Entertainment

CNN’s African Voices Changemakers meets the Nigerian music maker celebrating Afrobeat artists

Published

2 years ago

October 21, 2022

CNN’s African Voices Changemakers meets the Nigerian music maker celebrating Afrobeat artists

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In the latest episode of African Voices Changemakers, CNN’s Arit Okpo meets Ayo Animashaun, a Nigerian entertainment entrepreneur who has created a platform to celebrate and elevate Afrobeat artists around the world. He is the founder of “The Headies”, one of Nigeria’s biggest music award shows.

Ayo grew up listening to music and was inspired by his father who was a music-lover and dancer. He began his career with the launch of Hip Hop World Magazine, but after the first and second year, he realised that something was missing. He explains, “We have to promote our own guys. We were never on the cover of these magazines. So I was like, you know what? Put us on the cover.” ‘Leaders of the New School’ was a cover of Hip Hop World Magazine which highlighted the new generation of African artists and the emergence of Afrobeat. “We had a big poster of our own artists in the magazine. And that was the first time you could really cut and paste African artists on your wall,” he says.

As Afrobeats started gaining popularity, Ayo organised the first Hip Hop World Awards, which eventually turned into The Headies. Nigeria already had award shows, but Ayo believes that there is a general misunderstanding of how to categorize certain songs. “I told my people when I go back to Nigeria, that if we had to succeed with what we do, it has to be true to us. We can borrow technicalities, like lights, camera angles, but we can’t borrow our culture. It has to represent our own music, our own categories, and the way we want to express ourselves to the world. So, we decided to celebrate artists. And after the first awards, it was like, boom,” he tells CNN.

Ayo and his team have travelled halfway around the world to debut The Headies in the United States. After fourteen successful years in the West African nation, Ayo believes it is time to push the boundaries even further: “The awards show is as big as it gets where we are from. We want the world to see it. Atlanta is the black entertainment capital of the world, you know? We want a different space where these guys can breathe, and we want a mixed audience.”

The Nigerian singer, Fireboy DML, explains the significance of the Atlanta award show: “It’s groundbreaking stuff to have this award show here in Atlanta, United States and it’s refreshing to see that we are here, Nigerians, Africans, everybody together. It’s amazing to see.” Recording artist LADIPOE shares this sentiment: “I think for me it’s just capping off the idea that our music is proliferating around the world.”

Ayo later reflects on the success of the awards show in Atlanta, but before travelling back home he wanted to meet with local students: “You can’t come to Atlanta for and bring the Headies to Atlanta and not visit Morehouse. I needed them to experience this.” One student, James McGee II, says, “Having these African artists and Nigerian artists come and expose us to our extended culture is really an amazing opportunity. Representation matters.”

Ayo wants to continue to empower African artists around the world, “You can come from nowhere and be a global superstar with your music, and we want people to see that more.” He hopes to bring another award show to Atlanta next year – “for the world to be able to see how talented Afrobeat artists are, and for them to see beyond the names that they already know.”

The show also meets the singer Mr. Leo, also known as Lion of Africa,who is using music to promote social change in Cameroon.

Entertainment

AFRIMA partners stakeholders to actualise AU’s vision on creative economy at PACC6 in Moroni, Comoros

Published

4 months ago

October 12, 2024

august24admin

AFRIMA partners stakeholders to actualise AU’s vision on creative economy at PACC6 in Moroni, Comoros

AJAGBE ADEYEMI TESLIM

SPONSORED BY: H&H

As one of the institutions championing positive change in the global entertainment industry, All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) has reaffirmed its commitment to the growth of Africa’s creative economy by partnering with critical stakeholders to align with the African Union’s vision for cultural and creative development, as outlined during the recently concluded 6th Pan-African Cultural Congress (AU/PACC6) in Moroni, Union of Comoros.

