Nigeria’s entertainment industry is experiencing a boom is no longer news. Especially when it comes to the music scene, the industry is exploding. There seems to be non-stop proliferation of raw talent even as there seems to be a release of a new song on almost every day.
The
quality of music productions has increased vastly within a period over
the last decade, and today, many Nigerian acts are in high demand across
the continent. The list of musicians making waves is literarily
endless.
The
Black Entertainment Television (BET) Awards was dubbed the ‘Black World
Cup’ by American comedian, Chris Rock. Since 2010, the BET Award for
Best International Act (Africa) has come to Nigerians; this year again,
it went to a Nigerian artiste, Davido, who also recently took home two
awards for Best Male and Artiste of the Year at the MTV Africa Music
Awards (MAMA) held in Durban, South Africa.
Therefore,
it makes sense for other African artistes to collaborate with the
artistes from Nigeria, the country with the most popular and numerous
A-list musical acts at the moment. Some of the notable collaborations
include, Tanzania’s Diamond featuring Davido, South Africa’s Mafikizolo
featuring May D, another South African rapper, A.K.A, has made Ice
Prince a sparring partner in music and R2bee of Ghana has collaborated
with Wizkid.
Also
in the line up of foreign artistes collaborating with Nigerian
musicians is Rebecca Acheapong with the stage name ‘Becca,’ who is
arguably Ghana’s most popular female artiste. She has made hits with her
works titled “You Lied to Me”, and “I love You” featuring the South
African maestro, Hugh Masekela.
Her
soulful music was nominated in 2008 Kora Awards and Channel O Music
Video Awards, while her single; Sugar, won the Record of the Year at the
Ghana Music Awards.
She
got her break into Nigeria entertainment industry and caught
international recognition after featuring Nigeria’s Tuface Idibia and
M.I in songs titled “Bad man, Bad girl” and “No Away,” respectively. She
recently released a new music video which featured Uhuru of South
Africa.
In
a meeting that took place at her office in Accra with Nigerian Tribune,
she spoke extensively on her passion for Nigerian music and love for
Nigerian artistes.
“I
have been in love with Nigerian music for a while now. I have heard
Nigerian gospel songs and I love them, even though I don’t know who it
was that sang it. I started listening to Nigerian music since I was
seven years old. I also started falling in love with Nigerian music when
I heard 2face Idibia’s song ‘African Queen.’ 2face, MI, D Banj, Waje,
Brymoh, Omowunmi, Wizkid really made me fall in love with Nigerian
music,” Acheapong said when asked how she discovered her love for
Nigerian music.
“Brymo
is another artiste I would love to collaborate with next. I believe
he’s an amazing artiste. I love his voice, and I really want to do a
song with him,” she added.
Acheapong
said that the experience with Nigerian artistes was exciting though
the road to get there was rough. “It is always stressful when you are
trying to get a contact. Usually people think getting through to an
artiste is difficult but it is not. It is the people that are in between
us that make it difficult.
“My
experience with MI was amazing. He left all he was doing in Nigeria to
shoot the video with me. I recorded in the studio with 2face, and he was
amazing. No doubt, getting these two artistes in the beginning was
difficult, but it was easy in the end,” she said.
She
continued to express her passion for Nigerian musicians such that she
admitted it could influence her choice of a marriage partner when she
said, “I have never wished to settle down with a fellow artiste, but I
don’t know who God might bring my way, but if I find someone in Nigeria
who has the things I want in a man, I won’t mind.”
Speaking
on her success on the Ghanaian music scene, the artiste called Becca
said, “Well, I think I am doing well for myself over the years, and
people see me as such. For me personally, I think this is just the
beginning for me. I don’t want anything to get into my head at all. To
me, it’s still my foundation stage and there’s more to come; and when
that comes, when I become the biggest artiste in Africa, not just in
Ghana, then I will celebrate it. For now, I thank God that people see me
as the biggest artiste in Ghana, and it’s amazing.”
However,
why did the artiste Ghanaians call their biggest in the country seek to
have Nigerians singing alongside with her? She said her compelling
reason to do this was that “I look up to many artistes in Nigeria. I
also look at the set of artistes that I can feature that will make an
impact. For example, 2face writes good songs, same thing applies to MI. I
believe they are on top of their game, they believe in what they are
doing.”
That
Nigeria’s entertainment industry is having the biggest attention on the
continent and even in the eyes of the Western world is a fact that
Becca attests to. She agreed that truly there was a lot Ghana needed to
learn from Nigeria entertainment industry to help Ghana entertainment
industry grow. In her words, “There is a lot of support in Nigeria that
individuals and corporate organisations give to the industry, and Ghana
lacks that. Our government needs to pump money in to the industry for it
to flourish. Ghana entertainments need a functioning structure. Maybe
you guys (Nollywood) can come down and help us in that aspect.”
Are
Ghanaians jittery over this influence Nigerians have in Ghana? Recently
Film Producers Association of Ghana (FIPAG) started imposing fines on
any Ghanaian producer who featured Nigerian actors and actresses in
their movies.
Asked
whether this action was taken in the spirit of brotherhood between the
two nations, Acheapong responded saying, “I don’t think that Ghanaians
don’t want to work with Nigerian actors and actresses. I think what they
are trying to do is to encourage them to use their local actors and
actresses, and for them to be able to stand on their own, because
Nigerians do stand on their own.
“I
do see Nigerian movies which do not have a single foreigner in them.
They could have taken that step to control the influx of Nigerians in
Ghana movies. I believe once Ghanaian movie industry is able to gain its
ground, we won’t have any fear of Nigerians taking over the industry,
even when they start inviting them.”
Credited: Tribune
