Tiwa Savage one of the most popular female Afropop singers in Nigeria who has been referred to by many of her fans as Africa's answer to Beyonce recently dumped her mentor Don Jazzy and his Mavin records label to become the latest Afropop superstar to sign a deal with a major record label.
She follows on in the footsteps of Wizkid, Davido and Tekno who have also signed deals with international record labels. These developments have lead many fans out there to wonder if this is the beginning of the end of Afropop as we know it.
She follows on in the footsteps of Wizkid, Davido and Tekno who have also signed deals with international record labels. These developments have lead many fans out there to wonder if this is the beginning of the end of Afropop as we know it.
The big question is that as the major international Labels step in to take “Control” will the genre be watered down and lose its roots. and how long will it be before its gets the Vanilla ice or Taylor Swift treatment - no disrespect to Taylor Swift I think she a great singer songwriter but the key question is that in the next 5 years will the top Afropop artistes be black or white.
They say the best way to defeat your competition is to buy it!!
Afropop is essentially a “Made In Africa by Africans “product and its rise and rise as a global brand is not because white people in Europe and the U.S.A woke up one day and decided they liked it
But just as rap and hiphop in the 70s and 80s rose up from the streets of urban America championed by afro America youths
Afropop has been championed by its massive fan base in the major cities across Africa from Johannesburg,and Nairobi to Lagos and Accra. Furthermore its been pushed to the limelight on the international stage because of the so called African Diaspora ie thousands of loyal African fans in big cities like London, New York and Amsterdam.
So will the Major labels help strengthen Afrobeats and extend it global reach or is this the beginning of it’s appropriation and exploitation
Will Tiwa Savage regret this move in a few years times or is just a natural progression for her with Major Labels about take her career to another level.
And do major labels ever benefit their stars in the long run or do they just exploit them as alleged by some of the biggest stars for example the likes of Ice Cube, Dr Dre, Drake, the late Prince Michael Jackson as well as George Micheal.
What do you think Are the Major records label good or bad for Afrobeats
Please feel free to join the debate and leave your your comments below.
