The next musical revolution is brewing in Africa!
Nigerian music has continued to gain clear global recognition, as musicians Tiwa Savage, Davido, and Mr Eazi have graced the cover of Billboard magazine.
In focusing on the trio, the magazine described them as “the first generation of truly global pop superstars from Africa, whose defining trait will not be their geographic origin, but the artistry and business savvy that are at par with the biggest names in their field.”
See excerpts below.
On how they’ve been adjusting creatively and personally to life during the pandemic?
Davido: Man, it’s been crazy because my fiancée actually tested positive [for COVID-19 but has since recovered]. I was on tour in America, with six shows done and 19 sold-out shows left. We were in Denver sitting in my hotel room listening to the news. We looked at each other and said, “Yo, let’s just tell ourselves the truth: It’s about to be a wrap.” New York had put a cap on shows at 500 [people], then 200 the next day and down again the next. So we all came back home and did the test. My fiancée was in London with the baby. She’s the only one that came out positive. She had to isolate; I had to isolate. I did two tests after that, and they came out negative. I just got back home [to Lagos] a week ago. Since then I’ve been recording.
Savage: At first it was kind of difficult for me to get my head around. I had a tour planned, a bunch of festivals lined up. When it finally dawned on me that those weren’t going to happen this year, it made me wake up and realize how fragile life is and how we take it for granted. So I’ve been spending time with my son and speaking on the phone more with my family. More importantly, I’ve been giving out food to people around my neighborhood. I can quarantine for a month or a couple of months, but some of these people don’t even have food for tomorrow.
Eazi: I’m 19 minutes out of London, living in a small community and finally getting back to jogging. But musically, it’s been an eye-opener for me. During this lockdown, I’ve not recorded any new music. But I’m on Zoom calls almost the whole day working on my business or [talking] with one of my new artists, listening to records and setting up release plans. I thought I would have been frustrated by not being able to go out of the farm. But I’ve always been an entrepreneur, so this has been a next-level step for me in terms of investing more of my time and resources toward my business.
See more photos below:
Read their full interview here.
Photo Credit: @lakinogunbanwo & @seyeisikalu
Styling: @iamdanielobasi & @quratedbyq