Cross section of participants including AFRIMA’s Director of Stakeholders Engagement, Media, and Communications (Global), Sola Dada during the recently concluded 6th Pan-African Cultural Congress (AU/PACC6) with the theme “Arts, Culture, Heritage, and Education: Levers for Buildings Africa We Want” held in Moroni, Union of Comoros

It was a gathering of key stakeholders, including Pan-African cultural institutions, artists, cultural workers, and policymakers in the East African country, at an epoch-making event held between September 25 and 27, 2024. At this event, a framework for action aligning national and continental policies was developed, emphasizing the development of arts and heritage as crucial to achieving the AU’s Agenda 2063 vision.

In a presentation at the event, Sola Dada, AFRIMA’s Director of Stakeholders Engagement, Media, and Communications (Global), took the audience through the organisation’s activities since its inception in 2014, tailored towards promoting music, arts, and culture on the continent and the sustained effort to collaborate with other industry institutions to deepen the entertainment ecosystem in Africa.

“AFRIMA has successfully collaborated with policymakers, governments, African artistes, producers, record labels, promoters, publishing companies, media and the African Union Commission (AUC) to celebrate and promote African music globally,” Dada told the conference. “Through our seven core pillars, namely Music Awards, Music Festivals, Music Business Hub, Talent Discovery and Promotion, AFRIMA Creative Academy, Advisory and Policy Debates, Corporate Social Responsibility and Advocacy, we have positioned African music as a tool for integration, inclusivity, economic prosperity, and world peace.”

He said as the longest-running African music award platform with a global reach, AFRIMA plays a critical role in enhancing the visibility of African music.

AFRIMA’s Director of Stakeholders Engagement, Media, and Communications (Global), Sola Dada(with cap), giving a speech at the recently concluded 6th Pan-African Cultural Congress (AU/PACC6) with the theme “Arts, Culture, Heritage, and Education: Levers for Buildings Africa We Want” held in Moroni, Union of Comoros

Dada added that. ” AFRIMA’s events bring together thousands of music artistes, actors, celebrities, governments, and professionals from around the world to continent’s cultural significance on the global stage.

“Through our partnership with the AU and other stakeholders, AFRIMA is well-positioned to support the implementation of policies that will drive the growth of Africa’s creative economy. With a focus on integration, innovation, and cultural preservation, AFRIMA and the AU are set to make significant strides toward the Africa We Want as envisioned in Agenda 2063.”

The AU/PACC6, held under the theme “Arts, Culture, Heritage, and Education: Levers for Buildings Africa We Want,” served as a platform for Pan-African cultural institutions, cultural workers, and experts to engage in discussions on how to leverage these sectors to build a stronger African identity.

The congress concluded with a framework for action designed to guide cultural and educational development across the continent.

The congress resulted in several key resolutions aimed at strengthening Africa’s cultural sectors, including support for national cultural policies, engagement of youth and women, heritage preservation, promotion of African languages, and cultural exchange programmes that allow African youth to collaborate, showcase their work, and learn from one another.

In her opening remarks, Mrs. Angela Martins, Acting Director for Social Development, Culture, and Sport at the African Union Commission (AUC), highlighted the rapid growth of Africa’s cultural and creative industries, referring to them as the continent’s “new crude oil” due to their increasing global economic influence. Martins called for greater investment in the sector, citing AU Assembly Decision 772, which advocates for allocating at least 1% of national budgets to arts, culture, and heritage.

As part of the AU’s efforts, she announced the development of an arts education policy aimed at integrating arts education into school curriculums across Member States.

“This policy aligns with the AU’s theme of the year for 2024 and aims to nurture young talent from an early age,” she said.

Martins praised the efforts of key institutions in the entertainment, art and cultural space including AFRIMA which she described as “Africa’s global music awards and longest-running music award platform, with a huge global appeal, diaspora audience, and youthful fans.”

The main events of AFRIMA are usually broadcast live to over 84 countries around the world after a continental and global roadshow, with thousands of music artists, actors, celebrities, members of the diplomatic corps, professionals in the creative space, tourists, media and fans from all over the world converging on the host country.