By Bayo Olawunmi
Spotify, a global audio streaming platform, says its EQUAL Africa programme has provided a crucial global launchpad that is levelling the playing field for women in music across the continent.
Phiona Okumu, Head of Music for Sub-Saharan Africa at Spotify, said this in a statement on Tuesday in Lagos.
Okumu said that Spotify’s EQUAL Africa ambassadors’ presence at the Greasy Tunes Café experience marked a significant turning point in the industry.
“Stars like Moliy and Joyce Olong, both Spotify EQUAL Africa programme ambassadors, alongside Lady Donli and Goodgirl LA, gave commanding performances that served as a vital moment.
“With their genre-defying sounds and fiercely independent production, these artistes are not simply performing; they are actively rewriting the narrative of African music,” Okumu said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Spotify’s Greasy Tunes Café is a three-week experiential pop-up, designed to celebrate the link between Nigerian food, music and culture.
She said that the second week of the café, headlined by Odumodublavk, The Cavemen and Sarz, was an unforgettable cultural statement, confirming that the street-influenced sounds demanded by Nigerian youths.
“We are connecting in real-time. This multi-genre agenda was not only defined by the headliners; it was supercharged by a powerful display of contemporary female artistry, giving the week an undeniable forward-looking energy.
“This week’s energy was electric from the start of the “INDUSTRY MACHINE GALA,” where the crowd came out in full force, instantly vibrating to the night’s momentum.
“The moment ODUMODUBLVCK took the stage, the event transformed. His performance is the blueprint for the contemporary Nigerian artiste: utterly bold and commanding, embodying a raw attitude and inherited spirit of Hip-Hop that the crowd was fully reflecting.”
According to her, the historical shift in hip-hop was brilliantly unpacked by the ‘Loose Talk Podcast Live’.
She said that the panelists argued that hip-hop was the very foundation that empowered pioneers like 2Baba, who began as rappers, to become resourceful masters, cleverly flipping foreign tracks with local language.
“This ultimately transformed Nigerian music into the celebrated Afrobeats sound, giving the youth the diverse rhythmic options they now connect to.
“Their forecast: the next authentic wave of hip-hop is tipped to emerge from the Eastern part of Nigeria.”
Okumu said that this forecast resonated with the audience’s deep appreciation for roots through the documentary screening of “Ki’mon! The Eastern Nigerian afro-funk revolution 1970-1980”.
She said, long before afrobeats, afro-funk was the original post-conflict sound of self-definition, primal, political, and utterly authentic. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Folasade Adeniran
