African music goes global

Business Daily

BBC

News, Business

4.4 • 796 Ratings

🗓️ 31 January 2022

⏱️ 17 minutes

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Summary

This is a big moment for African music on the global stage. African artists are winning international awards and embarking on tours to the US and Europe. And major record companies want a piece of the action. They’ve been busy doing deals to sign African stars with Warner Music buying a controlling stake in a Johannesburg business which bills itself as “the home of African music”. So what’s going on, and what does it all mean for a new generation of African artists? Mike Johnson talks to singers Nomcebo Zikode from South Africa and Mildred Ashong, aka Eazzy, from Ghana, Phiona Okumu, head of African music at the streaming service Spotify, Yoel Kenan, chief executive of music distribution company Africori and Temi Adeniji, MD of Warner Music South Africa. (Image: Nomcebo Zikode at the Nomcebo Zikode Foundation Launch at the Houghton Hotel on June 09, 2021 in Johannesburg, South Africa, Credit:Getty)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Business Daily from the BBC with me, Mike Johnson.
0:05.7	Today, Africa rising on the global music stage.
0:09.9	I'm now travelling outside my country. I've been in America. Very soon, I'll be coming to UK.
0:17.2	It's only now whereby we're starting to show the world that, hey, we are here.
0:22.3	The African artists surfing a wave of international love for what they do,
0:27.6	and how the biggest players in the music business want a piece of the action.
0:31.9	We've got great music, great talent in the continent, not just in West Africa,
0:36.7	in South Africa, East Africa, across the continent,
0:39.0	actually. And what's happening is that success brings success, confidence bring confidence as well.
0:45.4	That's African music in the international spotlight here on Business Daily from the BBC. This is Jerusalem, a song which has become a global sensation,
1:15.9	with views of almost half a billion and counting on YouTube.
1:32.7	Jerusalem is by the South African producer and DJ Master KG.
1:38.2	It made a global star out of its featured singer and co-writer Nomsibo Zikode,
1:41.1	who was born in a township near Durban.
1:42.3	Oh my gosh.
1:44.8	People love the rhythm. They can fill the emotions. Oh my gosh. People love the rhythm.
1:47.4	They can fill the emotions.
1:50.9	The song just made some of them cry.
2:05.6	Jerusalemer charted and went viral around the world as the full force of the pandemic hit in 2020. As part of what became known as the Jerusalemer challenge, people including nuns, priests, police and nursing home staff
2:13.3	filmed themselves dancing to the track and posted the results online.
2:18.4	It didn't take long for a song with lyrics in Isisulu,
2:21.9	a language spoken by just 12 million people,
	...

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