Sadly it seems as though the art of a performance in the Nigerian music scene is a dying one. It seems like the new generation of singers and rappers are more interested in the radio play and stardom than in the showmanship and creative presentations. As a result of the nature of the industry, many artistes make their money from live performances and not music sales – so why is there a nonchalant attitude towards this?

Lack of creativity

Not that many people understand that being a musician involves being a showman. Remember when the Mavins Records’ artistes performed ‘Dorubucci’ at the 2015 Africa Magic Viewers Choice awards and it was lousy. It was clear there was no creative direction whatsoever.

Months later, it was clear the Mavins learnt from their mistakes. On September 2, 2015, they worked with a creative director and rendered a much better performance of their hit song.

Right now Darey Art Alade is currently leading in the area of creativity. His concert series ‘Love Like A Movie’ showed the ‘Asiko Laye’ singer is working with an army of innovative minds. His most recently held concert incorporated dance, art, acrobatics and all kinds of theatrics, it was structured in such a way you were engaged from start to finish.

Scout motto: "Be prepared"

If you don’t rehearse, magic can’t happen. Agreed there are artistes like M.I, Sound Sultan and Harrysong who are good at improv and who can work a room without any preparations.

Let’s look at the monthly Afropolitan Vibes concert. Ade Bantu of the Bantu crew always ensures the artistes lined up for this event rehearse with his band before the day of the show. The result of this is massive turn out of music lovers who come out to enjoy live music and see their favourite artist perform their songs in a different format.

Developing musicianship

The musicians of the old age (including Fela Kuti, King Sunny Ade and Moses Olaiya) were not just known for their music but also their performances.

They were not privy to new beat making technology and as such played musical instruments, rolled with bands and had frequent jam sessions. Till date King Sunny Ade is known for performing with a band. The King of juju and his band are also known for breaking in sequence dance steps during performances. Whenever you see them perform they look like they are really having a good time.

Location and audience should not matter

I remember the first time I attended a Star Music Trek concert in 2013. It was held in Surulere, Lagos. It was and still is probably one of the best concerts I’ve been to in Lagos till date. I was confused at first. I was confused by the quality of performances and the hard work put in by the artists I saw that night. These were the same artist I had paid fifteen thousand Naira to watch perform at Eko Hotel and they were rubbish, but here they were sweating it out and giving it their all at a 200 Naira entry concert. (Perhaps it was because they were afraid the crowd would throw bottles at them).

Let’s admit some audiences can be very hostile but as a performer it your job to engage and entertain. At the recently held AMVCA, as South African singer Zonke sang soulfully, there were many in the audience who weren’t paying attention but as a professional, she continues to perform as though there was an invisible crowd smiling and singing along.

It's just worrisome that the new generation assume arrogance and swag are the elements of this art. This is not to say there are not a few that embrace the art of performance in the industry. Let's hope the creative artistry of stage presence spreads across the whole industry in 2016.