Nigerian star singers, Tiwa Savage, Davido and Mr Eazi are on the cover of the Africa Now edition of Billboard Magazine.
The celebrity singers were photographed back in May 2020 by Quinton Faulkner, Lakin Ogunbanwo, and Seye Isikalu.
For their cover stories, the stars open up about finding their voices and striving in the Nigerian music Industry.
Davido and Tiwa Savage Credit: Billboard
Savage revealed how the industry reacts to its female players, her upcoming Celia album and how she has been dealing with the pandemic.
Tiwa Savage Credit: Billboard
She shared: “At first it was kind of difficult for me to get my head around. I had a tour planned, a bunch of festivals lined up. When it finally dawned on me that those weren’t going to happen this year, it made me wake up and realize how fragile life is and how we take it for granted. So I’ve been spending time with my son and speaking on the phone more with my family. More importantly, I’ve been giving out food to people around my neighbourhood. I can quarantine for a month or couple of months, but some of these people don’t even have food for tomorrow”.
Davido Credit: Billboard
For Davido, the pandemic hit close to home. He shared how his fiancee recently tested positive for the virus. “My fiancée was in London with the baby. She’s the only one that came out positive. She had to isolate; I had to isolate. I did two tests after that, and they came out negative. I just got back home [to Lagos] a week ago. Since then I’ve been recording”, he said.
Speaking on Afrobeats and the international reception, Davido shared: “That’s the most important thing: The music is amazing. The feeling you get from Afrobeats and African music is just different.
“When I was in school in America and would play African music, people would say, “Yo, what’s that? That shit’s hard.” They didn’t understand what the artists were saying, but the feeling they got [from the music] was just crazy. People have always loved African music, but we didn’t have the avenues to go worldwide. Back then, you actually had to have an African friend or come to Africa to experience it”.
Mr Eazi Credit: Billboard
Speaking on stereotypes, Mr Eazi revealed: “The misperception I always run into is one of general ignorance: people classifying all music coming out of Africa as Afrobeats. To drive from Lagos to Accra is a nine-hour drive. In that journey, you pass through Benin and Togo.
Even within those two countries, there are a lot of different tribes — the language and culture are as different as the rhythms and BPMs of the music. You can have a hit song in Nigeria, but it won’t be a hit in Ghana”.
