‘There’s never been a greater time to be a Nigerian artist’: but have the new giants of African music shut the door behind them?

When I’m on stage, it’s a fucking Rema party – make some noise!” The crowd obliged as the Nigerian singer strode across the Wireless festival stage. Midway through his set, Rema brought on two of his compatriots, Shallipopi and Zerry DL, to perform their hit, Benin Boys. Over the annual two-day extravaganza, held last month in London’s Finsbury Park, five Nigerian artists thrilled the audience.

Across Europe and the US, Nigeria’s Afrobeats stars have featured prominently on the 2024 summer tour circuit, from Burna Boy celebrating the fifth anniversary of his African Giant album at Koko in Camden, London, to Tems in the lineup at the Montreux jazz festival in Switzerland and BNXN appearing at the Gramercy Theatre in New York.

Fuelling these successes, far removed from the razzmatazz of the big stages, is the recent entry of the world’s biggest music companies into Nigeria. Since 2017, Lagos has become a global music powerhouse, as Sony Music, Warner Music, Universal Music Group and others compete for talent, market share and profits.

The prices can only go up. There’s no going down for this

Lucas Jay Emodi, promoter

With help from TikTok and a rapidly growing global appetite, Nigerian stars including Wizkid, Davido, Rema, Burna Boy, Ayra Starr and CKay, have achieved international acclaim, scoring hits and a slew of cross-cultural collaborations with their western counterparts.

Every artist with leverage – which translates these days as a hit record or a big social media following – has signed contracts with the foreign labels, drawn in by the allure of lump-sum cash advances, and a chance to expand their audience base.

And why not? According to the most recent Global Music Report from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), sub-Saharan Africa was the fastest-growing recorded music region in 2023 – for the second consecutive year.

It was also the only region globally to surpass 20% growth, with revenues up 24.7% year on year, primarily driven by paid streaming revenues, which grew 24.5% year on year. Rema joined the “Billions Club” on Spotify in September 2023 with his song Calm Down, which featured Selena Gomez. It was the first time an African artist-led track had recorded 1bn streams on the platform.

The term Afrobeats is an umbrella term given to popular music from west Africa that began in Nigeria and Ghana in the 2000s. It is not to be confused with Afrobeat, which started in the 1960s and fuses traditional Yoruba and Igbo music with American funk and jazz.

Much like Seattle’s grunge scene in the 1990s, Afrobeats is locally understood as a broad movement more than a single genre, and the term has become a descriptor for fusing Nigerian sounds such as fújì, apala and highlife with an international flavour.

Flushed with cash and the creative and marketing resources of the world’s biggest record companies, the Lagos music scene looks very different from the way it did 10 years ago, when creatives huddled in cramped, dingy studios across the city. Today, signed Afrobeats artists have access to state-of-the-art studios within record label offices in the expensive neighbourhoods of Lekki, Ikoyi and Victoria Island.

The result has been twofold. At the top of the industry, there’s never been a better time to be a Nigerian artist. The singer Ayra Starr is expected to appear on Good Feelings, a track on Coldplay’s new album, Moon Music – already confirmed to feature We Pray, which Burna Boy guests on.

Shallipopi – a recent breakout star – is hanging out with the American rapper Future. Young musicians in Lagos can now dream of filling out Madison Square Garden like Burna Boy and Davido; they can picture themselves on Times Square billboards, and in global brand campaigns.

Nearly 70% of Nigeria’s population of 229 million are under 30. But inflation is running at 34% and an estimated 87 million Nigerians live below the poverty line. A music career – which was traditionally seen as an inferior endeavour by society – has become an attractive way for young people to escape poverty. Global success has only intensified that desire.

On the surface, it seems all one needs is a mic, talent and a dream. Advancements in technology and the rise of social media offered to democratise the creative process and provide a seamless distribution of songs, with streaming platforms such as Apple Music and Spotify now available worldwide.

“I use Twitter, TikTok, Instagram ads,” says AfroReekAH, an unsigned young musician who lives between Lagos and Enugu, a city in south-east Nigeria. “To get listeners, I also use Spotify, Audiomack, Apple Music, and then pitch for editorial playlists on all these streaming services,” she says.

On any day in Lagos, you can find AfroReekAH – and many hopefuls like her – sharing song links on social media, while seeking spaces within the city to perform or at the very least have their music played at gatherings. During the week, they visit bars like Bogobiri House, which are known for their Thursday open mics.

Another favourite spot for emerging artists is Obi’s House, a Monday night club-like gathering, where members of the industry network and party. On the weekends, parties such as Raveolution and Group Therapy at underground pop-up spaces offer opportunities to hear experimental music.

But as Afrobeats continues to grow its audience abroad, new challenges have emerged at home. Starting a career with access to the industry and its infrastructure has never been harder. Investment by the major record labels has recalibrated the economics of the local industry: every service across the chain of creating and marketing music has increased in price, creating a steep barrier of entry for new talents.

Shooting a decent music video runs into millions of naira. Marketing costs a fortune. Access to media platforms comes with exorbitant toll gates, and the cost of ads continues to rise.

“The prices can only go up. There’s no going down for this,” says Lucas Jay Emodi, whose company, Speed Plug Promotions, offers marketing for the major labels in Lagos. Music might have a mass appeal, but it has become a rich man’s game.

When I started music, I didn’t have money to pay for billboards. So what did I do? I used spray paint

Odumodublvck

The only new entrants with a chance are those connected to a financial war chest, and that means signing to a foreign label. “Money is always going to be a factor,” says the rapper Odumodublvck, another 2023 breakout star in Nigeria. Odumodublvck hit success after signing to Universal Music-backed local record label, Native Records. His fifth album, Eziokwu, released in partnership with Def Jam, broke records, spending 22 weeks at the top of the Spotify Nigeria album chart.

“It’s a matter of going head to head against the game and looking for anything that you can use to break through,” he says. “Like me now, when I started music, I didn’t have money to pay for billboards. So what did I do? I used spray paint. Just find a way.”

The consequences of this system are showing up in the industry. With the bulk of foreign record label investment targeting ready-made stars, and the high financial barrier of entry, very few artists have a chance at the big time.

Nigeria has an average of two breakthrough artists a year – a trend that has persisted for the last decade. Midway through 2024, the country is struggling to break new musicians. Emerging Nigerian artists release nearly a hundred records a week on Spotify. None have become big hits in 2024. With fewer artists being seeded at the highest levels, the scene appears to have reached saturation point.

The onus, according to music industry professionals, still lies with the artists.

Excel Joab, an A&R manager for west Africa at Awal, a Sony subsidiary, says: “Not everyone will immediately come to you and say, ‘Hey, you sound nice, take some money.’ That’s not how the business works. So yes, you’re talented. Yes, you got something that means it going on.

“Always ask yourself, how can I make this more valuable? Once you have built value, money will find you.”

But the reality for upcoming artists remains complex and bleak. With the rising cost of living in Nigeria, and an economic downturn with no respite in sight, many young artists with limited financial resources rely on hope.

“The dream is what keeps me going where I want to be. But it can be very discouraging,” says AfroReekAH.