MULUGETA GUDETA
Most of them have become household names across Africa, from the West Nigeria to the East Kenya to the north Algeria, and South Africa in the southern part of the continent. They have come a long way to dominate the local and international music charts. According to the latest accounts, young African musicians are particularly doing well in Western music industry where they have built their niches and enjoy massive fan following.
The saying that music is a universal language is never truer than now when language and culture are playing the role of catalysts and the audience enjoys the music more than the lyrics. Proof of this is that in most African music with international audience, language does not matter much as the singers use a mixed bag of English, tribal languages and newly minted or coined vocabulary to express their innermost feelings. Most of the languages sound weird or incomprehensible to foreign audiences and yet the world is dancing to the tunes of Afro beats.
According to a recently released article by business writer Franklin Izuchukwu, “Africans are doing so well in various aspects including the music industry globally they are making waves in the music industry. This has been made possible by the different talented musicians from various parts of the continent. Singers like Davido, Wizkid, Sarkodie Sho Madojozi are some of the top best musicians in Africa.
The emergence of Africa on the global music industry map is a relatively recent phenomenon. The timeline for this historic shift from anonymity to celebrity for African musicians can be exactly pinpointed as the coming to age of the late Bob Marley and his personal evolution as a global music icon that started in Jamaica and went all the way to Europe and Britain in particular where he shined most and conducted a Revolution in music that was known as Reggae which is “ a style of popular music that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s and quickly emerged as the country’s dominant music. By the 1970s it had become an international style that was particularly popular in Britain, the United States and Africa. It was widely perceived as the voice of the oppressed.”
The colonial experience in Africa was not conducive to the development of African music on the continent as one of its main purposes was the imposition of metropolitan colonial culture in general and music in particular on Africans who were thought unable to develop their culture on a par with their Western counterparts. For some time, African musicians subscribed to European stereotype before turning their attention to their native culture and native rhythms they managed to bring it out of the dark through time and great efforts.
African dance and music was no more considered “primitive” or unworthy to be presented to the so-called sophisticated audiences in Europe or the English speaking world in general. It was only after the end of colonialism and the assumption of political independence by African countries that African music or dance came to the attention of the world.
The last fifty years since the 1970s, up to roughly the new millennium, African music enjoyed a growth never seen before, because the most talented ones among the many musicians. They could get the opportunity not only to develop their talents but also conquer the European audiences who enjoyed Reggae and other music genres invented by African musicians by mixing traditional styles and instruments with modern ones.
According to the above-quoted writer, “When we talk about some well-known African artists who brought African artists to the limelight, artists like Bob Marley, Lucky Dube, Brenda Fassie and other African giants cannot be left out. Because of these music icons and others not yet mentioned in this article, Africans have retained their spot on the music sphere.”
The growth of the music industry in the West was also instrumental in boosting the acceptance of African musicians on Western stages. They could find not only sympathetic audiences but also music companies willing to produce their music albums and put them on the Western markets. That may be taken as a turning point to the growth of African music but it came with hard work, commitment and fierce competition at the global level.
According to the same author, the top 10 best African musicians are: Davido, Wizkid, Tiwa Savage, Burna Boy, Diamond Platnumz, 2Face Indibia, Fally Ipupa, Yemi Alade and Sho madjozi. The classification might based on the albums sold by each artist and/or their income level as it is the case with the classification of international artists, or celebrities in general, that is made on the basis of their incomes in a given year.
African-American music in the United States was also a factor that somehow facilitated the emergence and development of African music by fusing Black Diaspora elements such as Jazz, Blues, Pop and other genres with native African or Caribbean music styles. Black musicians in the Diaspora have clearly impacted musicians and musical developments on the African continent.
The fact that African musicians on the continent emerged as equal partners with Diaspora African musicians in America could only be accelerated by the globalization of world culture and the interdependence and interpenetration of cultures at the global level. This process is still under way as new generous of musicians are taking the place of older ones and enriched the African traditions of singing and dancing by fusing it with European or American styles.
If we take the case of Davido for instance, he is not only currently the biggest star but a young man born and raised in the United States where he could achieve musical maturity and popularity, “Bringing African Music to a worldwide platform, Davido Adeleke is one of the brightest names. He was born in a wealthy family based in Atlanta. He tested the limelight for a single titled “Demi Duro” from his first studio album in 2012. His net worth is over 19 million USD making him one of the richest music artists on the continent.” There are also other African music artists who are famous worldwide as well as wealthy and claiming the headlines. There are also other African musicians who are popular in their respective countries but relatively unknown worldwide.
Highly talented Ethiopian musicians are rising to claim the domestic list of musical celebrities but few of them hare known to the outside world. A couple of Ethiopian musicians (singers) have made to such African platforms or awards as Kora, which is an annual event that celebrates famous African singers by regions. Ethiopians have already made their presence felt at a couple of events but they are absent from the continental music scene and less in the global music industry.
With the exception of Mulatu Astatke, who is one of the brightest African musicians who introduced the much-loved Afro Jazz style and whose music enjoys high demands across many cultures, there is not yet any visible Ethiopian signer who can be nominated for the international honor and popularity. Of course there are excellent musicians whose activities are limited to the local audience but do not have the courage or talent to burst into the international music scene.
Nowadays, there are no hurdles to success for Africans or Ethiopians to access the global music industry. If one is talented enough and creative enough, he/she has boundless opportunities for success both in terms of income and influence. The problem may be that most Ethiopian musicians seem to ignore the African and international context as if they are satisfied with the fame and wealth they achieve here at home. They need to think domestically and act globally or work with the global context and opportunities in mind.
If our Nigerian brothers and sisters could make it to the global music industry in a few decades, there is no reason for Ethiopian music stars not rise over the horizon of the global music industry in relatively short time. They have the talent the skills, the instruments and a domestic fan base that can support them. What they may be lucking is the ambition to become international celebrities. According to sources from the web, four famous Ethiopian artists are singled out as most famous. They are Aster Aweke, Mulatu Astatke, Teddy Afro and Mahamud Ahmed, Gigi and a few others.
Ethiopia is an ancient land of arts and cultures that has invented its own musical notes and styles thousands of years back. The modernization of Ethiopian music and the emergence of modern artists is rather a recent phenomenon. However, the challenges may be sometimes confusing. Young and modern Ethiopian artists are trying to modernize the music heritage by combining it with modern styles.
Some are relatively more successful in this endeavor while others continue to produce music anchored in the past. Unless they prove more creative and more aggressive in their approach to modernization, most of them might miss the train and stay behind global music trends and the opportunities that come with them.
The basic lesson from the success of current African music icons is that young Ethiopian musicians should also learn from them and combine their styles with their own home-grown styles in order to produce something acceptable in the global music industry. And when this will be realized, it will be a kind of revolution in Ethiopian music both at the level of quality and industry.
The Ethiopian Herald March 26/2023
