One of Nigeria’s biggest Afrobeats exports and Grammy award-winning singer, Burna Boy, ruffled not a few feathers when, about four years ago, he said he was not making money from Nigeria.

“I’m from here and I live here because I love my home and my people…. I don’t make money from Nigeria,” he said in a tweet on 18 May 2021.

Many Nigerians who responded to that tweet literally bayed for Burna’s blood. They argued that Burna Boy got to global limelight because the local industry and fan base supported him in his days of little beginning. Without that local recognition, it would have been next to impossible for him to get the global acclaim that he now enjoys, they said.

While that may be true, it is also true that since Afrobeats became a global sensation opening multiple income streams for African artists, artists like Burna Boy have been earning much more on the international scene than they do on the continent. This is in spite of the discrimination in payment to artists for streams, where an American artist, for instance, earns much more than his African counterpart with the same number of views on the same platform.

Africans (black people) have long supported their own. This is not in contention. The question, however, is whether the quality of support African artists are getting from the home front, given the strength of the local currencies and the earning and spending capacity of the people, is able to sustain African music in that enviable position that it finds itself today. Without international support, will Afrobeats be the toast that it currently is?

Africa is a continent bursting with talents. As Nigerian-American music icon and CEO of Bigmanity Music International, Jesse Woghiren, popularly known as THE BB02, put it during a recent telephone conversation, the best raw materials on earth in terms of talents are domiciled in Africa. However, without the right local support, African entertainment industry, in particular music, will continue to play catch-up with the West.

He alluded to how he and his childhood best friends, Eugene Agbaliko, Henry Nwaka and others, formed THE NEW METHOD which was modelled after NEW EDITION, but they did not get the right support to propel them further. Which is why they are now poised to invest in young talents to afford the upcoming ones the right platform and opportunity to excel.

According to THEBB02, the entertainment industry was largely built on the back of blacks, but it was the white folks who arguably structured the money side of the industry through copyright laws and infringements protections, etc. The Western world has invested so much in making music pay, and they keep supporting their own to ensure that they keep flying higher. This is where the black world should do right by the people for the benefit of everyone, especially the black artists who have for long been discriminated against, he said.

“The white folks are supporting their own. They continue to inspire their young generation not to give up on music. They tell them, ‘It’s in you’. They know there’s money to be made in the entertainment industry, especially for those who are genuinely talented,” THEBB02 said.

“In fairness to them, they have invested and are now reaping the benefits. They mostly own the structures and control the regulations that drive the industry. And they keep investing. If you want to promote your music, what platforms do you use? From YouTube to Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Facebook, etc., these platforms are mostly owned by whites. Why can’t Africans create and own some of these structures?” he queried.

He said it was with that in mind that a new awards initiative is in the making – the GBODO GBADA AWARDS and their huge library of intellectual distribution networks – which is meant not to discriminate but rather to be able to give power back fairly to all spectrum of practitioners.

“African leaders and peoples should be able to continue to support their own. That way, the black people would take over the music space in a way that befits us without discrimination. No doubt about that.

“Government needs to invest in infrastructure to empower the artists. If you are not putting in the money, you cannot expect any miracle,” he said.

THEBB02 said this support begins right from paying to stream the songs of African artists. At the moment, he said, there are those whose tendency is to want to download songs of their favourite artists free of charge, which does not enable the growth of the artist or the industry.

“If you love an artist, pay to support them. If you enjoy their music, support them. Don’t cut corners or download their songs free of charge. When you pay, you empower the artist to do better music that will further foster the growth of the industry and bring other residual benefits like employment – from sound engineers booking agents, artist managers, graphic designers, all the way down to bartenders. That also translates to benefit to the government as the more youths are gainfully engaged, the less crime the government has to fight, and the more tax revenue the government earns. Moreover, as Afrobeats garners recognition across the world, it will bring the good-look nod and credit to African governments,” he said.

As Afrobeats/African artists get the support of the people, they will also have to devise ways to give back to the community, said THEBB02. That way, he said, fans get a sense of belonging, their fair share of pride in personable relationship with their favourite artists, and the feeling that the artists recognise and value their support. That can help to sustain the relationship for the longer term.

“From small things such as allowing fans to get a front row seat during shows, getting them to dance with you on stage, opportunity to chat with you, hanging out in the studio with you or getting to work for you, a chance to participate in challenges and giveaways, those are ways that the people benefit.

“As the people are seriously investing into the structure of the Afrobeats industry, the artists and organisations, such as BMI and ASCAP in the United States, SOCAN in Canada, COSON and co. in Nigeria, among others, also play their part in giving back to the community. When it becomes a back-and-forth relationship, the support will last for much longer and it will be enjoyable for everyone,” he said.