Whether local or international market, everyone making music should be proud

One of the greatest love stories of the Nigerian music industry is the D’banj and Don Jazzy legend. The duo complimented each other well, firing themselves via teamwork to the top of the charts. They led from the front, created projects that ruled the industry, and gathered a team that was solid.

But tragedy struck. The deal with Kanye West, GOOD Music, and international exposure and strategy differences created a mix of bad blood that broke them apart. And since they uncoupled their business, neither of them have remained the same.

While Don Jazzy became successful with the Mavins, D’banj tried his hands at the international play, and failed to put his mark and convince the execs at GOOD Music that he could handle the task of adapting his artistry to appeal to a wider market away from Africa and Africans in the diaspora. Oliver Twist proved to be a mega hit, but there was no Don Jazzy to recreate the magic.

Although his efforts showed that Nigerian pop artists could aspire to go beyond Africa, D’banj ultimately lost at the international campaign. He returned back home, and has never gotten back to his Mo’Hits era.

Between 2016 and 2015, Wizkid and Davido got the chance to push past D’banj’s efforts. They got sweet deals and pushed through with music. While Davido couldn’t adapt his artistry to serve the local and international markets, Wizkid has been hard at work racking up collaborative and solo successes.

And their recent beef, which has both stars hurling their ability (and inability) to adapt to the US market as arsenal to determine their superiority.

But it truly doesn’t matter. No artist should be made to feel inferior for sticking to the core fan base at home. The home support is important. Africa is a huge music market. Operating from a number of mega cities, including Lagos, Accra, Luanda, and Johannesburg. The population on the continent is enough for any artist to have a successful career.

“First of all, I didn’t even want to take the deal because I didn’t need it. I was doing tours all over Africa with 50,000 to 80,000, people so it was like why am I signing the deal?”  Davido told Guardian.

“They tried to fix me up with a producer and I decided to come home, but I’m still signed to them, it’s going good. They have realized how much potential is here because even when I am all over the world it is my African songs that even the oyibo people f*** with.”

Davido struggled to tweak his sound. All of Sony’s efforts to get him to blend with more westernized artistic styles and sounds didn’t work. His work was delayed, his music held, and it showed in the way he handled his business. Incessant complaints on Instagram and unhappy spells frustrated him, and he went several months without any released record.

In October 2016, he released the EP, “Son Of Mercy,” a project which was critically bashed. His collaboration with Tinashe on ‘How long’ was roundly criticized, and the lead single ‘Gba gbe’ did not impress either. The singer quickly moved on, with more complaints.

At the start of 2016, unable to bear it any longer, Davido negiotiated and won an amendment to his contract; he received creative control for Africa, fired his manager Kamal Ajiboye, and set out to focus squarely on reigniting his career locally.

While he still has his Sony deal, his core focus is in Africa.

Wizkid took the deal in his stride. Countless recording sessions in various countries enabled the singer to access another layer of his artistry. He began to model his delivery after Caribbean sounds, fusing elements of his local tongue to create a hybrid. It is this experiment that has created ‘Daddy Yo’, ‘Come closer’, ‘African Bad Gyal’, and his numerous collaborations.

He has an album coming through, “Sounds From The Other Side,” which would feature international guests, but produced mainly by local producers. It is his first project under RCA Records. It is receiving the major album roll-out plan with promotional process put in place for it.

Wizkid and Davido are both crushing it. An artist can decide where to channel his art to. Wizkid has chosen to expand to the US. Davido is content to keep the African love going. Both strategies should be respected and supported.

Because in the end, it’s all about the audiences, and no audience is better than the other. Whether Africa or the US, as long as the art connects with the people, there should be dignity, respect and value.