school event.
Speaking in an interview with Newsmen, the Crazy Tings crooner shared that she wasn’t only booed but was also harassed with plastic bottles.
“I remember one time I was going to perform at my school as an up-and-coming singer and I thought I was going to receiving a standing ovation.
“But I got booed. They even threw plastic bottles at me,” she recalled.
Tems explained that despite the embarrassing incident and other such rejections, she remained determined to pursue a career in music.
The Tide Entertainment reports that Tems admitted that some of the initial rejections she faced could be due to her conviction to stick to her originality instead of doing covers or familiar sounds like most of her peers.
The Grammy-winning singer said looking back now, she is glad that she didn’t compromise her style despite the initial pressures.
A close associate of late singer Mohbad, Primeboy, has appealed for the artiste’s burial nearly three years after his death.
According to him, Mohbad’s body remains in the mortuary since September 12, 2023, pending burial arrangements.
The Tide Entertainment reports that in a statement Primeboy urged the family, public, and government to permit the burial, stating, “It’s been almost three years since Mohbad left us. His body is still in the mortuary. I’m begging the family, I’m begging the public, I’m begging the government, please let’s bury our brother. He deserves a befitting burial.”
It would be recalled that Mohbad’s death sparked public outrage, protests, and investigations. Ongoing autopsy examinations, police inquiries, and legal proceedings have delayed burial arrangements amid family disagreements and public scrutiny.
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