'Every cloud has a silver lining" So goes a popular saying. It is believed there's always a positive side to every ugly situation.
The whole world has been in lockdown for weeks due to the Corona virus pandemic which has thus affects every facet of human lives,music inclusive.
'The silver lining of this pandemic' was uncovered with a new trend of challenge among music stars that started earlier this week. It involves artistes challenging one another on Instagram Live with them comparing individual catalogues. International stars like Quavo,Skepta,Tory Lanez,Chance The Rapper among others had participated in this challenge.
As you know that 'naija no dey carry last',it started off here with the two heavyweight producers; Sarz and Shizzi engaged in battle of superiority as both of them played their amazing catalogue of classics on Monday night.
It was immediately followed by Pheelz (YBNL in-house producer) against Masterkraft on Wednesday night before it became the battle of the songwriters last night.
The songwriters' battle was borne out of the stigmatization they usually faced from the Nigerian music scene.
Over the years,people have been frowning against the use of a songwriter and even though many established acts do employ their services, they rather made it unknown to the public or keep it anonymous to avoid a backlash from the listening public and fans.
After the bout between Kiddominant and Peruzzi on IG live,many Nigerians took to the micro-blogging platform,Twitter to commend Davido for taking the leap and giving songwriters the platform and acknowledgement they truly deserve.
Songwriting is an art on its own entirely and an important part of music business. Many people tends to make the mistake of conspicuously likening the two together hence the reality the Nigerian music industry is facing with most one hit wonders and songs with zero lyrical contents.
Songwriting is a skill that must be mastered and often times,artistes tend to get busy with shows,concerts and other engagements. Hence it is advisable to employ the service of a songwriter. It also expands artiste's scope and aids versatility.
We need to embrace songwriting and shun the stigmatization against it in order to further promote the growth and expansion of African music.
In America, songwriting is a very lucrative business on its own. The likes of Drake,Beyonce,Meek Mill and host of other stars make use of songwriters or ghostwriters, with some even from Nigeria.
Drake's "One Dance" which is the most charted song in history and the best song in the world for 2010's decade was written by Wizkid.
"Under The Influence" on Chris Brown's "Indigo Extended" album was also written by Nigerian Producer, Ayo 'Kiddominant' Agboola.
Beyonce's "Brown Skin Girl" off the Lion King album was co-written by Wizkid and Anatti.
There are many other great songs that were written by ghostwriters so it's nothing to be ashamed of.
Dear Up and coming acts, feel free to make use songwriters,it takes nothing from your talent and ability rather adds to your growth and understanding of how music business works.
Ary B
No comments:
Post a Comment